FROM THE RIDICULOUS TO THE SUBLIME
The, sadly no longer with us, Traditional Fisherman's Forum was responsible for many like minded anglers finding time to fish together. Just before it closed I took the liberty of swapping details with those fellow creaky rod addicts that I had met before and as a result, Paul invited me over for a morning at one of his favourite venues. It sounded like a lovely spot to catch a Tench when he described it to me but by the time I was three quarters of the way there I was beginning to wonder what drugs he was taking; the journey was horrible.
A short walk down past an ancient field bridge led us to the Wyrley and Essington canal; not one I had ever fished before and it was beautiful, absolutely beautiful. There were 10 metre wide towpaths with a large open space behind, 70 odd acres of nature reserve in front and clear water. Crystal clear water with yellow lilies along both margins; milfoil and reedmace in abundance. I couldn't wait to get my bait in the water and neither could the fish. It was in there for two seconds and the float hadn't even cocked before I caught my first fish a three ounce Rudd.
It was five in the morning and the sun was just climbing over the horizon; the mist was curling this way and that off and over the water and barely another ten minutes had passed when the first Tench of the morning took hold. It was a foretaste of things to come with a small but splendid fish tearing all over the place. In and out of the lilies, ploughing through the algae on the bottom and generally misbehaving. No need to tell you then that it was a young male of around two and three quarter pounds, I suppose.
I'd half an idea from Paul's description that there might be algae down there; on the phone it had sounded very much like he was describing the Erewash canal where I fish with Sharkey sometimes. Consequently I'd stuck with my heavier Tench set up of Sealey Rover, Match Aerial centrepin loaded with 5lbs line. A small quill tightened down to a single AA shot 6" from the hook is now my 'go to' rig for canal and shallow lake fishing, the only variation being the addition of a single number 6 on the hooklength. This added when using bouyant bread baits is light enough not to sink into algae or silt but heavy enough to pull the bait down until it is hovering just above the bottom. This method can be helpful when crayfish are an issue as well as by simply moving this shot away from the hook it will allow the bait to float up beyond their reach.
Feeding my usual liquidised bread, micro pellet, crushed hemp and Gros Gardons groundbait seemed to do the trick as Tench of a similar size to the first were queueing up for the bait. I'd already had three before I spotted a very large Rudd pass through my swim. It must have had company because as it passed I had a perfect lift bite and my second largest ever was on its way to the net. It was hard to imagine the morning getting any better, but it did. The next fish did nothing but resist the pull of the rod, taking no line but thumping away on the rod tip until it reached the net. It was my biggest Bream in an age at just over four and a half pounds.
I did lose one Tench which simply ploughed its way through a mountain of algae leaving me with an irretrievable dead weight on the line but I still finished the morning with a round half dozen. If I had to describe a perfect summer morning's fishing it would be this one. Stunningly attractive fish as only those from clear water can be and plenty of them, a misty start with nice weather in a beautiful piece of countryside, bird song of every kind and no traffic noise at all. No planes, no trains, no sirens, just nature and good company. Thanks Paul, I shall remember this trip for a long time.
I suppose it shouldn't have been a surprise, the A5 between Tamworth and Brownhills is not pretty. Loads of semi-derelict, semi-industrial, bombsite lorry parks with the occasional black and grimy farmhouse jammed in between the Toll road, the HS2 wasteland and the M6 will never feature in a Campaign for Rural England advert and it certainly didn't fill me with optimism. Turning off to go through Walsall didn't improve things either with industrial units and uninspiring housing estates on every hand. The last turn led me through one last bruise on the landscape of seventies housing to a dead end and my parking space behind Paul's Ford; this would need to be better than it looked; and it was.
A short walk down past an ancient field bridge led us to the Wyrley and Essington canal; not one I had ever fished before and it was beautiful, absolutely beautiful. There were 10 metre wide towpaths with a large open space behind, 70 odd acres of nature reserve in front and clear water. Crystal clear water with yellow lilies along both margins; milfoil and reedmace in abundance. I couldn't wait to get my bait in the water and neither could the fish. It was in there for two seconds and the float hadn't even cocked before I caught my first fish a three ounce Rudd.
It was five in the morning and the sun was just climbing over the horizon; the mist was curling this way and that off and over the water and barely another ten minutes had passed when the first Tench of the morning took hold. It was a foretaste of things to come with a small but splendid fish tearing all over the place. In and out of the lilies, ploughing through the algae on the bottom and generally misbehaving. No need to tell you then that it was a young male of around two and three quarter pounds, I suppose.
I'd half an idea from Paul's description that there might be algae down there; on the phone it had sounded very much like he was describing the Erewash canal where I fish with Sharkey sometimes. Consequently I'd stuck with my heavier Tench set up of Sealey Rover, Match Aerial centrepin loaded with 5lbs line. A small quill tightened down to a single AA shot 6" from the hook is now my 'go to' rig for canal and shallow lake fishing, the only variation being the addition of a single number 6 on the hooklength. This added when using bouyant bread baits is light enough not to sink into algae or silt but heavy enough to pull the bait down until it is hovering just above the bottom. This method can be helpful when crayfish are an issue as well as by simply moving this shot away from the hook it will allow the bait to float up beyond their reach.
The first of Paul's half dozen.
Feeding my usual liquidised bread, micro pellet, crushed hemp and Gros Gardons groundbait seemed to do the trick as Tench of a similar size to the first were queueing up for the bait. I'd already had three before I spotted a very large Rudd pass through my swim. It must have had company because as it passed I had a perfect lift bite and my second largest ever was on its way to the net. It was hard to imagine the morning getting any better, but it did. The next fish did nothing but resist the pull of the rod, taking no line but thumping away on the rod tip until it reached the net. It was my biggest Bream in an age at just over four and a half pounds.
I did lose one Tench which simply ploughed its way through a mountain of algae leaving me with an irretrievable dead weight on the line but I still finished the morning with a round half dozen. If I had to describe a perfect summer morning's fishing it would be this one. Stunningly attractive fish as only those from clear water can be and plenty of them, a misty start with nice weather in a beautiful piece of countryside, bird song of every kind and no traffic noise at all. No planes, no trains, no sirens, just nature and good company. Thanks Paul, I shall remember this trip for a long time.
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