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.