In fishing terms, 2016 could hardly have got off to a worse start for me. My pursuit of pike had resulted in two floodwater blanks followed by the "capture" of my largest ever river pike, which would have been the cause of celebration had the net not broken as Wayne, my fishing partner for the day, carried my beaten prize up the bank; in a horrible instant, the pike dropped from the net to the steeply sloping wet grass, and with a flip of its body threw the hooks and slid back into the river. Caught and landed, but never touched, held, weighed or photographed- she looked to be about 16 or 17 pounds, and still haunts my dreams, slipping in slow motion, freeze frame style, back to her watery home. Things could only get better ......... and, today, they did.
6:50am saw me standing outside work, waiting for my lift to the Oxford Canal. Greg, Roger, Pete and I were making the journey to Banbury to meet up with Keith, who we'd got to know through the Christian Anglers UK website and forum, and who- it hadn't escaped our attention- catches more than his fair share of quality perch. We fancied a piece of his action, and, like the true gentleman that he is, Keith was happy to try to "provide the introductions" between us and his local stripeys.
The day was cold, but mostly clear, with the exception of one early afternoon, fifteen minute attempt at a flurry of snow, and although fingers grew incrementally colder as the session wore on, we had little reason to complain. The canal looked inviting, and Keith was confident. He informed us not to expect large numbers of fish, but assured us that most of the fish we caught, particularly the perch that we were targeting, would be of good quality and above average size, and so it turned out to be.
We had been warned that it would take a while to get the fish going, and that the drill was to pick a line and feed steadily on a little and often basis, and so it was a surprise when, just a few minutes into the session, Greg hooked a fish. Even more surprising was the fact that it was a small rudd.
I chose to fish with red maggot on a size 18 hook and a 2 lb bottom, with a 4lb mainline, and teamed a 10 foot float rod up with a recently acquired 47 year old, vintage Mitchel 304 CAP reel. Along with loose fed maggots I introduced small balls of brown crumb, laced with chopped worms and a good squirt of Predator Plus. After about an hour my float dipped, and I was playing my first perch of the day.
The fish pulled determinedly before succumbing to the net wielded for me by Pete. A fine looking perch which, on the scales, went 1 pound 8 ounces, and looked handsome on the mat along with the vintage reel and Norfolk reed waggler.
It wasn't long before Pete, too, was playing an indignant perch to the net, a slightly smaller fish, but boldly striped and no less beautiful.
As the day wore on, as predicted by Keith, bites were not easy to come by, but when the float did slide away, the culprit was usually a decent stamp of fish. Pete added another perch (this time on legered worm), before I completed the brace with a second perch, more vividly coloured than the first, but tipping the scales at exactly the same weight of a pound and a half.
Pete and I were on two perch apiece, Keith had caught a perch of about a pound and a roach, Greg's total was still the solitary rudd, but as we approached packing up time, Roger was still yet to catch. Thankfully, he rallied with a late flurry and landed his own brace of perch.
It would be wrong to imply that it had been an easy few hour's fishing. In four hours between the five of us we landed only nine fish, but the perch had all been attractive fish, hump backed, hard fighting, deep bellied sergeants with cavernous mouths. It had been a pleasure to make Keith's acquaintance on the bank, having got to know him through the "virtual" internet world of Christian Anglers UK, and the peaceful surroundings and camaraderie conspired to conjure up an entirely enjoyable day. A pair of pound and a half perch had "made my day", and if fish (as well as eternal salvation) are a gift of God's grace, Divine providence had certainly smiled kindly on me.
2016 is finally up and running.
