There weren't that many people fishing which I was surprised about. There were a few pleasure boats as the boating season is just starting to kick in. I was able to get the spot on the right-hand side where the dyke joins the main channel. I was down fishing earlier in the week when a guy pulled out a pike of 20.5lb at this spot - I know this is accurate as he weighed it. I started fishing with a size 14 hook (which looked a small 14 to me) and a float which is designed for carp fishing with a pole. One of the things I have changed in my tackle is to start using a very thin (0.09mm) 2lb leader. I have been reading that fish can be put off from a bait if they sense the line and I wanted to give this a try. Well it was trying. For the first hour or so I was hardly getting a single bite and I was beginning to wonder if driving somewhere else would have been better. However, it was such a nice afternoon that I thought I would stick it out.
I began to try everything. Groundbait. Fishing by the far bank. Deep, not-so-deep, shallow, but to no avail. But then I tried really close in, just under my feet, at a mid-depth and I started to get bites. I was using maggots and I began to feed them, one at a time, but one after the other, into the swim and, low and behold, I started to have success. There was a young boy opposite who wasn't having much luck and he and his friend, who joined him a bit later, seemed impressed by my success! It made me chuckle a bit to myself. Anyway, in the end I had a thoroughly enjoyable afternoon and I plugged away until 5pm, even though it was getting on the chilly side as the sun down.
Here are a couple of fish that I netted that afternoon:-
This small bream of 8 inches in length won't break any records but it was a pleasure to catch.
Likewise for this 8 inch perch which was probably 8oz or so.
All text and images copyright Duncan Hale-Sutton 2017.
