"Now that's proper fishing" Said the old boy as I stopped to chat after telling him I was freelining lumps of bread under a pole float with no weight. I argued that he was the one 'proper fishing' if there was such a thing and that I was normally doing what he does but I did get his point, there is something primeval about watching your bread sink through the layers before cocking the float and hopefully going under. Well it worked where I started half an hour before with a decent roach and then a nice dark 4lb bream which made a good start to the morning.
This is a summer tactic I use on the canal but I will soon be fishing as he does so I bade him farewell and headed upstream, sometimes I think I may be the only person who roves a canal except for lure anglers but hey ho thinking outside the box sometimes works if you're not in it. (random thought of the day) The next spot saw many bites but I was sure they were small roach, chublets and bleak and all I had to show was one more roach. Then a few boats going through made things hard and stirred the bottom as the flow went back and forth but it's a canal and that's what you get sometimes.
I then stopped at another spot where I saw a few small chub and had a go for them for bit of fun but they soon vanished, although I was happy to get another decent roach and then a nice bream of around 3lbs close in. I got the seat out to settle in this spot and rest the legs and after battling with the wind a bit with my light set up the float zipped under and I thought I had one of the chub on, It certainly wasn't a bream as it had too much power, but a flash of red and silver showed it was a good roach. It looked huge in the water, not 2lb huge but big nonetheless and boy did it pull, I've never had a roach go like this on the canal, hybrids yes but this was all roach and a really long fish too. I netted it after it tried to get under my feet chub style and it felt heavier than it looked, it weighed in at 1lb 4oz, a lovely roach for the canal and a new spot discovered.
I soon needed a toilet break (it's hard to go opposite a block of flats) so I went on a walk up to swim usually good for chub which had me hoping for more fish but this pound was so low, it looked almost tidal with gravel beaches showing on both banks, so this endeavour was fruitless. I then made my way back to the roach spot only to find a boat in the process mooring up there, seriously I did think for a moment of saying " I say you don't mind mooring further down, this is a jolly good spot for fishing", I must admit I silently cursed instead, if only I had not spent five minutes trying opposite the pub on the way back I thought.
I ploughed on along the canal eager to try where I started before going home, on the way there was a big old cruise barge, one of the wide long ones trying to do a three point turn, in a tight spot where I've seen a few run aground.
I knew I had a few minutes before the turning barge came back up as the big ones usually carve some silt up but I still found time to chat to the old boy, I was glad he was still there and we talked about what we caught like anglers do, we both had a good day but being a canny match angler he wanted to know where I caught all the bream and the roach, fair play to him. We soon said our farewells (I do wonder how he got on in the match) and I carried on full circle to where I started. One last cast before waking home, one last fish I hoped for today.
In went the last bit of mashed bread from my tupperware container, then the float followed with a bit of bread that was well past it's best squeezed rather hard on my size 12, my last slice of bread was getting stale, pieces of which are shed easily from the hook, as proved by my previous casts. Then the cruise barge came chugging back, the lady on the back was talking about theatre trying to remember the name of an actor as the boat slowed in front of me, I would have chipped in if I could have helped but my knowledge was found wanting, mind you I was well aware that my float was doing a slow theatrical slide under the water, then she did the "That's a big fish" comment as I played a bream like I did at the start of the day, it wasn't big but 3lb bream do look a size to be fair, especially to boaters, I netted it almost under the boat which had now moored just below me, slipped it back, gave the lady a friendly bit of chat, refrained from doing a Midsummer Night's Bream joke, washed the slime from the net and that was the day, a good one at that.
I don't get many when I fish this way but usually get quality fish, it's a fun way to attack the canal without getting bleaked out in summer although I'll soon be scratching for bits like the match angler I chatted to come the cold weather, although he said he liked bleak - I won't go that far, next time I'll probably be trying to avoid them.
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Next time was a few days later as I had to get rid of the maggots I had bought for the river trip a couple of weeks back, I decided to go to the spot where I caught the nice roach hoping that boat wasn't still there. I knew that there were plenty more fish there judging by the amount of movement my bread was getting last time, a morning spent in one spot getting a few roach and bream on wag n' mag would do this time.
The difference a few days make, the boat was gone along with many others and the area now seemed open, gone too were my shorts and t-shirt replaced by trousers and a hoodie for the first time in ages, the hood was up too as the wind was in my face, even with my Autumn attire dug out of the wardrobe I still felt cold, what's more I had just one tiny roach to show for half an hour's fishing (where's pesky bleak bites to warm you up when you need them). A glance to my left saw a big cormorant emerge with a neck like an an old cob swan, it was a no brainer to move to where there was more cover for both me and the fish, the warm glow of a new found spot replaced by the cold reminder that no two days are ever the same.
In my next spot I instantly started catching perch, roach and of course bleak with the latter causing many a missed bite but I minded not as I was tucked out of the wind and getting a few fish, the roach were quality and included another cracker around the pound mark, once again a fantastic fish for the canal and like the other one it pulled with some power with a solid thud each time it spun on the surface, they are packing some weight on for winter yet seem to be all muscle.
