I struggle to think of a more productive fishing trip than the one I have just returned from. Several things were learned. Not least, the reinforcement of something that I thought I discovered last summer: hemp is a much better option than crumb for prebaiting. I also learned that March isn't too early to try out these tactics. In fact, I have often wondered about the effectiveness that prebaiting would have through the winter months for species like bream? It is never written about. Something to consider maybe, but not for several months now, thankfully.
I paid three visits to this morning's spot through the week - on Tuesday, Thursday and last night - to scatter a little hemp and corn into the swim. The hemp was prepared between trips through the use of a flask. I got the seed/water/air ratio a bit wrong on the first attempt, resulting in an almighty explosion as soon as I even slightly loosened the lid on Tuesday evening. Thing nearly decapitated me! It was a bad attempt all round actually, as much of the hemp stayed floating, however latter efforts saw every last seed sink, which is not even possible by boiling.
Even though I was fishing for tench, and had prepared a swim for tench, I still hoped that the canal's big perch might put in an appearance one last time before spawning takes place, whereupon they will leave my thoughts entirely for six months. I had with me a sack of dendrabenas, and in an attempt to bring cost down, I didn't pick up any maggots or casters to accompany the chopped stuff, instead introducing it with a sprinkle of hemp and half a dozen grains of sweetcorn at a time. Rather than feed big cupfuls, I planned to feed smaller amounts more often.
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Arriving a little before six, I was hoping for some pretty instant action. However, I know that early starts rarely pan out this way for tench. Whilst you might expect a bream first drop in the gloom, tench nearly always feed a bit later and it can take an hour to get them on it. First fish wasn't a tench, or a bream, but a cracking stripey of 2lb, which took a worm and corn cocktail. Then came my best fish of the morning, my best tench from the Taunton to Bridgwater Canal ever, and my heaviest canal tench for 3 years, weighing 5lb 3oz.
Then followed another fat perch of around a pound and a half before things calmed down for while and I started looking more closely at my rig, as I suspected there were more fish around. I decided to move all of the shot on my rig (a bulk of number 8s and one number 8 dropper) up the line about six inches, as I do think that tench like to watch the bait fall. They might be a bottom feeder but I've caught too many after lifting and dropping my rig for it to be a coincidence. The next bite was instant, and the next two hours saw a procession of tench succumb. In the middle of these were two more good perch; another around the 2lb mark, and the best of the four I took in total, weighing 2lb 7oz. There was even time to bump off two more good fish (probably tench) and get bitten off by a couple of pike.
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In all, I spent around 3½ hours fishing, and the last 30 minutes of these was biteless. I had 8 tench in total for 26lb 8oz, and the four perch combined to add a level 8lb to the keepnet. This would have been a red-letter session had I taken one single-species catch or the other, so I felt especially lucky to have had my early-morning start rewarded with both.
I paid three visits to this morning's spot through the week - on Tuesday, Thursday and last night - to scatter a little hemp and corn into the swim. The hemp was prepared between trips through the use of a flask. I got the seed/water/air ratio a bit wrong on the first attempt, resulting in an almighty explosion as soon as I even slightly loosened the lid on Tuesday evening. Thing nearly decapitated me! It was a bad attempt all round actually, as much of the hemp stayed floating, however latter efforts saw every last seed sink, which is not even possible by boiling.
Even though I was fishing for tench, and had prepared a swim for tench, I still hoped that the canal's big perch might put in an appearance one last time before spawning takes place, whereupon they will leave my thoughts entirely for six months. I had with me a sack of dendrabenas, and in an attempt to bring cost down, I didn't pick up any maggots or casters to accompany the chopped stuff, instead introducing it with a sprinkle of hemp and half a dozen grains of sweetcorn at a time. Rather than feed big cupfuls, I planned to feed smaller amounts more often.
Arriving a little before six, I was hoping for some pretty instant action. However, I know that early starts rarely pan out this way for tench. Whilst you might expect a bream first drop in the gloom, tench nearly always feed a bit later and it can take an hour to get them on it. First fish wasn't a tench, or a bream, but a cracking stripey of 2lb, which took a worm and corn cocktail. Then came my best fish of the morning, my best tench from the Taunton to Bridgwater Canal ever, and my heaviest canal tench for 3 years, weighing 5lb 3oz.
Then followed another fat perch of around a pound and a half before things calmed down for while and I started looking more closely at my rig, as I suspected there were more fish around. I decided to move all of the shot on my rig (a bulk of number 8s and one number 8 dropper) up the line about six inches, as I do think that tench like to watch the bait fall. They might be a bottom feeder but I've caught too many after lifting and dropping my rig for it to be a coincidence. The next bite was instant, and the next two hours saw a procession of tench succumb. In the middle of these were two more good perch; another around the 2lb mark, and the best of the four I took in total, weighing 2lb 7oz. There was even time to bump off two more good fish (probably tench) and get bitten off by a couple of pike.
In all, I spent around 3½ hours fishing, and the last 30 minutes of these was biteless. I had 8 tench in total for 26lb 8oz, and the four perch combined to add a level 8lb to the keepnet. This would have been a red-letter session had I taken one single-species catch or the other, so I felt especially lucky to have had my early-morning start rewarded with both.