DITCH DILEMMAS
After a series of declining results from my favourite spot on the Ashby canal, I had resolved to move; not far, maybe 50 yds up the bank to an area where I had seen fish rolling on my last couple of visits. Thankfully, the CRT have cut the hedges at last and with the ground drying out this area had become eminently fishable.
The Hybrid was a decent fish (better than its photograph anyway!) and they have been in short supply around here lately but even so, it wasn't as good a return as I would have liked considering the amount of activity. Fearing that my cage feeder rig was a bit too clumsy and offering too much resistance I returned on Sunday morning with a lighter, more sensitive set up. The 'Barratt' sports a 1/4 oz tip and my terminal tackle was super simple, 1BB pinched on the line 6" from the hook and one no6 1" from the hook to counterbalance the bouyant breadflake. I can just set the tip against that enough on a calm day.
Clearly resistance wasn't the great issue I had imagined it to be. I had just as many indications but only one of them yielded a hittable bite and that only then once I had replaced the flake with a small piece of punched bread. The fish was a disappointing 6oz skimmer although it did give me a clue to the origin of those minor indications. I honestly think I'd have caught a few tiddlers if I'd scaled down to a small hook and maggots.
Pete and I had a favourite spot in mind on the Oxford canal for Monday's adventure; a spot so reliable that we could predict at least one pound plus Perch between us. Like all our local canals the North Oxford can be a mystery at times. We lure fished it on and off for years for very average results. The occasional small Zander or Perch was a mediocre return to say the least and yet we catch loads of both on worms and maggots.
The sheer quantity of predators in the area suggests the presence of lots of baitfish and yet in the last couple of seasons using maggots and worms I can only remember us catching one Roach and one skimmer. I can only assume they are eating crayfish (there are plenty here) or Zebra mussels. I used to know a very successful, Gloucester canal, Zander angler with many doubles to his name and he always looked for Zebra mussels when choosing his spots.
Anyway our ever-reliable spot was as reliable as ever. Fishing a smelt deadbait on a sleeper rod, I lost three schoolie Zs at the net and landed one, while we both had Perch over the pound, my largest being 1-13. Thankfully boat traffic is pretty light at the moment but I don't suppose that will last long; onwards and upwards.
The weather was glorious over the weekend and it was an absolute pleasure to be out. There were strong signs that the fish were becoming more active as well with indications from the first cast at dawn until the sun got up around 8.30. Not that I could hit most of them; indeed the majority were not so much proper bites as indications that there were fish in the swim. Even so I hit three and missed one proper bite, landing one nice Hybrid, an ounce shy of two pounds, and losing a similar sized fish.
The Hybrid was a decent fish (better than its photograph anyway!) and they have been in short supply around here lately but even so, it wasn't as good a return as I would have liked considering the amount of activity. Fearing that my cage feeder rig was a bit too clumsy and offering too much resistance I returned on Sunday morning with a lighter, more sensitive set up. The 'Barratt' sports a 1/4 oz tip and my terminal tackle was super simple, 1BB pinched on the line 6" from the hook and one no6 1" from the hook to counterbalance the bouyant breadflake. I can just set the tip against that enough on a calm day.
Clearly resistance wasn't the great issue I had imagined it to be. I had just as many indications but only one of them yielded a hittable bite and that only then once I had replaced the flake with a small piece of punched bread. The fish was a disappointing 6oz skimmer although it did give me a clue to the origin of those minor indications. I honestly think I'd have caught a few tiddlers if I'd scaled down to a small hook and maggots.
Pete and I had a favourite spot in mind on the Oxford canal for Monday's adventure; a spot so reliable that we could predict at least one pound plus Perch between us. Like all our local canals the North Oxford can be a mystery at times. We lure fished it on and off for years for very average results. The occasional small Zander or Perch was a mediocre return to say the least and yet we catch loads of both on worms and maggots.
The sheer quantity of predators in the area suggests the presence of lots of baitfish and yet in the last couple of seasons using maggots and worms I can only remember us catching one Roach and one skimmer. I can only assume they are eating crayfish (there are plenty here) or Zebra mussels. I used to know a very successful, Gloucester canal, Zander angler with many doubles to his name and he always looked for Zebra mussels when choosing his spots.
Anyway our ever-reliable spot was as reliable as ever. Fishing a smelt deadbait on a sleeper rod, I lost three schoolie Zs at the net and landed one, while we both had Perch over the pound, my largest being 1-13. Thankfully boat traffic is pretty light at the moment but I don't suppose that will last long; onwards and upwards.
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