A Day On The Pond In Pictures

 It's a bank holiday weekend, it's in the low 20's and I'm in the corner of the pond with the missus. Sitting behind the platform lowering my float by the rushes at the edge of it, what could be more simple?

Bites were instant as I gently lowered my bait into the spot I had been feeding. A small carp oblidged first cast but the next fish was more of a test for my .12 hooklength

A bit of side strain is always helpful, plus it's really fun.

The culprit was a nice coloured common that was missing half it's tail

A few small perch then a couple of gudgeon followed before the fattest of goldfish flopped to the surface, it was as wide as it was deep as it was long.

I picked off a few small but surprisingly energetic bream trying shallow in the middle, nothing was feeding in the deeper water today, among the bream was this decent roach.

By now it was now really warm and in between coffee and lunch breaks a good mix of fish were caught before I introduced a few bits of bread, some on the surface and some in the margins. Changing to a size 12 fishing straight through I spotted this fish close in on the surface so cast to it - notice my bread in the top corner, then my pole float laying flat and my line across the carp's back, that folks is how not to do it.

Despite my iffy presentation it took the bread but what followed was a fresh air strike as the carp got a freebie, rebaiting quickly and casting more deftly I made no mistake the second time around.

I told the missus how ghost carp seem to always be very strong and sure enough after a slow start the fish woke up and went on a couple of clutch screaming runs.

After a fine battle a nice coloured fish was landed which was a fun end to a few hours at the pond.

Of we went home in the mid afternoon heat for a glass of wine(or three) in the garden. Sometimes the simple things are the best on days like these.

A Great Day On Bait I Couldn't Give Away

 I only went to get rid of the last of the maggots. When I shook the tub as I removed them from the fridge I got that old death rattle indicating many had turned to caster, as for the rest well they looked pretty limp. However I've fished with worse so still fancied my chances so off I ventured into the wind. 

All I needed was to find some shelter as the wind was gusting above 40mph, it felt pretty cold in it too but the sun was trying it's best to negate the chill. Unsurprisingly the fishery was empty aside from three hardy souls.

I settled in the most sheltered corner I could find, it was still choppy but nothing compared to the rest of the pond. I fancied trying a heavy pole float and kicked off with a succession of tiny roach in the deeper water, however this was hard work and I really should have been out there on waggler, so before changing I thought I would try the margins. There was actually a lot of tow and at times my float dashed away like it was going downstream on a choppy river. I was sitting behind a large platform, fishing near the edge of it in around two feet of water.

What I found worked well was resting the rod on the edge of the platform with the butt on my legs, a foot of line from the rod tip to the float held it stationary, well sort of, it still danced around in the tow which seemed to ebb and flow but the fish didn't mind as a couple of carp made for a good start, all thoughts of waggler subsided as I concentrated on the tip of my float bobbing through the chop. Bites were coming at perfect intervals, a few roach got in among the carp but I could almost tell when the bigger fish were about when it went quiet for a minute or two. 

I must admit I go to these pools armed with maggots to try and get good perch, the flavouring I put in them seems to attract the old stripeys and it worked today as the strong jagged fight of a fish got me off the platform reaching for the net, I thought this didn't feel like a carp and as spray blew off the water the sergeant flashed it's stripes confirming my quarry was in sight. I slipped the net under a lovely fish that was well over a pound probably closer to two and I was really happy.

Anything unattended today was potential wind fodder although by now my mat was soaking wet and propped under my ruckbag one end to stop it flapping. On stopping for food my lunchbox lid went airborne and on finishing eating, the lunchbox itself followed suit, being chased by me quite comically as it skidded across the large platform. Long net handles come in quite handy in such circumstances I concluded.

My windswept antics failed to put off the fish although landing the fish was hard as I had to play them out from the edge into open water away from the platform's legs, here in the open the wind caught the net which had quite a bend at times but it didn't stop me netting a few more F1's and carp, which sure beat trying to catch tupperware.

Not long after lunch most of my poxy quarter pint of maggots were gone but they were enough to get me over 20lb of carp, perch and roach in three hours. Mind you I was also feeding the robin who's ever so hungry chicks could be heard in the bushes behind me demanding more, no doubt tucked out of the wind better than I was. I chucked the last handful on the platform for them as I was done. So much for not being able to give the bait away, the robins loved it and so did the fish. 

A Rare Chub Roach Hybrid Tops A Short Canal Session

The morning didn't start too well when the first dog decided to slobber over my bag, I wont tell you what this slobber looked like, lets just go for bream slime and you'll get the picture. I only set up here as I thought it would be out of the way, little did I know Slobodan Dogovic would do it's froth over my gear and whatever it had been eating wasn't nice as it stunk. It could be one of those days again I thought as I made my way to a new spot I wanted to try thinking how the day could only get better.

The towpath here was narrow hence setting up round the corner so I had everything out of the way and initially stood as I cast my waggler into the wind and across the flow towards some bushes. It didn't take long to get the first roach and I soon found a spot to sit down out of the way and get some pretty decent redfin action.

After a few nice roach an even better one spun on the surface and sure put a bend in the rod, it was a good roach all day long as I played it, with it's blue flanks and red fins showing and I initially thought it what a cracking long lean roach as I slipped the net under a good fish.

I had a better look and took another picture for reference and in the hand and it started to look more as much chub as roach, I am convinced this is a chub roach hybrid, they aren't that common and it's the first I have had on the canal.

Waves of bleak came in and out and at times made the fishing a bit frustrating as they meant I couldn't fish on the drop as much as I would have liked, but when the bait got below them I was into some good fish, the skimmer bream were surprisingly hard fighting and more quality roach got in on the act.

Even though it was a fairly warm day naturally I was in the coldest windswept spot so I needed to warm the legs up. On taking a stroll I had a good bit of banter with the Canal and River Trust guys who were busy clearing out the lock. Their boat later passed my narrow bit of canal and they let me know they were chugging through with a sound of the horn not befitting a beast of a dredger. I had to tell them that was the most pathetic sound I'd ever heard and we had a laugh. "He's always wanted to do that" said the older guy. I would later pass them further down where the young lad was waist deep in chest waders clearing out a big fallen tree, hard work but they were enjoying it and were in good spirits. However none of this seemed to impress the urban swan.

After lunch I tried a chub spot to finish on as thoughts turned to packing up, I'd had enough by now as I got down there pretty early but no chub were showing. Maybe the Death Star floating down the canal might have had something to do with it.

Either that or it's a large gym ball, another thing for the C&RT guys to clear up, not that they need the exercise. I finished up with around 20 quality roach, some nice skimmers, one good perch and that choach hybrid which wasn't enough to ward off those pesky bleak, but it was a really enjoyable morning on the canal.

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Captains log supplemental - As they say on Star Trek (mixing franchises like some sort of rebel geek)

A couple of weeks later I'm back down the same cut for a couple of hours with half a loaf of old bread, the Death Star was now gone, no doubt to another galaxy far far away, but I set up in the same area. The fishing today couldn't be simpler, wandering down the canal freelining bread in likely looking spots watching the line sink. It was a bit breezy so I added a matchstick as a point of reference through the chop and let the bread do the rest.

The first swim saw nothing but in the second my matchstick seemed to move further than the twitches it was currently getting from the small stuff in the morning sun, unconvinced I struck expecting thin air and was pleasantly surprised by the solid resistance offered in return, as a cracking chub battled it's way to the net. Absolutely beautiful in the low morning sun.

Further along it was all boats either starting up for the day or sleeping till afternoon, that's how they seem to roll. In the clear water near a lock I noticed some black shapes milling about in the sun, I had hoped for a chub and a bream on this short session and achieved my goal when a small bream of around a pound obliged instantly, hardly one of the black shapes I saw earlier but welcome nonetheless.

It was a glorious sunny morning and I was crouching above a lock stalking bream on the surface as if they were carp. Joggers and walkers were going in by in their summer attire and some of them were rather pleasing on the eye. 

Trying not to get distracted I saw one of the black shapes head towards my bread and I was soon into one of the larger fish which twisted and turned going from black to bronze each time it caught the light. Whilst not the strength of the chub I do remember looking at my rod tip bending well as this bream battled away. " Nice one" was the call from the lad working on the lock - the same CRT guys I saw the previous trip, as I slipped the net under a bream that was immaculate one side and had a large fresh slice through it's back on the other.

It felt really floppy in the net so I daren't turn it over, no wonder it could twist so well, it reminded me of those lures you see in shops that are two part, truck and trailer jobbies hinged in the middle. I would say this is far to big for predators but something's had a go, either that or it got sloppy with a boat prop.

I feel I could have got more bream here but the swans turned up hampering my progress, I wasn't too bothered by their interference though, it was what it was and I'd already had a couple of nice fish. 

By now the canal had fully woken up, sirens could be heard from the area where I was previously as I crossed the railway bridge near my home, heading home for lunch after a nice morning's fishing. Sounds like I just cleared off in time although I like to think my articulated bream had jack knifed and caused a five mile tailback on the canal.