I've fished some rough, dirty polluted stretches of canal in my life, but this particular stretch of the Bridgwater Canal takes some beating. I took one look at it back in March, and decided not to fish; an overgrown, narrow stretch of canal, more bottles and carrier bags than water, and - today - even a dead duck bobbing up and down mid-channel.
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Downstream I could see the docks, which are out of bounds for fishing, whilst to my right the banks were too difficult really to negotiate, though they were far from ideal where I sat either, but I could see fry dimpling so at least there was some activity. I carefully climbed down the bank to position my seatbox where the ground was already somewhat worn and flat, if a bit squidgy. Down went the front legs on my footplate into a couple of inches of water, and as they hit the bed of the canal, up burst an alarming oil slick. This really is the sort of place that reminds you of the threat of Weil's Disease.
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I half expected to catch "Blinky" - the three-eyed mutant fish which anyone who watches The Simpsons might be familiar with, but instead was pleasantly surprised when my first put-in resulted in a little roach on breadpunch. It was solid, even if the fish were half an ounce to an ounce. Eventually I caught a 2oz rudd which seemed a better fish, only for my next bite to result in a heavy, plodding fish. "Bream" was the first thing to spring to mind, but flash of scarlet when the fish rolled gave the game away. I hardly expected such a decent rudd in the shallow muddy waters here, but evidently they are present as I had another around the pound mark a little bit later.
I then slipped my chopped worm rig over to the far bank and the float immediately dragged around the peg as the rudd seemed to be there too. Increasing the hook size to a ten and using a whole lobworm still didn't solve the problem, but between the rudd I had half a dozen perch to 1lb 14oz. I'm sure a two pounder was on the cards, but unfortunately the canal began to tow as some gates were opened in the docks, and a mass of floating debris collected and choked solid my entire swim. I had no choice but to pack up, after fishing for just 2¾ hours.
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I made a half-hearted effort to weigh the catch, just to get an idea. A few fish fell back and I deducted the net afterwards so the process was pretty haphazard but at least quick. In total there was between 12lb and 13lb, which was crazy considering I spent a lot of time bumping fish on the chopped worm rig where the rudd repeatedly folded the bait over the hook. It was also a laborious process unshipping, as I had to break the pole down three times each cast. At least I got home for cricket training (in the rain), but I would liked to have had a good crack at those perch before they spawn. I'd love one of 2lb plus from a canal.
Downstream I could see the docks, which are out of bounds for fishing, whilst to my right the banks were too difficult really to negotiate, though they were far from ideal where I sat either, but I could see fry dimpling so at least there was some activity. I carefully climbed down the bank to position my seatbox where the ground was already somewhat worn and flat, if a bit squidgy. Down went the front legs on my footplate into a couple of inches of water, and as they hit the bed of the canal, up burst an alarming oil slick. This really is the sort of place that reminds you of the threat of Weil's Disease.
I half expected to catch "Blinky" - the three-eyed mutant fish which anyone who watches The Simpsons might be familiar with, but instead was pleasantly surprised when my first put-in resulted in a little roach on breadpunch. It was solid, even if the fish were half an ounce to an ounce. Eventually I caught a 2oz rudd which seemed a better fish, only for my next bite to result in a heavy, plodding fish. "Bream" was the first thing to spring to mind, but flash of scarlet when the fish rolled gave the game away. I hardly expected such a decent rudd in the shallow muddy waters here, but evidently they are present as I had another around the pound mark a little bit later.
I then slipped my chopped worm rig over to the far bank and the float immediately dragged around the peg as the rudd seemed to be there too. Increasing the hook size to a ten and using a whole lobworm still didn't solve the problem, but between the rudd I had half a dozen perch to 1lb 14oz. I'm sure a two pounder was on the cards, but unfortunately the canal began to tow as some gates were opened in the docks, and a mass of floating debris collected and choked solid my entire swim. I had no choice but to pack up, after fishing for just 2¾ hours.
I made a half-hearted effort to weigh the catch, just to get an idea. A few fish fell back and I deducted the net afterwards so the process was pretty haphazard but at least quick. In total there was between 12lb and 13lb, which was crazy considering I spent a lot of time bumping fish on the chopped worm rig where the rudd repeatedly folded the bait over the hook. It was also a laborious process unshipping, as I had to break the pole down three times each cast. At least I got home for cricket training (in the rain), but I would liked to have had a good crack at those perch before they spawn. I'd love one of 2lb plus from a canal.