Serious update About Canal Featured Recently In Blog:
It has been a mixed week this week weather wise and i am at this moment unsure just what conditions will face us come Saturday. There has been one piece of disturbing news this week and it is around my canal fishing. A stretch of the Bridgewater Canal i have featured heavily in this blog of late has recently been the scene of a viscous assault and mugging. A woman was attacked by three men who beat her up and then mugged her. It is sad we live in such times it really is and i wish the lady a speedy recovery.
From a fishing point of view it has made me think twice about sessions on this part of the canal. One person causing you trouble is one thing but three is another matter and at the times of the day i fish there i feel its just asking for trouble from people who have no care of their fellow human beings. I thought it worth a mention as well just in case local anglers who read the blog had read my exploits and where thinking of trying the stretch for themselves. Please take care.
Social Media Update:
Its great to see the blog steadily doing well on Social Media and from its creation on sites like Twitter and Facebook i have never been one to run endless competitions and pay to advertise the blog on these platforms as i much prefer 10 people to like the page through finding it and finding it interesting over 200 just liking it to try and win a competition.
With that mentality the Twitter page recently hit 2000 follows and the Facebook this week reached the landmark of 750 likes. Thank you to all who follow the blog on these pages and please remember these pages where set up for followers to share their angling exploits. The Ban list on these pages remains at zero which given the shenanigans on other pages i see is a credit to the people on the page. Again a huge thank you to all who keep up with the blog on these and again feel free to share your angling exploits.
On to the Fishing:-
18lb Net Fishing the Bolo Float...
After our success the weekend before these was only ever going to be one place we where fishing come Saturday but it was not all plain sailing a decision it sounds as rain on the Friday and reports of heavy rain and severe thunderstorms on the Saturday making us question if we should even bother. Weather very rarely comes into my decision making process as to whether or not to bother going fishing but i have to admit i am in no hurry to become a human conductor.
I must admit as well that i am not a huge fan of fishing under an umbrella i find them cumbersome an irritant when trying to cast out and also then when concentrating on the float i find myself worrying more about my brolly blowing in than the fishing. Add to that the extreme extra weight added to your holdall to take such apparatus it really puts a downer on my fishing and normally i just sit in the rain and fish through it but with severe weather warnings i knew we where in for a rough ride.
We crossed the river a few times on our way to our chosen destination and on one of the more lit spots we decided to jump out and take a look. There was already a strong wind blowing down the river and i quickly worked that our section of river would be at the same angler so there was a good chance we would be facing a strong down stream wind with the odd gust in our faces, exciting stuff.
Set up wise it was a mirror of last weeks set up. My 17 Preston Innovations Carbon active float rod fishing a 3 Gram Maver Bolo down to a bulk shot of weights all attached to a 1.7lb Kamasan Bayer Perlon hook length and a size 16 hook. The major difference on this session was the amount of bait. Last time i fell short and actually ran out so this time i was taking no chances as i went armed with nearly 3 pins of maggot and nearly the same of hemp.
The river alive with fish topping we knew we where on fish but it was also clear from the sky above we did not have long to get set up before our first soaking. I had a fair idea of the peg from last week and i knew the inside line had a decent snag on it and the main line was about 2 rod lengths out in about 8-9ft of water.
From the off i was getting plenty of bites but hitting them was another matter, they where lightning quick and a far cry from last weeks solid bites. There was a huge head of fish in the swim as the float was getting banged all the way from casting in to half down my swim to the hemp and all of a sudden it would be a fast bite, hit it small roach miss it a mashed maggot.
There was the odd better stamp of roach around but not in the numbers as last week and certainly not of the stamp.
It got to a pint where the fish where lifting mt float clean out of the water as the 3gram bolo was not getting through and although i was getting bites i was hitting about one 1 on 4 of them. River fishing is a real thinking game and i had to change something about my approach. I moved my box so i was facing more down stream and i started feeding my hemp further down the run and i also started casting down stream.
The difference in sport was dramatic and that change of angle and striking at a float down stream saw the missed bites turning into fish and it seemed the better stamp of roach where around but where holding down the swim.
The bites turned into fish i was soon putting regular fish into my keep net. The odd better fish was was about in the league of last weeks but the majority of fish where small roach. I then struck into something that straight away zoomed down stream taking line form the reel. It was a strong powerful fish that put up a great fight on light tackle.
A cracking hybrid was the reward and was easily the best fish of the day.
The fish showed the potential of the area to produce even better nets than last week, a net full of those hybrids would certainly be something. I continued to pick up bites steadily and suffered through the odd rain shower but luckily the weather man got it wrong on the thunderstorms. Towards the end of the session the wind turned and blew violently upstream causing some huge waves to come lapping up the river.
Thankfully this came around 3pm when we planned to pack in so it was not too much of a problem.
Weighing the nets i felt i had around 10lb of fish and i was shocked to weigh the net and find i had caught 18lb of fish. It was a hard worked for net where i had to swap and change and really think about the fishing to get the fish. I could have easily been there missing those bites and ended with nothing.
I left the river feeling i had certainly come on as an angler from season to season as i think last year i would not have had the confidence or know how to change and get the bites and may have even given in through frustration. It is a great feeling leaving the bank with a sense of accomplishment.
Till next time
i wish you all tight lines
Danny
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