Early morning social on the canal

This week's dawn trip to the canal had a dual purpose- to try out some of my new handmade floats and to fish with Pete, a friend from church who's returning to the angling he enjoyed in childhood after a lengthy adult life induced break.

 

Regular blog readers will know that my normal tactic on these short early morning sessions is to lure fish, a method which has met with recent success, and even the odd pike to accompany the target species of perch. However, I've recently received some new handmade floats (perch bobs and Norfolk reed wagglers) and was eager to try them out.

 

As we were engaged in what was planned to be an extremely casual fishing session- more what the Americans describe as "goofing off" than serious piscatorial activity- we decided to share one rod, take it in turns to fish, and just enjoy the early morning quietness and the company. We elected to go with the Norfolk Reed waggler, and as the canal was running through in the manner of a river, to trot the bait down with the current. We tried worm on a size 12, while loose-feeding red maggots, but it was only after changing to a size 18 hook and double maggot that we started connecting with fish.

 

 

The first fish of the day was a bream, before the ubiquitous perch took over. The fishing was "patchy" with fish coming at intervals, but never really getting going or falling into a pattern. We ended up effectively long-trotting, and bites came from all over the swim, rather than in any concentrated spot. Pete out-caught me ( Venator trumps Piscator in Waltonian terms!), and with the exception of the bream in the photo below all of the fish were perch.

 

 

If truth be told, from a fishing perspective, the morning was a bit of a struggle, but it was nice to float-fish the water for a change, and although the inhabitants of this stretch of canal seem to be mostly small, the fact that we caught a few, coupled with the pleasant surroundings and conversation meant another early morning well spent.

 

We've booked a return trip in a fortnight's time, but this time reverting to the more familiar spinning approach, and I've recently heard a rumour about another stretch of the canal that is (direct quote) "stuffed full of pike, mate."

Plans are, inevitably, being drawn up ....