Testing New Kit

As I'd recently bought a shiny new baitcasting outfit for perch fishing and I was going to be in the vicinity of the navigation for a couple of hours I took it along for a bit of casting practice. The new set up consisted of a LMAB La Moustique 2-10g rod, though, I'm not sure naming it after one of the worlds most loathed insects is a great idea. The reel is a Lew's ProSP, one of small number of baitcasters with a half capacity spool ideal for light braid. 

 

I started with a 5g jig head with a small white grass minnow. The first cast ended in a bit of back lash. A bit of a twiddle of the brakes and things improved. After half a dozen casts I was able to get to the far bank some 35m away. On the seventh cast as I jigged the lure back I felt the rattle of a perch and was in. The last three whippings are yellow to help bite detection though I'm not sure it helped.

Over the next dozen or so casts I had half a dozen more small perch. Nothing to really test the power of the rod but the bite detection was excellent. I wasn't too sure about the skeletal reel seat and the small grip but once a reel was on it was perfectly comfortable. I then tried with a 3g jig head. This again I could get well over to the far side but it was too light to fish properly. The tow on the canal combined with the breeze and depths of ten to twelve foot were just too much to keep in contact with the lure. It would be nice, though, if manufactures would make ultra light casting rods in longer lengths. This one is 1.98m, 6'. 2.3m, 7'6", would afford better control of the lures. Still I think It'll serve its purpose.

Sunday I again had a couple of hours spare near another section of the navigation. So had another session with the new outfit. Another angler was fishing near to where I wanted to be taking the odd small perch. Using the same lure as previous I was soon into a record breaking perch, or maybe a little jack pike. The rod performed excellently and quickly subdued the little 61cm beast.  I then had a wander along away from the other angler and picked up a couple of tiny perch from near an overhanging bush. The cold breeze then picked up and I wandered back to the car for a cuppa and the big coat.

While I had my cuppa the other angler left. I changed from a jig head to a weedless setup as the spot I wanted to fish was rather snaggy. The problem with this was the hook up rate was rather low. I could feel the bites but the small perch weren't chomping down on the bait hard enough to expose the hook point. The advantage was that i didn't lose any lures. It took about an hour to land a dozen small perch. Clearly the larger fish weren't in residence. As it got close to packing up time I did manage to snag on something. A length of rope came up followed by a magnet. I suspect somebody forgot to keep hold of the end. It clearly hadn't been in there long as the was no algae or beasties on the rope.

Overall the outfit works as I'd hoped and I look forward to using it on some of the smaller canals.

On The Navigation Ⅴ : The Return Of The Landing Net

 It was somewhat grey and drizzly when I got to the navigation but the was only a slight breeze for a change. My intention was to try a Z-Man's TRD TicklerZ bait on a light jig head and this is how I started. For some reason I clipped it on to the wrong rod. A slightly more powerful one I normally use for small crank baits. Because of the the stiff tip bite detection isn't great for the style of fishing I was doing but I still managed a small perch on the first cast. I persisted for a while in the same area but suspected the rod wasn't showing the bites properly, as I could see the occasional rattle on the tip but couldn't contact.

A trip back to the car for the lighter softer tipped rod and a wander up to the lock area showed just how many bites I couldn't see. I still couldn't hit them mind you. Eventually I latched on to one. Then got snagged up on the next cast. Then an angler, I believe called Martin, got snagged on something that was heavy but could be moved. I jokingly suggest it might be my landing net and sure enough as it surfaced it was. Only a couple of yards from where it went in despite been down there nine days and no doubt a  fair number of boats had gone through the lock. Apparently it was a new PB for him. Three more lure anglers arrived as we all continued to struggle. The trick to bites, and the occasional fish, was to be as close to the lock wall as possible but not too close so as to avoid the snags. I managed another small perch over the next hour.

By now I'd been fishing four hours for five small perch. Other shad faired less well. After a cuppa I headed in the opposite direction to the locks, but there were three other anglers fishing the area I wanted to fish so I fished a bit away from them. After twenty minutes or so I latched onto something bigger that I first suspected to be a small jack. It turned out to be a nice perch.  Landing it was another matter though. I was fishing over a fence and my net wouldn't reach the water so I had to climb over while stopping the perch from heading into the nearside snags. Thankfully things ended well and a 31cm perch was soon in the net. I fished on for another half hour before I had to be elsewhere. Nothing else bothered my lure though. Not a bad end to the day. Wasp[ bashing shouldn't be such hard work, but even the bait anglers were struggling to catch them. Though they were getting a few roach. I believe Martin ended up with five or six small perch and his lad one less. The other three lure anglers had had a pike and a perch between them by the time I left.

On The Navigation Ⅳ : There Goes The Rod Tip

Tried a different section of the navigation to the last three sessions in the hope of a bit more action. Unfortunately it was a lot sunnier, but at least the strong winds had gone. There was also a lot of moored boats to fish between. I spent the first hour and a half dropping 3-4" shads between the boats, around the lock gates, and anywhere else for that matter with out a sign of any fish.

 

After a cuppa I tried the same thing with the lighter outfit and the small blue/silver paddle-tail I'd used on the previous session. I got nothing nothing around the moored boats or running it along the edge. First cast below the lock I hooked either a world record perch, or a decent jack. After a prolonged fight, partially caused by me having to get down to a lower bank so the landing net would reach, a plump little jack was just about in the net. A very tidy fish at just over 60cm and four and a half pounds.

I worked my way along towards the trees with nothing to show until I found a dead tree in the water. Dropping the bait close to the tree produce half a dozen small perch in as many casts before things went quiet. Back at the lock I had a few more small perch before a couple of boats came through. A few more came out of the lock itself after it had filled back up.

After another cuppa I had another go with the heavier set up, again to no avail. Sadly I managed to brake the tip of the rod when I tapped a bankside sign with it. I wasn't looking where I was going mind you as a heron had landed on the far side of the lock despite the joggers, cyclists, and dogs. I'm not sure how it intended to fish the lock. I just think it was hoping as the nearby river was in flood still.

 

Not sure how many small perch I had in the end but it was fun and pleasant weather as well. The rod is going to be about a inch or so shorter when I put a new tip ring on it, so shouldn't be too detrimental.

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.

A Quickie On The Cut Ⅰ

 As it was a dull overcast morning I thought I'd have a quick go down the cut before the boat traffic started up. As the little orange paddle tail from the last session was still on I started with that. After fifteen minutes or so working my way round the feature I had the gentlest of plucks. I struck but appeared to miss it then the rod tip whacked over. After a brief but hectic fight a rather nice perch was in the net It had been accompanied by a couple of other perch of similar size so I unhooked the fish and left it in the net while I had a cast about for one of the others. I managed to cast right on top of a snag. Despite various attempts to dislodge the lure I eventually had to pull for a break. While I re-rigged a convoy of boats passed by colouring the canal and dislodging  various bits of vegetation. Some quite large. I measured and weighed the perch As I didn't think the others would still be about. At 36cm and 2lb it was a rather nice dark fish.

I tried a couple more spots before returning to the first feature which was now clear of debris. Third or fourth cast over to the far bank saw a little jack shoot out and hit the lure. As it turned back towards the vegetation the flouro leader was severed. As more boats were heading towards me I took this as a hint and headed home to partake in some horticultural duties. Not sure why the boaters and bargees where out before breakfast, but with out them I'm sure a lot of canals would have been filled in.

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.

A Quicky On The Navigation

 Had chance for a couple of hours on the navigation so chucked a few bits in the car and off I went. As I wandered towards the locks a few small fish scattered which must be a good sign. A small shad in a roach like pattern was tossed out along the wall where the fish had scattered. A couple of casts later and I was in to a small jack and not the perch I was expecting. Still it was good fun on the light set up. Another fifteen minutes of casting about produced the odd hit but no contacts.

Suspecting it was little perch I changed to the ultra-light set up and a two inch shad. This two produced hits but no contacts. A change to a one inch shad on too larger hook, as it was the smallest I had, found me hitting about one in three of the rattles. Little hand size perch were all that seemed to be about. You had to fish within a foot of the wall to get hits. Anywhere else produced nothing.

By the time it was time to go I'd had seventeen of the little beasties. A somewhat frustrating session with the tail nipping. I think drop-shotting would have done better, but I didn't have any of the relevant bits in the bag. I've now added them to the bag along with the smaller sized jigs, just in case.

Christening A New Rod

As I was doing my famed impression of an Uber today (Sunday) I was able to try out my new rod, while I loitered about waiting for the return journey. A Spro Freestyle baitcaster Matched with a Quantum Exo PT that I'd just given a clean up and service for the first time in the ten years I'd owned it. The rod casts 3-14g, I intended to use it with 5-10g jigs and the like. I few practice casts with a 7g jig and some twiddling of the brakes soon had it cast pretty well. Not that any of this impressed the fish as all I seemed to be able to catch were twigs.

I then had a wander along the canal casting across to the boats as close as I could get with out hitting them. It's surprising how much noise a 7g jig head makes when hitting the steel hull of a narrow boat. With little interest I tried a light jig head to see if a slower fall would pick up a fish from under the boats. This did the trick. A 63cm jack grabbed the bait on the fall as it dropped between two boats. The rod coped very nicely with the lively little beast. Although landing it was a bit of a problem. I hadn't realised how high I was above the water and had to lie down on the bank to reach the fish with my landing net as I couldn't get past the trees to a lower point. At least the rod was now christened.

Nothing more fell to this tactic and by the time I'd got to the bridge there were no more moored boats. Heading back to the car for a cuppa I tried a couple of crank baits on the way. These were at the lower end of the weight scale and proved a bit trick to cast initially but a slight change in timing soon brought the accuracy back. At the car I decided to have a chuck in the river. Something I'd not tried before as there appeared to be very little access down the very steep banks. The river was more coloured and flowing faster than I'd seen recently. Not the most pleasant of surrounding either with all manner of litter dangling from the tree branches.

Third cast with a Salmo Minnow and something hit the lure very hard. I suspected a large chub, but was very surprised to find a good sized trout on the end when it finally surfaced. I'd heard it had been quite good for trout years ago but they seemed to have disappeared recently, along with the barbel. The bank was too soft to unhook the trout in the water so on to the mat it went. A pale specimen with some strange black marks on it that a suspect may be from bad handling in the past. Despite trying few other spots it was the only thing that showed any interest.

fter a cuppa I had another short wander along the canal with a cheb rigged craw. Jigging it about close to edge produced a rather tentative bite. A strike hit something solid. As I lifted the rod a jack about the size of the previous one rose to the surface before diving and pilfering one of the claws of my bait. I tried a couple of different baits but it didn't return.

By now I'd been summoned for the return journey. At least the rod had been christened with a couple of hard fighting fish and coped admirably. I talked to three different anglers who all bemoaned the lack of fish. They all reckoned the area had deteriorated since the drought last year. Although one did wonder if the lack of perch was down to their habit of disappearing through disease or whatever.

A New Venue On A Nice Drying Day

 Having kindly offered to provide a free taxi service I was going to be stuck with nothing to do for a couple of hours, so diced to try a new venue and fling a lure, or two, around a lock. While Google tried to get me there, the new road, new houses and road works did confuse things somewhat, but I got there in the end.

What I hadn't taken into account was the wind. According to that Beaufort chappie it was a Fresh Breeze. According to me it was blowing a hooley, straight down the canal. This meant the usual 3-5g jig head was out and on went a 7g jig head with a fire tiger shad type thing. Fishing above the lock was hard work getting buffeted about by the wind. Below the lock there was a bit of shelter and I was soon into that sometimes fought like a perch and then like a pike. Eventually a 64cm jack was in the net. So not a blank.

A couple of casts later and another take which ended with the tail been bitten off. Things went quiet after this. A bit of a wander and a couple of changes of lure and I started to get hits but couldn't contact. A downsized the lure and the hits stopped. Back up a size and they started again? A change to a crank bait didn't make any difference. By now the wind had increased to a Strong Breeze and it was becoming dangerous to stand to close to the edge as the gusts could knock you off your balance. A couple more changes of lure didn't improve things and time was now running out so time to give up.

Quite what was hitting the lures I don't know but I think it'll be worth a return visit in more clement weather.