Punching the cut

Today Lady J was booked to go hair cutting so I took the opportunity to grab a few hours on the Grand Union Canal and although the river was calling me I just knew that I'd spend most of the session clearing weed and debris from my tackle as the Ouse is still near to bank high after the recent two months of rain!!

My local section of canal was a no go due to a match taking place so a short drive of five minutes or so was made and I was soon pulling up at a stretch that I had not angled for quite a few years. A shortish walk was made and soon I was settled on a nice sweeping bend that had the added bonus of some near bank cover of high grass and nettles combined. Just like my previous session all I had taken was the 11ft float rod complete with the pin and the plan was to fish the nearside ledge on a light pole float with bread punch and white crumb and the occasional pinch of hemp for added attraction.
After settling down and plumbing up I was soon enjoying bite after bite as small roach and the odd gudgeon were coming to my waiting paws. Now, with it being a Sunday the towpath was busy with joggers,dog walkers,ramblers and loving couples all passing by me at regular intervals with the odd one making all the usual comments like 'have you caught enough for your tea yet' or 'I didn't know there were any fish in here' but the best one being 'bloody hell that's a tiddler'!! With barge after barge also passing by the water itself was also moving backwards and forwards a fair bit but the fish didn't seem put off by the ongoing traffic and soon I had lost count of the amount of fish I had caught.
The nice thing with fishing this way and with it being an open waterway is you never really now what the next bite might be or even how big?

The morning was passing by fairly quickly, I was enjoying the warm sunshine (which makes a bloody change from all the rain we've been experiencing), five last casts were made and within them came the largest fish of my few hours which turned out to be a prestige looking silver of roughly ten ounces or so which left me feeling quite content with my mornings work.

I'd like to end this piece with a word of warning......... Poo is present at a stretch near you so Be Aware! Just as I was packing my kit away I'd bent down to pack some things into the tackle bag and on placing my left hand to the ground it slid from beneath me and soon become apparent that this was not mud, mud does not smell like this mud!! "Shit" I muttered to myself but maybe just maybe it might have been lucky shit so off I went vowing to buy a lottery ticket.

One day, two canals

The alarm rattled its normal annoying tune this morning and nothing had been prepared apart from loading some 4lb line upon my Rapidex pin and coupled with my 11ft float rod. I had to be home for an appointment for 1.30 with the estate agent so time was short, the decision had been made to stay local and revisit my youth.

The Grand Union canal that runs through my hometown was in fact the very first place that a fish graced my hand when I was five years of age. I remember it clearly, a small gudgeon from under the town bridge while sat on an upside down shopping trolley!!

Soon I had the small amount of tackle sorted and was on my way to the cut, a whole three minutes away.

Light rain was falling as I crossed the foot bridge but as I looked left just a shimmer could be seen on the waters surface. The only thing that has changed in all these years are the trees, chopped,butchered and slaughtered.

A light 4x10 pole float was attached and shotted while a size 20 to a 2lb bottom completed the job and was soon being swung out to just over a rod length from my feet. Just as I had lent over to grab a pinch of maggot from the tub, from the corner of my eye I watched as the the tiny bristle just sailed away and on striking I was soon attached and swinging in a small skimmer bream which fitted my hand perfectly. Maggots and a small amount of hemp were being fed every cast and soon I was receiving a bite more or less every chuck.

Skimmers, roach, perch, daddy ruff and not forgetting the beloved little gudgeon were all visiting and at one point I even thought a carp was going to hit the list but unfortunately that had other ideas and spun the centrepin for roughly twenty yards before the hooklink parted and she was gone.

I had forgotten just how busy the canal could be what with runners, dog walkers and kids that were on their way to school and not forgetting the obvious barges.

I was enjoying myself so much that 20 or so last casts were made and nearly made me late but in the end I gave in and told the cut that I'd be back soon.

Now all I had left to do was meet the estate agent and ready some grub for me and the little lady before heading  back to the dentist for a different canal job, a root bugger!! **** my luck, I had not been to the canal to angle for years and yet today I had two visits to attend and I loved it!!