It's not often it snows in April down here, so much so my dad always used to state the fact when referring to any cold snap late spring. Not only can I now say I remember it snowing in April I can also say how I went fishing in it, but would I catch?
I wanted a challenge on the canal and left the house whilst there was still snow on the ground, ok it was rubbish snow, more like icing sugar coating the shady side of the garden,but it was still snow and it was well into April.
The morning sun soon melted it and by the time I had walked to the canal both the snow and the sun were gone, as if to say it's job was done, clouds formed, the wind was bitter and the cut looked bleak.
I tried to warm my hands up and set up in the only spot without a ripple as it was blowing from the northwest right down the cut, the worst direction. Even with all my winter gear on it felt cold and this was a spot relatively out of the wind. I can't remember feeling this cold for many a moon, maybe because we were in t-shirts last week it felt colder than it was.
That's enough about me moaning about the weather (for now) so lets get fishing. I set up my waggler shallow as I have found that worked all winter hoping for a chub under the trees on the far shelf, the float dips first cast and I get ready for a battle only to see a confused little perch confront this confused angler, It was not the fish I was expecting but more than welcome.
A couple more little perch followed before I finally got a chub, not a big one, nor pretty but it felt hard earned, in the clear water I could see it's every move and it could see every snag, these canal chub sure do pull well.
The towpath soon got busy with hardy souls out for a walk all wrapped up in winter wear, much to the annoyance of the local robin, my maggots were manky old leftovers but the robin couldn't get enough, constantly flitting between the towpath traffic like a jack in a box to get them, the robin seemed to feed all day unlike the fish which had switched off for a bit.
With the water this clear it sometimes goes dead after a good fish but I looked left and right and the canal looked really bitter and unwelcoming, this area was more sheltered so I opted to stay here as I poured a hot beverage out of the flask, the first coffee of the day is always the best and always tastes better after a good fish.
I tried deep for a while with no luck so went back shallow and had another chub, slightly bigger and another fighting fit chevin. I had been having some really good chub days down here and not even done a blog post about them as it seemed too easy when the weather was warmer, but this was fishing at it's most rewarding, hard weather, hard fishing and a few hard earned, hard fighting fish.
I settled down to catch a few more tiny perch on the far shelf, their location no doubt due to the jack pike I spotted in the middle. I thought I could see a dark shape every now and then but it ghosted into view amongst a shoal of bleak right on the surface, it seemed to be playing blow football with them, gently teasing the shoal, it was either on it's last legs or this was part of a cunning corralling of it's prey, like you see the sea fish do on telly, I like to think the latter although that was the last I saw of the ghostly esox.
I soon get another bite on the far shelf and thought I was into another chub but the jagged fight made me think good perch, sure enough the sergeant major stripes showed in the clear water, too big for the pike I hoped as it tore around the swim. I really have a soft spot for the canal perch, they fight so well, better than their river counterparts sometimes and as I slipped the net under this fish I was really happy, it made the day.
Another good perch followed after lunch but I was almost out of bait and the weather wasn't getting better with my swim now complete with a full chop on the surface, to make things worse I seemed to be getting all bleak now, no doubt having a party in the absence of the pike, therefore it was time to call it a day at around 1pm. Not counting bleak and chublets I only had 8 fish but it was a rewarding session and all the fish were caught less than two feet deep.
Did I mention it was cold? I remember it's snowed in April once and I went fishing and a jolly good day it was too.
