A Flood of Opportunities

The challenge of extracting fish from flooded rivers is one of the greatest. Not in that it's the most difficult but in the measure of the pleasure of success against the conditions

The temptation to say, "Against the Odds", was almost irresistible but that would have been lazy and not necessarily true

In these parts the challenge of catching decent 'Stone-fish*' in clear, low, slow flowing water is far greater than in floodwater. 

In floodwater the options are narrowed and the target wider. The former by way of the river dictating the terms of engagement whereas the latter is a result of the fish being pushed into area where they might tightly shoal. 

If I had to choose a single type of fishing to keep me amused this would be high on the list and yet fishing in such circumstances only seems to meet with the unquestioning acceptance a certain type of angler. Generally one of experience, one who has been there before and isn't, some might say 'naturally,' put off by the sight of a raging river. 

Matches, thankfully now back in fashion on rivers, are frequently cancelled under such conditions and, as canal match anglers we used to welcome such days that would boost the turn-out without necessarily boosting the chances of the extra cohort. It had to be appreciated though that there is a distinct risk in running matches in such circumstances that cannot be ignored.

As an individual however, not being tied to a peg, so to speak, opens up a world of safe opportunity with requisite care. 

In the previous life alluded to above I recall fishing high rivers rarely, even during spells as 'a river angler' this was the case. In fact I only recall three such occasions. One on the a featureless stretch of the middle Trent in a club match, one on the Nene just below Northampton, and a third also on the Nene somewhere further downstream in an Open match. These examples perfectly demonstrate the match against individual situations. 

Trent: River high, 4' from top of bank. Inexperienced, I felt fishing where an angler would usually be sat, with maggots (that's all we had) would be best as the main flow rushed past. No choice but to sit there and spend 5 hours praying for someone to end the match early. 

Nene: Pleasure session. The river, a recent new cutting of the main flow, was seriously enjoying itself while The Old Duffer and I sat in a side arm taking advantage of fish, including tench and carp, sheltering from the torrent in steady turbid depths. 

Nene: Open. I drew above a little slack back eddy with a eye that was relatively still. Circumspect feed with groundbait produced a couple of skimmers and some roach that made the day worthwhile with a 3lbs catch; while Ray Mumford fished a long pole into a far bank slack beyond the main flow to take 6lbs of roach on bread. 

The above indicate the vagaries of the relative circumstances. One can be lucky in a match, but the likelihood is (if it goes ahead) that only a few pegs will be genuinely fishable but, alone, the freedom to select a swim or a series of swims makes the deal altogether more potentially profitable. 

Having only fished high rivers in earnest for around 7 or 8 seasons the prospect now fills me with nothing but excitement. 

Such angling is precisely what it should be. Nothing is the same and one has to think on the hoof and adapt to the constraints of each opportunity presenting itself. Often a single swim can offer multiple possibilities - a slack bay, a crease, a steady glide, gaps between overhanging trees, rafts, sluggish water immediately downstream of features such as reedbeds, etc.

Methods are equally flexible although a static bait of bread, worm or meat is likely to be preferred and the scale of the quarry increased from that most prevalent in the normal level river. It certainly isn't a time to fiddle around with light rigs and small hooks as the fish willing to offer their assistance to the cause will likely be the mothers and fathers of those we caught last week. 

Sounding too good to be true I accept there are negative aspects. Firstly, if the flood is caused by an influx of water colder than the pre-existing river temperature, it will usually kill sport until the fish acclimatise and start to forage. This could take a week or more. If the incoming water is warmer however success can be immediate provided, on rising levels, the debris careering through can be avoided. Secondly, if the water is too coloured, it will be difficult to tempt a bite. 

Float fishing is usually a non-option unless float leger or pole feeder are employed as the quivertip becomes the primary source of entertainment when pursuing targets that are only limited by the bait in use, i.e., both bream species, hybrids, roach, chub, dace on bread; chub, barbel, eels, bream on meat and pretty much anything but mainly perch and chub on lobworms. One thing is fundamentally clear however and that is that tiny baits are pointless when the river is up. 

The use of a bait dropper becomes essential when the feeder is not the preference and what an under used, neglected, item this is. Fishing bread mash in a flood and in a feeder, or trying to introduce a few snippets of worm would be impossible were it not for these ingenious devices. So much so that one would be well advised to set-up a dedicated rod for its use; one that is not so soft as to make its deployment a matter of luck rather than skill.

Thinking things through further, pb's of Leam  perch and roach have come in high water conditions as well as Avon barbel, chub and silver bream, the latter of course being known to be at it's most gullible in coloured water. 

As I write, a short shower rattles on the window at 6°C ensuring that the local rivers, Warks Avon and Leam, will maintain their high state going into the weekend. By then it will have been five days since the 4°C storm struck and it should be time, combined with further increasing air temperatures, receding flow and water levels, to glean a Stone-fish or two from a few likely havens. 

It remains to be seen, of course, but I'm up for it if you are?! 

*'Stone-fish' - a term derived from the writings of the late Peter Stone, who espoused the theory that it is usually possible to catch the bigger fish from a swim...and he was right. 

Are Things on the Up?

Even the day after Boxing Day the full english looked appealling despite the gastronmic gut-glut that was this festive period. The prize though was not to be found on the fork nor in the chocolate sprinkled cup. It would, perchance, be outside lurking in the leaf litter

There would be no rush

TBW would be explaining manual focus on his now optically-enhanced super-snapper, thanks to Santa, and this for sure, not given to brevity, would take some time

The fat had barely congealed as we strode to the spot we interpreted as 'the one'. Myself with ancient bin's, he with his world (for now) around his neck

'Pigeon

Blackbird, five of them

Song thrush. Never tire of those understated, clever beauties

A chattering group of tits

Ah! Chaffinches. Three under one canopy, two protected by another. These could be key. 'It' might be with them

The sun (yes, the sun) was behind the target however and it was a case of risking the worst by wandering gently past before turning and waiting, the light now on our backs, at a respectful distance 

Goldfinches twittered among the alders; no redpolls, no siskins. A robin, committed to 'film' together with them. A wren

Bullfinches "phee, phee" in modest canopy-high flight and settle, partly obscured by black branches, 'twas ever thus

The chaffinches begin the return, first a male to join a female uninterested in the initial disturbance, and a third

Still no sign

A more hefty bird alights in a small tree...bin's to face

"That's him", matter of fact. This twitching lark lacks the excitement of unexpected encounters but when ten minutes from home it's not necessarily to be ignored, even at these reduced adrenaline levels

The lens is tested and the bird captured

Hawfinch, and, though a touch distant for an ultra-clear view, not in doubt. The oversized bill, the deep white wingbar, the size, the build. This would be for TBW (Top Bird Watcher) a lifetime first and only a second for myself. Both twitched somewhat tainted ticks but ticks they were

The avifauna scatters. 'The bird' heads behind the clump

Enter (stage left) - Blunderbirder One

Stealthily waltzing under the cap of self-importance, midway between our dearselves and 'the bird', Swarovski's at the ready

He'd get the bugger

We retreat to the sanctuary of family and further frothy cappucinos. Smug, sated and gobsmacked in equal measure

For Blunderbirder the search continued, and so it should. The great tit

----

New Year's Eve and the torrent was as strong milk-laden tea, still carrying the second wave of snow melt. An incorrect reading of 4degC in the water was corrected to 7degC much later in the day so we were perhaps psychologically a smidgen more negative than was necessary

To seek the slacks, we waded through puddle and mud, weapons at hand, and there it was. A gentle backflow in a massive eddy that would do quite nicely as a starting point

Three and two thirds anglers were passed on the way. The first, consumed by expectation, didn't flinch. The second, sporting a sheepish smile that said, "You caught me", confessed no bites in half an hour. The third, sat facing the full flow with no respite flanked by two non-practising fishermen, was keen to advise that it was, "Really fast!! I chucked my lead out there (points to the raging flow) and it was down here (points downstream in the edge) before it hit the bottom". You don't say

TBW chose to drop a small maggot feeder just over the near shelf. The colour being completely opaque, the preference where I sat was to offer lobworms on a similar line, bread 10-11m out in the eye of the eddy where it was least busy and thirdly a sleeper rod with a half herring deadbait which, I should add, was not expected to do anything other than slumber. We were right on the latter point

It will come as no devastating shock that the non-deadbait fishing also proved very difficult but on the F,F&F Scale of Engagement this type of fishing, against all odds when any so-called sane angler would have sought solace on a Stillwater or by staying in bed, is dinging loudly on that 'Test your Strength" bell

After an hour or so a series of taps on a lobworm resulted in a resistance-free strike and that was it for that line

The bread was presented with pole feeder dropped slap bang into the cornea. The tiny feeder crammed with breadmash, the hook concealed in Warburton's finest. There would be fish here, there had to be. They would be drifting around the eddy seeking the easiest snack in the quietest flow

Third careful drop and the bite marker bobbed and drew away. A pleasing curve established in the pole and the hefty chub-anticipating elastic extended a metre or so, blinking into daylight, with the unsuspecting startled ten feet below the waterline

"Got one", came the call, "No idea what it is though. It's not a perch and doesn't feel chubby but in these conditions it could be I suppose". A monster roach, albeit largely as a somewhat wild dream, might also be marginally, perhaps 10%, less than impossible here

No runs, no extreme power but an ability to remain at a good depth set this fish apart. TBW manned the net, the fish stayed pretty much as hooked and proceeded to circle slowly eventually drifting against the backflow toward the near bank. It appeared, line wrapped around the body. Foul hooked perhaps? A bream but difficult to size in the murky water, two plus we agreed. TBW then chipped-in at three and no one could disagree. Partly because I wasn't inclined to and partly because no one else was there

The fish slid over the rim and as it did it untangled. The hook was clearly in the lip and the hooklength snapped leaving just the 16 hook attached to the upper lip with a tiny pig tail of line protruding

"Right, I'm going three, four", spouted the ghillie, confident

"That's not a bad call", I replied, "But I'm going for 3.8. He's thick in the body though"

The scales confirm three things; the actual weight to be four pounds six ounces; we two to be bad estimators of weight and the fish to be the fourth biggest F,F&F river bream yet

Mrs and (grown-up) Miss Entertainingly-Forthright, (well, we were near Stratford-upon-Avon where even the spud guns are double-barrelled) walked vigorously past for the second time

It went like this

Us: "Oh, we did catch one by the way"

Miss E-F: "Oh good, where?". She feigned to tiptoe, hoping to get a look

Us: "It's gone back now"

Miss E-F: "Oh, I would've liked to see that!"

Mrs E-F: "How big". She spread her hands by varying degrees, indicating first three feet long, then one, then two

Us: "It was a good one, four pounds"

Mrs & Miss E-F: "Hey, that's not bad at all, well done"

Us: "There you go you see, not so mad after all are we?"

Mrs E-F: "No, not so mad. Just marginally"

Us: "Thanks for the vote of confidence!"

(Cackles all round)

The fact no other bites were enjoyed mattered not. This was what fishing in the conditions was all about. Fishing for a bite from who knows what, who knows when; it could be a ruffe, it could be a barbel, or, it could be a bream.

Magic stuff

In between Times

Living in the Midlands possibilities for roach of such magnitude as to make one wonder whether it's really worth having another cast, or whether the bewildered state should somehow be embalmed and taken from the bank, are few.

Revisiting Mark Wintle's excellent roach books, it being autumn now, in "Big Roach 2" was to be found a statement by Pete Shadick pronouncing that 2lb river roach are at least 14" from snout to cleft of tail.

Out came the measures and, by deduction using ratios from photographs, the second of my two lifetime two pounders, a canal fish of 2.3+, measured at least 14"

This was of some comfort as, being the doubting sort, even casting aspersions on my own old records, I do sometimes look back at those fish and ask whether a mistake could have been made.

Well not in this case it seems.

Comfort is drawn.

----

So, The Boy Wonder "TBW" decides it's a fishing weekend and his favourite location is agreed upon.

The Res has been good to us this year from roach in the frost early-on, through rudd, perch, tench and even a proper crucian but, since the Challenge commenced TBW had not seen a tench to his own rod

The imaginary Golden Maggot would get an airing too

Weapons were chosen for the duel:
TBW - 1 rod - maggot and hemp feeder at 30m
F,F&F - float fished bread at 2 rods out (and a sneaky chopped worm feeder down the inside on the wand)

The level had dropped and colour with it

Standard Custom and Practice ensued...
I catch my biggest fish first cast and TBW casts his rig off and spent the next hour in state of general faffulence

Yes that first throw of the flake and up pops the float to reveal the clutch screaming surge of a 4lbs 5ozs 8drm male tench, but that was that

Total Bloody Womble "TBW" eventually gets into the swing and as per usual proceeds to tease two decent tench of 3.3 and 3.5 with a bigger one lost on his last cast to pluck the total weight prize from my grasp with some excellent counter-attacking. Draw the opposition out and into a sense of security then hit them hard. Perhaps Jurgen Klopp could learn from this boy Womble

Result:
TBW - Total weight 6.8; total species 1; number of fish 2. Points 1
FF&F - Total weight 6.0; total species 2; number of fish 4. points 2
Never in doubt

----

My staple water the North Oxford Canal is very poor at present. Few fish, much colour and boat traffic high.

A move to the short length of conjoined Grand Union and Oxford Canals, even with its essential bow to stern flotilla from 8am or so, has been far more productive and a new area of attack has offered surprising all round  quality.

The wind could have been awkward hence the choice of an east-facing bend which was inevitably capable of offering shelter whichever forecast one favoured.

The local farmers were flat-out flattening-out the fields for winter fare. It seems but yesterday that the dust of the harvest clogged the airways but now there is no sign; the reaping, rolling, ploughing, tilling and drilling all complete in perfect linear patterns.

When everything else is failing revert to what you know. In this instance mashed bread and chopped worm. That approach on two rods produced a marvellous catch of just over ten pounds in two hours this very morning.

It was not the overall catch however but the size of the best fish of each species that made the eyes bulge, like Marty Feldman on speed.

The trend of the sequence caught with this approach when bream are present usually goes: bream/hybrids then a roach, or maybe two, then when that dies (by reverting to the worm rig) it's perch and the odd zander.

This morning followed the protocol to the letter with five bronze bream to 2lbs 2ozs followed by the best roach of the campaign yet at a cracking 1.10.0, albeit a fish of two halves with the anterior of a definite two pounder and a posterior that suggested a pounder, then five perch to 1.13.13 plus a zed-let.

That hard fighting roach would sit proudly in the top F,F&F canal roach list and, without checking, probably at around 6th or 7th.

It's 10am now and, the morn only having been sufficiently light 7am, already it's bums on (heated) seats and foot down heading off for a breakfast but not before a triple take as the last of today's many less than immaculate narrowboats chugged through...two years since we'd spoken I'd estimate...and there he was, a little changed by the passage of that time. Duncan, a good former angler, now operating on the dark surface of the water - with the odd dabble when the mood takes no doubt.

----

The Bloggers Challenge is at an odd stage.

Many of the summer species are tabled and those that passed many of us by, largely those of flowing water, are not feeding due to a lack of rain.

For my part then it's purely a case of enjoying the fishing with no particular target other than whatever occurs, or at least for now.

Canal Research gets Silver Liting

There was a time when the pursuit of big canal fish was a combined effort. Committed anglers pooling information to inform a common goal.

Then that all changed two winters ago and since the furrow had been ploughed alone with neither horse nor spreadsheet.

A chance encounter with a bankside acquaintance has changed all that however with our work on 'the project' stimulating the latent traditional angler in an otherwise rubber fetishist mind (as a hitherto devout lure angler).

Witnessing the early morning success of bread on the canal had inspired him into a burst of activity on a canal I last fished in an NFA West Midlands Junior Championship precisely 40 years ago.

Results have been comparable with those I too have experienced and at last there is a sounding board out there, a catch-it net from which to pluck some rebounds.

Eric Weight authored an excellent lure fishing blog "Artficial Lite" which he then had to mothball due to the age old problem, but now it's back and now adorned with a separate glittering subsection "Silver Lite" in which he eloquently sets-out his findings in this new venture.

Initially Eric has had little difficulty in depicting my dear old self as a complete know-all (clearly he is a good judge of character) but hopefully by sharing what we've gleaned through the research and ramblings of F,F&F he can subjugate the learning process and cut to the chase of the chase on the cut.

Silver Lite is proving the fish of the Ashby de la Zouch Canal to be more akin to heavy metal by the weight of numbers of large hybrids Eric has teased into the net via dawn, and even pre-dawn, presented flake.

I joined him for a tough session on a recent Saturday morning and found the canal very much reminiscent of my local North Oxford Canal in appearance and, possibly, stocks. The main noteworthy difference being the sheer size of its armoured space invaders; one of which I had to net and must've been nigh-on half a pound!

Eric has been having some great early morning catches and has recently tracked down some decent roach to just over the pound mark so there is potential in that cut, albeit, for myself, it's a few minutes further than I like to regularly travel.

Interrogating the map however reminded me that other lengths of the Ashby do run closer to home and must be worth some attention this winter, especially in sheltered countryside locations.

Thankfully it is generally a rural canal.

----

And so the canal campaign begins...

Today I sit writing with rising, recently seeded fields before me, migrating skylark and occasional meadow pipit calling overhead. The water now turbid as the passing narrowboats exceed double figures.

On the inside of this wide piled bend I had hoped.

The clarity at dawn was perfect for some 'bread fish' as well as those susceptible to the odd large worm.

These mornings however can never be lengthy. If the canals were closed they would soon be clear so, yes, we do need boats but the resultant short sharp sessions need to be very focussed to avoid wastage.

Good things are always possible...



Roach X bream hybrid 2lbs 1oz

 

Roach 0.14.2

 

Perch 2lbs 1oz & a few more challenge point

The above formed part of this mornings 11 fish, 9lbs catch from an area I'd been meaning to visit for three years but for various reasons didn't make

It was certainly an education and were it not for a mad spell of fifteen minutes during which four bites came to both rods simultaneously and all ended-up being completely missed.

It's clearly going to be a while before we get back in the groove!

----

BLOGGER'S CHALLENGE UPDATE:
1 James Denison 999
2 George Burton 771
3 Brian Roberts 623
4 Danny Everitt 503
5 Sean Dowling 428

The Worm has Turned

These past few weeks, trips to the Highlands notwithstanding, I have been trialling a new lob worm method to try to enable the use of whole large worms while attempting to eliminate, or at the very least reduce, the problem of missed bites either due to the hook being in one place on the worm and the fish being in another or indeed the problem of the worm simply tangling the rig up and leaving the hook central to a clump of earthworm flesh

Why it has taken quite this long to think of it I am not sure. Maybe because I have been preoccupied with bread for so long and worm/dead bait fishing has very much been the also-ran method, who knows

Anyway, as the impending summer started to dawn on me and the winter methods perhaps lost their gloss a little, with increased canal boat traffic, I wanted to make more of this simple but undoubtedly effective bait

I came to thinking about an old Tony Miles rig, akin to sea fishing, which uses hooks tied to the main line off bottom with the rod pointed at the sky and a lead on the deck. Helicopter rig style but without the hook links. It was pretty much the most crude rig I have ever used but it has helped in weedy situations where the lead could be cast into gaps and the rod held high allowing worms to dangle into those ‘mid’-water gaps for feeding fish to see their movement

I had tried a watered-down version on the canal but with little success and very little can be caught well off bottom on the canal when it comes to big fish at the best of times, so that clearly wasn’t the solution

Fiddling about tying short hook links for helicopter rigs for tench gave me the idea, I had an image of a great long ‘hair’ tail with another hook tied to it. Obviously I had to retie the bottom one first to then tie the top one but this gave me two hooks about 3 to 4 inches apart and I could hang the head of the lob on the top one and the tail on the end hook such that, if set correctly, it would appear that the worm was rising-up out of the silt head first and straining to get up into the water. I have been holding the lobs on crimped-barb hooks with dark red rubber maggots to enhance the appearance rather like the old red wool on the trebles of spinners

Of course as soon as I come-up with the idea I Google it to find that someone is already marketing them for trout fishing with worms in various patterns although the hook size is not stated

The original idea was to maximise the zander and perch pulling potential. Most of my larger canal perch have come either to a whole worm cut to leach the fluids on a size 6 to 10 hook or one a whole lob cut into two or three sections on a similar hook, the latter being a successful way of avoiding the issue raised above but not good at preventing the wrap over of the hook point we are all so familiar with

Following the theme, thus far I have generally used two size 8 specimen hooks and over three or four trips as yet the results have been, well, odd. Or maybe simply surprising.
Very few canal fish species outside the usual two predators have I taken on worms over the last couple of years and yet, presenting the bait in this way, that has all immediately changed, though admittedly I have been fishing the GUC rather than the NOXC I’ve frequented more in the past

Trip 1: Bronze bream 3lbs, 1.12. Perch 10ozs. Zander 5ozs.

Trip 2: Perch 1.6, 1lb. Zander 4ozs. 1 signal crayfish!

Trip 3: Silver bream 1.3, 1.7. Eel 9ozs.

The two silver bream one recent evening from close to a lock gate were completely unexpected as I don’t think I have taken one on anything other than bread…ever.

I am going to keep pursuing the method, trying finely snipping to release fluids and injecting air for more attraction to see what effect that might have.

The Stillwater interest has continued while also absorbing information on forthcoming river options nearby in the process.

The search took me to an unusual, small, deep venue this weekend that had a jumbled mix of species. In fact if The Fishing Race still existed in pursuit of ‘the golden maggot’ then this would surely be a good starter. First perch then roach, bronze bream, rudd, mirror carp, tench and common carp. All were susceptible to maggots and rubber baits over a carpet of hemp.

3.13 bream

First up the little roach and perch (too little!) were keen to intercept the double maggot hookbaits but, after heavier feeding, slowly they lost interest and the bites that ensued included a surprise 3.13 bronze bream and a 2lbs-odd mirror carp.

Next day the maggots remained in the fridge and a few fish were taken on rubber offerings of various shapes and sizes including a mirror of 9.6, a small common, a little tench and then there was  the one that got away...naturally, we all have to have one.
Once bites had subsided over the previous days' topped-up feed the worm rig sprang to mind

It has long fascinated me how an apparently dead swim can be brought back to life by something real; something, well, writhing (sorry mother)

Suddenly the dormant situation was transformed...immediately bites occurred and a ‘certain’ ten pounds-odd catch was boosted, first by a quality perch of 2.4 and then a bigger carp at 12.12. Other ‘tiddler’ bites occurred but it was enough to demonstrate, again, that a logical change away from contemporary thinking and back to the past should not be ignored. The humble, and whole, lobworm had turned the catch that would not be settled for into a twenty-eight pound catch. A p.b. carp (I’m not a carp angler), my biggest fish ever (I’m not that kind of big fish hunter) and a 2017-best perch. All by a simple change to a juicy natural active hookbait.

So, to add to the previous list:

[Trip 4 (stillwater): Perch 2.4 and 3ozs, Mirror carp 12.12].

The future is in the past.

----

BLOGGERS CHALLENGE 2017-18
Top 5 to Date:

George Burton 340
Brian Roberts 280
Daniel Everitt 274
James Denison 259
Russell Hilton 258

I thought I'd publish this while it lasts! No one has yet targeted small species though. That could radically change the situation

So How's it been Going?

So how has it been Going?

Three weeks into the challenge today and the starting tactic of filling some common stillwater & canal species in before June 16th is underway.

The main target has been stillwater fish as it's not something I've done much of in the past.

Any points scored on such venues are a bonus but the water has only just crept up to the sort of temperatures associated with catching a few fish and thus good days can be often followed by bad.

----

Writing, I sit canalside, the breeze keeping the fingers moving searching for a degree of warmth. The glowing dome of the zed alarm wiggles like a florescent catwalk model in the flow of lock water.

Earlier it was exciting.

Fish came to bread and worms regularly resulting in the springtime early morning catch of around ten pounds.

The aim was a good hybrid, to 'up' the bream figures and also find some big perch.

Only the bream played ball but the fish are spawned out; battered, beaten and bruised now. The three pounder having shed at least 5ozs earlier this month.

Skylark serenade on all sides here though and whether the plan works or fails there is pleasure to be had. Indeed with the tackle neatly and firmly tucked, zipped and tied away I continue to sit. The gentle throb of the tenth approaching narrowboat contrasting an urgent, flickering sunlit ripple on the rushy bend.

Manky flotsam adorns the once uninterrupted clear surface, but that's why we're here. If the wind blows the blossom petals, twigs, ripped vegetation and crisp packet debris here then fish will be below, gleaning what nourishment they can from the propeller-scoured base of this murky water snake.

The species count is impressive given the oftdays simplicity of the approach.

Warburton's best dragging roach, silver bream and bronze bream into instant feeding activity; and worms with a trialled new perch and zander tactic slowly producing both species (in tiny sizes!) and two good bream, best just a stickleback over three pounds, the other shedding the hook of a size most commonly observed at sea.

Today the Grand Union was chosen despite being the first boat-intensified day of the little darlings' school break.

It was inevitable the session would be short.

It's now 09.30 and already the early bath & prospect of bacon beckons. Sat waiting for the remnants of the action to dry from the crusting mesh, contemplation of the traffic begins. Numerous vessels have passed and always the compulsory, every man for himself, throttle-happy nematode amongst them. It's only to be expected.

Meanwhile the sedge warbler has rattled, trilled and squeaked-out his incessant song from various perches. The sun has risen and the heat now bakes the knees through long-since superfluous waterproofs.

So the upshot is a few more bream points and likewise for perch but the latter can wait until winter.

The pursuit of summer fish that cannot be relied upon in the winter must now prevail.
Carp, crucians, Stillwater bream, rudd, etc. These must be the quarry, together with those odd species that I never fish for but are nonetheless listed and relevant in the challenge.

----

The stillwater tench campaign has been a reasonable success given the paucity of local options for  big fish, by that I'm thinking 7lbs or more.

Around twenty have been banked, the best this cracker of a female at 6.4

but outdone in the beauty stakes by an earlier 4.13 just two days ago.

No comparison.

Among the above fish came a complimentary roach just under a pound and a half which was very welcome, and we'll aim to beat next winter, together with decent rudd and perch, but both stand to be usurped, with any luck, later in the year too.

----

The biggest challenge though will surely be the summer river period. A situation I naturally associate with small fish of many species.

THAT will need to change.

BIG CANAL ROACH and the WINTER CHALLENGE - An Update and Summary.

When big canal roach first became the object of the new found angling affections some four years ago the old match fishing bread punch methods had initially been employed but it needed something more selective as the prospect of racing to catch three or four pounds of middlin' fish on the pole had lost its gloss long before.

Larger baits helped although the white crumb feed still meant smaller fish would whittle the bait down until it fitted their sub-hookbait-sized mouths.

The same pole floats used all those years ago happened to be perfect with their long cane tips and body-down shape allowing good bite detection and sufficient bulk shotting to enable the traditional, Fred J Taylor type, lift bite method to be employed for unbeatable sensitivity.

Then research into roach fishing history suggested mashed bread might be the answer as feed. What appealed about that was the likelihood that smaller fish might be choked-off by it. This proved generally to be true and in, perhaps naive, pursuit of the option on canals even the crusts were mashed to a degree ensuring offerings of sufficient bulk to interest and hold a shoal of passing pound-plus fish could at least provide enough of a lull in their ritualistic activities to pluck one or two from the midst of the shoal before they collectively continued their instinctive wanderings.

This certainly worked and soon it became apparent that the target fish could be extracted before the rest were either spooked or simply drifted past.

There were issues with the pole though. The scale of the hook-bait determined the hook size needed to be 16, or 14 in coloured warm weather water, and to sink this hook in on the the strike required reasonably strong pole elastic (for roach on canals) at around no.6. There was an issue here though in that the fish could then go berserk in the feeding zone on the strike.

Others were using rod and line but initially to the, then unflinching, indoctrinated match fishing mind, this could never be as good...until the certainty dawned that presentation couldn't be any worse, as the method was so indelicate as not to require a pole to present it. This was something if a breakthrough in many respects:

- less kit to carry

- the prospect if roving

- no cold hands in heavy early frosts

- no handling a wet pole in the rain

But, most importantly, the ability to strike and draw fish immediately from the shoal combined with benefits in the more inaccurate approach, which enabled the idea of spreading feed more widely to form. Whereas a match angler will be looking to concentrate the fish by feeding tightly this was no longer necessary as often only one fish would be expected and so it helped the prospect of multiple catches resulting in the fed bait being thrown in a metre diameter ring rather than all in one spot.

At this point the peak size was 1lb 4ozs and the average of those over a pound was, unsurprisingly, a touch above 1.2

I knew that bigger average sized fish were being taken on whole lobworms in the depths of winter but with sessions of around two hours available early mornings the thought of sitting freezing awaiting one bite, or no bites, that might easily be missed, was no choice at all. More action was required than that!

One morning in winter a risk was taken, but it was no risk really, if it went wrong it was only one swim and session wasted, and another peg could always be tried. Three or four handfuls of mash were introduced at the outset. Enough to render a winter match peg stone dead with immediate effect....but it worked. Not only was it successful in producing more target fish it also increased the average size to 1.5.10 and the ceiling rose to over one and a half pounds, then further topped by what at the time seemed a freak/fluke fish of a minnow under two pounds four in 2013. I say a fluke because it was fully ten ounces bigger than the next best.

During this whole period the hookbait size was a 15 to 20mm punch but with the advent if greater initial feed quantities came the realisation that a bait that cut out pretty much all fish below the twelve ounce mark would not be detrimental in any way and would undoubtedly pick out the real target, being the biggest fish in the swim. 

Nowadays the hookbait varies from 20mm diameter upwards and is doubled-over and hooked through the thick outer curve created, such that the hook is subsumed within the floating glob of soggy bread in the water.

Bites usually come within about fifteen minutes, sometimes as long as 45, but if it is necessary to wait that long another peg has usually already been primed for the move.

A concerted effort over the past winter has resulted in 27 one pound-plus roach from the Grand Union and Oxford canals, taking the total since returning to the angling fold, and since this particular obsession commenced, to well over 100.

 

----

WINTER 2016/17 BIG ROACH CHALLENGE - Top 10:

 

1.15.5
1.9.11*
1.7.6
1.7.3*
1.7.0*
1.6.8*
1.6.8*
1.6.3*
1.5.13*
1.5.3* 
 

Others: 1.4.10, 1.4.6, 1.4.6, 1.4.2, 1.3.6, 1.3.6*, 1.3.0, 1.3.0, 1.3.0*, 1.2.5, 1.2.5*, 1.1.14, 1.1.10, 1.1.10*, 1.1.10*, 1.0.10, 1.0.8.

[GUC unless *NOXC]

 

----

All-time F, F & F Canal Top 10 Roach:

2.3.10*

1.15.5
1.13.0*
1.11.8
1.9.11*
1.9.11*
1.9.4*
1.8.5*
1.8.5*
1.7.6

So what does this show?

- Firstly that canals with an established zander presence have the capacity to be some of the best big roach waters outside the pits and lakes of established specimen repute. 

- Tiny hooks, fine lines and careful feeding are not the way to consistently catch the very biggest roach on canals.

- That there is no substitute for experience, research and implementation in achieving a goal and then extending the boundaries of possibility.

- That the quantity of big roach present is staggering, having only once knowingly caught the same fish twice.

- It is possible to have multiple catches of four and five fish over a pound in one short session.

- 99% of these fish have been caught within 20 minutes of home.

 

----

F, F & F - THE NEXT GENERATION(?)
 

TBW has generally had a tenancy to seek perch on worms and so last weekend he decided it was high time he had a go for his first pound-plus canal roach.

From my own efforts over the previous fortnight it was clear they were 'avin' it and as the weather had remained steady the likelihood was there.

In the 1st swim we both fished either side of the feed zone, our unfathomably large flake torn from a medium slice wafting three inches off bottom, floats set to burst through the surface when dear old geriatric rutilus lifted it's head and dislodged the anchor shot.

Could he get a bite? Four fish to yours truly for no valid reason whatsoever including one at 1.3.6 and a surprise rudd. Then his float tows off and a 4 ounce roach is swung to hand!

An old fish with loose scales, this one

Swim 2 had caused me a nightmare a week prior. Ten bites, 2 fish...but they were there and three of 'em had somehow been bumped-off the hook...biorhythm imbalance or something.

It went much the same, 2 lost fish, both good ones but unseen, and then, after a boat had reduced the perhaps over-clarity of the water a touch, he was in.

A deft playing of the fish on his new rod and centrepin, and, with no hiccoughs at all, it lay sparkling in the net, TBW'S teeth to match.

1.2.10, target well and truly hit and last bite of the morning as the boat traffic grew heavier.

It's not often one catches the target first time but this boy has the knack. I think this is the third time; 3lb chub, 2lb perch, now a pound roach!

----

FOOTNOTE:

For those wondering (we hope there are many!), Russell and I are due to make a detailed announcement on the Bloggers, Challenge in the next week or so in plenty of time for a May 1st start.

 

POLE FEEDER in FLOOD CONDITIONS for ROACH and CHUB...AND BLOGGERS CHALLENGE NEWS!

 

Opting for the pole on a small river or stream with the usual prevalence of snags and other potential banana skins may seem foolhardy on the face of it.

The seasoned angler who may have fished with a pole back in the days when we referred to them as Roach Poles and flirted with thin white elastic, tiny floats, light lines and miniscule hooks would certainly find the idea questionable with memories of yards and yards of uncontrollable light elastic coming into play when a big fish took the bait under extreme, or any, conditions. I distinctly recall The Old Duffer hooking tench and carp in a side-arm off the River Nene some decades ago when the main river was a raging chocolate torrent. All the fish knew where to shelter of course, and so did he. Fibreglass pole in hand, aluminium crook and 6 or 9 inches of dangling elastic made very hard work of landing anything over a pound!

Today the pole fishing world is much changed. While the weight of poles is not much different the stiffness and power is hugely improved and the prospect of using elastics that could tow a small car is only too real.

Against that intro then the pole on snaggy streams is not so daft an idea but, that said, I would not suggest it is any substitute for an Avon rod in tight situations with snags all-round but when there is space to wield the thing, and slacks and creases to take advantage of, then it offers more than float fishing and ledgering in the conventional sense during the colder months. 

It is often the case that rivers fluctuate in depth, colour and flow for the majority of the January – early March period and this is the time when the method is at its most useful, although it does have its uses for a few fish in clear deep water too when perhaps all else would fail during daylight.

The biggest issue with fishing the ‘tip on streams is the finicky bites of smaller fish. It is not, these days, in my own modus operandi to pursue small fish anyway but it has become quite clear the vast majority of roach to this method are over 3 ounces, and often over 6 ounces, but of course it is more the effect of the winter state of river causing this; a time when ‘bits’ are less susceptible to an anglers bait for whatever reason.



4lbs 4 ounces of roach at a good stamp on an otherwise difficult day

The benefit of the pole is that innate feel for what is going on under the surface and associated instant contact with the fish.

Over the past three seasons I have been slowly working on this method each winter when circumstances allowed and eventually coming to terms with the issues and finding solutions. Some of these came from the internet, via websites and YouTube, others were worked out on the hoof, but the way I use it now is good enough to produce a few fish, and very regularly good fish, when all else available is a touch too hit and miss to be reliable.

So how does it work?

I am not big in technical stuff these days as it can very quickly get boring and so I will keep that to the point but, as I alluded to in the previous post, there is one particularly ingenious little dodge that cannot go unmentioned...

The biggest issue as with ledgering for roach is the fish feeling the rod tip and smelling a water rat. The answer is to use a separate short length of fine pole elastic, the old no2 (red) or 3 (green) will usually suit, at the top of the main line of the rig and attached parallel to it in a manner that enables the tension of the line alongside it to be adjusted, for this fairly stiff pole float rubbers about 10-15mm long plugged with an off-cut of pole float bristle do the trick. It is however far easier to look at a diagram!

The idea being that the line between pole tip and feeder is held tight so that the little slack in the mainline enables the fish to pull against the light elastic for 3 or 4 inches (75-100mm) before it meets the more solid resistance of tightened main line and pole tip/main elastic.

The other unusual part of the rig is that it does not require float, to do so would not work as the rest of the line needs to be held tight, as in normal ledgering. All one needs therefore is a simple marker and so chunky pole float bristle, fixed double-rubber, held so that the majority of it is above the water does the job...although I am about to make a further experiment here which I will report back on as, currently, this is the weakest part of the system.

The feeder end of the set-up is fairly standard. A 20g upwards cage feeder (to suit the flow) will do although proprietary ones with the weight in the base are best as this leaves the line above it in more direct contact with the business end.

The feeder is attached, via a beaded clip, on a 4" (100mm) loop to a 1 to 3 foot (300-900mm) hook-length, which in my experience usually ends up at around 18" (450mm) long, and with shot about 5" (125mm) from the hook varying from no8 to no4 again dictated by the flow and (lack or scarcity of) bites.

Finally to the main pole elastic. This does need to be heavy elastic as one needs to subdue those occasional chub. 16 seems to be ideal. This may sound heavy-handed but with the flow, the feeder and the fish a good foot will often show and, as long as those roach are handled gently to the net, there will be no concern at all about preconceived over-gunning.  

Technicalities out of the way then, the actual fishing is very simple...this is the bit that no one else explains!

Somewhat obviously the depth is plumbed with the feeder (best done before adding the hook-length) and the marker bristle ideally wants to be set around 6" (150mm) over-depth.

Personally the preferred bait (be shocked!) is bread. Coarsely liquidised in the feeder and a pinch of flake in varying sizes on the 14 or 16 spade end (for lightness) hook but, again seeking those bigger stamp fish, never smaller than a five pence piece (That said, Iobworms in low feed-content ground bait or molehill is also a good bet when the water is heavily turbid, using sections or indeed whole lob's on a 10 or 8 hook).

Let's assume, for starters, that the depth and flow suit fishing to hand, with the line, say, a foot or so shorter than the pole. The feeder is swung-out downstream and allowed to gently 'plop' through the surface about a metre below the spot where you intend to hold the float, and of course, on small streams, the background can vary massively so being able to see the marker is key in the decision.

The pole is then held tight to the feeder as it sinks against the pole in an upstream direction with the marker above the surface until it is felt to hit the bottom...and if you aren't sure whether this has occurred the feeder is too light and is being held-up by the flow...the marker can then be lowered (still on a tight line) upstream and down toward the surface until it is just touching the water, and held there. This action makes sure that the line is not vertical to the feeder which gives a more direct line from fish to marker without it feeling the feed so much and also gives a degree of latitude in holding the pole whereas a vertical marker is also very difficult to hold in place.

Bites are often very positive in fish above six ounces and sometimes will straighten the slack line parallel with the extra elastic feature such that the bite is felt on the pole before you can even react. Chub regularly do this. More tentative bites however are often magnified by just allowing the marker to hang a fraction more freely at the onset of a bite, thus allowing the fish less resistance once you realise it is interested.



3lbs plus chub on pole feeder

The strike can be straight through the line of marker to feeder and then the fish will be drawn upstream, gauging its size as you go. If it is a bigger fish, perhaps a chub, then do not hesitate to put a significant bend in the pole to keep it out of snags. The heavy elastic is incredible at not only controlling the fish but somehow the lack of a solid resistance, such as it might feel with a rod, makes the fish less likely to 'try anything silly'. This may sound odd, and until it is experienced it is hard to believe, but it is undoubtedly true that fish fight harder on a powerful rod than on an elasticated pole. I am certain they feel more 'concern' the more direct the contact, which is logical.

The second critical point when playing a fish is the need to play it out completely before bringing it too close to the bank to net it. The main failing of the pole is that, subject to the sudden last minute lunging of the fish to get under the near bank, there will be insufficient control.



Biggest chub on the method to date at three pounds, seven ounces

I have tended to find that bites will come within the first three 'drops' (they can barely be described as casts!) and, again odd though it may sound, I am happy to rove with minimal kit until I find creases and slacks that have the target fish in them. Once the fish are found sport can be very entertaining and with the fish often inclined to move around slacks under flood conditions it is often necessary to keep moving the feeder position to keep the bites coming after the initial burst of bites.

Again in my experience, a bite seems to come a certain time after the rig has been settled into the right position and I always believe, though have no actual proof other than the ever-expanding gut, that this is the time it takes for the bread to become waterlogged and soft.

----

Okay. All clear so far?

To the final, trickiest, but again very inventive part of the method (I can say that as I didn't come-up with the idea!). Most pole anglers will be aware of the difficulty in shipping-out a pole with bread on the hook and not losing it on the way out, or, in other situations, snagging the rig and any bait in nearside vegetation.

The above assumed fishing 'to hand' but if you need to add and remove joints to perform the task how do you keep the feeder and bait out of the water until the time is right?

The answer is, as often with these things, very simple and yet a perfect solution.

Cable ties!

Simply wrap a cable tie around the pole a few inches short of the distance between pole tip and feeder; cut the tail off leaving about 3/4" (20mm) projecting up on the side of the pole where your spare hand is (in most cases to the right) and simply hang the line off this as you ship-out. When  you get to the correct length twist the pole with tip held high until the line falls off and lay the feeder in the water once you have requisite control of the swinging weight. These are the sort of tricks, I could never fathom as my wind doesn't work in that way, very impressive thinking indeed, and it's easy to carry a few cable ties of varying length as they weight nothing. One word of warning however - it is no challenge to crush a modern pole so please do not be tempted to over-tighten they only need to grip and this can be achieved by attaching them loosely and sliding them along.

So that is about it. The feed levels and therefore sometimes feeder size will vary from river to river but experimentation on the day will soon sort this out.

Good luck, only about three weeks to go now but, with rivers continually above normal level currently, it is a method well worth the effort of adding to the repertoire in my humble view.


----


BIG WINTER CANAL ROACH CHALLENGE 2016/17

I am told the phrase 'red letter day' refers back to the old tradition, still practiced, of using red ink for special days on calendars and the like.

In that case I have one thing to state here: 22nd February 2017

A date when this happened on the North Oxford canal in an area I had neglected since last winter...

The best single catch of big canal roach to date.

The glow still pervades I must confess, like a Ready Brek advert of old...but with a special diamond and rubies recipe.


----


!! A NEW BLOGGERS CHALLENGE 2017-18 !!

Myself and Russell (yes, he's back!), are intending to run a Bloggers Challenge very much along the lines of the 2015-16 model but with the added small species bleak, gudgeon and ruffe.

This time round it won't be necessary to be author of a blog so long as your fish are reported in photographic form on someone's blog (Martin!) before they are recorded on the spreadsheet.

I am seeking 'expressions of interest', as Land Agents would say, with a view to commencing at 00.01hrs on May 1st 2017, splitting the close season neatly in two. This should give us all plenty of time to seek-out suitably accurate small fish kitchen scales and for the spreadsheeet to be readied and all registered to access it.

'Can't wait!