stevetheangler

Sunday 29th May I decided to get up early and take the rods down to the canal – a stretch  of the local Staffs-Worc Canal that is administered by one of my clubs (G) – and so the alarm was set for 0400 (yes, it IS light enough to fish, even then, at this time of the year! :D)  and I duly arose, begrudgingly admittedly at the time but OK once I’d actually got the body working.

Not much prep required to get out – maggots and worms for main baits along with cheesepaste and luncheon meat as subsidiaries which go into a cloth carrier type bag – and a flask of coffee. For tackle on the canal I use a set-aside seat box that always contains the odds and ends needed (hooks, scales, camera, leads, etc) so just needed to put the coffee into there – and the 2 rods I take (13′ float rod and a 9′ quiver tip rod) along with a few banksticks and the landing net with a light unhooking mat wrapped around it all fit in/on my Korum 3-rod quiver … and that’s it – very light – and can walk distances easily when needed to.

OK – so I arrived at the canal and made my first cast at 0515 with the quiver rod baited with worm and maggot on a size 12 hook with a 4lb hooklength to 6lb mainline over the previously lightly groundbaited far bank swim I’d chosen that had decent overhanging vegetation and looked to be a desireable place…

I had intended to get the float rod out mid-session but I didn’t in the end as I was having bites on the quiver rod and every time I considered swapping over the wind seemed to pick up . And a cool breeze it felt too – I was sat on the west bank bank with the sun rising directly in front of me but I never received any of its warming rays due to the tall trees twixt it and me.. :)

Anyway, I packed in at 0945 having landed 2 small perch and 2 skimmer bream in the interim – and had the best bite of the session – a tip snatching/reel backwinding thing – at around 0930 which somehow I failed to connect with.

The pics above are not too good – from the mobile phone – and others I took I cannot access as I’ve discovered that the small compact – and old – digital camera that I use for the canal sessions is not compatible with my newly-installed-on-PC Windows 10 – seems it only connects with Windows versions from 95 to XP… :( Oh well, eBay search for a replacement necessary :)

I think I chose the best time to pack up anyway – the first boat of the day passed me at around 0800 and then the next at just after 0930 – but as I walked the couple of hundred yards back to the lane and the car after tackling down – another passed me by and another was approaching around 200-300 yards behind.