Short & Sweet

Short and Sweet!

Well with literary a few hours to kill, I decided to head up to the local Coventry Canal in Bedworth to have a very short session fishing for Zander?

Rods packed into the car, predator kit bag picked up and the frozen Roach collected from the freezer, I was ready to go? The short journey took me all of 5 minutes and I was in my swim by 8:15pm?

I choose a swim which had some overhanging bushes on the far side with some zander looking bays carved into them? The plan of attack was a free running ledger, with a roach head section on my right hand rod, and a light zander bobbin float with a whole roach on my left rod?

The ledger rod was the first to be set up and cast into its spot. Whilst this was in the water the float rod was set up, I had decided to fish really light, so the float was a small bobbin, which had no weights on the line, I was going to rely on the weight of the roach to set the float?

After two boats had came through my swim quite quickly, I could now settle down to fish. The float registered some movement, then started to move with some vigour to my left, the rod struck and I had half expected to see a pike fighting for its freedom, but the familiar thump thump thump, signalled my first zander of the season, a fish all of 1lb 2oz. I was glad that the towpath was empty when I weighed this fish for the challenge competion?

The rod was rebaited and recast out, but both rods remained dormant until I had to pack up and leave at 9:45pm.

Short journey home and I was soon sitting at home with a cuppa and in front of the TV?

Severn Heaven

Well Sunday's fishing trip was supposed to be on the Avon around the Bideford area, but when I was picked up, my fishing buddy wasn't keen to try there as he thought the water is still low, so with a quick change of plan, and a change of postcode in the sat nav, it was off to Hampton Loade on the severn.

When we arrived the signs didn't look good, as we were getting our kit out of the car, another angler came into the car park, when questioned about his day, his response was 'not even a bite all day mate'. We set off anyway asking other anglers along the way, who pretty much gave us a similar response to the first?

Anyway after choosing a couple of pegs, that had a lot of weed in front of us but what appeared deeper water beyond behind them, we set up?

My choice of setup was to use my feeder rod with the heavy tip, fished down to a 6lb bottom? Terminal tackle was a oval swimfeeder with an additional lead weight to hold bottom, Bait was 16mm halibut pellet, the swimfeeder was packed with hemp & red maggot? Loose fed pellets were fed over the top of the swim.

The swim was dead for the first few hours, only small fish knocking the swim feeder I suspect to get the maggots out quicker? At about 5:45 the action started in what was to be a hectic few hours? My buddy Mark was first to get off the mark, a hard fighting Barbel of 6lb dead. Soon after it was my turn to get a fish, the rod tip bouncing twice then doubling over, after a decent fight the fish was landed, a baby at 3lb 4oz. Fish landed, and rod recast out, Marks rod bent into action again, this time a similar size fish to mine landed and released safely. My turn again, this time no indication on the tip, it just bent double, fish on and landed at 5lb 4 oz. The swim then suddenly died and the bites had finished.



We carried on fishing, with neither of us having any indications, just me still getting small fish knocking the swimfeeder, then out of the blue and with an hour to go before we were going to leave the rod bent over once more, and the fish had a good go at ripping it off the rest, but I was on it and into my third fish? This fish powered off on a couple of runs and took line, but it was safely netted and weighed a new PB for me at 6lb 10oz. Then came the surprise, a roach of 12oz hooked cleanly in the top lip on a 16mm pellet, how the how it got hooked I will never know as the pellet was on a hair rig, but a welcome bonus for the challenge?




The light faded and we headed back, with me arriving back in Coventry at 10:45, tired, but very chuffed?