On The Navigation ⅠⅠⅠ : There Goes Another Landing Net

 I knew it was going to be a drafty day so fishing the navigation probably wasn't the best idea. This was confirmed when ten minutes in my cap went full Mary Poppins and landed in the middle of the water, quickly sinking out of sight. I wouldn't of minded so much but I had my back to the wind so I'm not sure how it got lifted off my head. Luckily I have a spare in the car. As the wind was mainly straight along the navigation there wasn't anywhere to hide from it. I worked my way towards the lock dropping a small orange jig down between the moored boats. This resulted in very little not even a tail nip.

Once I got to the lock complex I started to get the odd follow, but takes or even tail nips. A rummage around the lure box produced a small blue sparkly shad type thing with a 2g bullet head jig. This did the trick. Second cast and a little wasp wasp hooked. A few casts later another one. The first had taken it on the drop, but the second took it as I twitched it. This was the pattern for the next half hour or so. A dozen fish. Some on the drop. Some as the bait was lifted. All at different depths, but all close to the walls.

Eventually the inevitable happened the lure got snagged. The quickest way of dealing with this, if it doesn't flick off first time, is to walk along the lock to the other side of the snag. The lure generally comes free with the minimum of fuss. As the lure came free I heard the sound of metal on concrete. As I looked back down the lock I saw my landing net heading towards the water. By the time I got back it had disappeared. How it sank so quickly I don't. How it got blown into the lock I don't know either as the direction of the wind should have blown it away from the water. I attached a 10g jig head on to see if I could snag it before a barge arrived in the lock but unsurprisingly I had no luck. By the time the barge had been though and the lock gates opened and shut it could be anywhere. I retired back to the car for a cuppa and something to eat as It also started to rain. 

 

After lunch i tried a different tactic further down the navigation. I spent an hour throwing crankbaits and jerkbaits about. This resulted in one half-hearted lunge by a small jack. I then returned to the lock complex and after a little while found the wasps again. I manage eight quite quickly before another boat went through the locks and everything went quiet. Another heavy shower persuaded me it was time to head home especially as there was road works to deal with and it wasn't quite rush hour. The queue in my direction wasn't too bad, but in the opposite direction it was the best part of three miles long. 

 

Looks like a trip to the tackle shop is going to be needed as I don't have another small rubberised landing net. Landing nets are not something I normal lose. Usually I break them. These two hadn't done bad as both were around twenty years old. The netting had been replaced with rubberised versions but they were both perfectly functional.

On The Navigation ⅠⅠ : Pike Rescue

I was going to go trout fishing, but remembered it was a bank holiday, and sunny, so it was highly likely that there would be an unnecessary amount of traffic about. I there decide to head to the navigation for a few hours despite the forecast of a sunny day. I hoped the boat traffic would pick up and colour the water a bit. By the time I arrived there was a bit of mist about blocking the heat from the sun, so woolly jumper and fleece was required. Amazingly I was the only angler down there.

I started below the locks where I spent 45 minutes fling a few craft shads about on the U/L baitcasting set up. This produced absolutely nothing, not even a tail nip. I then changed to the dropshot with a little 2" lure. This produced the odd tail nip and rattle. moved into the lock complex and got the same result. A couple more anglers had turned up one of whom had had a 12lb 8oz pike on a little dropshot lure. It was nicely hooked in the top lip with the line away from the teeth.  I retired for a cuppa as that's all they'd had, but boats were starting to move through the locks so maybe it would be better with a bit of colour to the water.

When I returned they'd managed to add a couple of wasps to they're tally. A natter with one of them showed that they'd struggled on previous sessions much like myself. After they'd wandered to another spot a boater told me there was a huge pike on the surface in the lower lock but when I went to look there was no sign. Another boat came up the lock and told me there was a twenty pound pike dead near the upper gate. I had a look and sure enough there was a pike struggling to remain upright, but certainly not a twenty. more like quarter of the size. I managed to snag it with a lure and got it in the net and moved to to a shaded spot. Slowly it recovered and righted itself. It felt heavier than it looked. I gave it a quick weigh and it came in at 7lb. I intended to photograph it in case it turned up again, although the scar on the side of it's head would be rather distinctive. As I went back for the phone, which was in my jacket pocket that I'd taken off as it was now quite warm, the pike started to swim off with the landing net. I managed to grab the handle just as the pike flipped out of the net. It appeared to swim off quite strongly. By the look of the damage to it's head I think it may have been hit by a boat.

After that bit of drama I got back to fishing working my way through a few lures before changing to a really light jig rig. A 1.5g jig head with a 2" paddle tail. This worked reasonably well. I was able hit hit every third take and ended up with eleven little perch from around thirty casts before everything went quiet again. All the fish were taken on the drop as the lure slowly fluttered down. I fished on for another thirty minutes or so to no avail. With the sun getting brighter and more and more dog walkers about I decided to call it a day.