The Christmas match looms closer but I have decided against using my time on the bank to practice, as the bait fridge at home still contained three sacks of worm this morning; a bait which won't see the clear, cold waters of Tiverton Canal this Sunday unless I am really struggling. Besides, top priority is a canal-best perch for me at the moment, and I've earmarked the Taunton-Bridgwater Canal as the place to catch it.
I set up in a heavily overgrown swim which looked unfished for some time. Out of the bag came two top kits; one with number 4 latex for a light punch rig as I was expecting fishing to be reasonably difficult given that the bottom could be easily seen five metres from the bank, despite a strong breeze and ripple; and a blue hydrolastic for chopped worm to the far bank stick-ups. I also rigged up a whip, starting on the heavy waggler rig I finished with on my last session, which turned out to be the correct choice, as a lighter float would never have cocked in a swim that became infested with half-ounce rudd.
To avoid the high stems on my own bank, which extended some three metres into the canal, generally I stood up on my footplate to fish the whip. By the end I was fishing a size 14 B611 and five pence sized piece of punch and still catching the same tiny rudd, only the bites were more positive. The pole was a waste of time.
After ninety minutes, I shipped across to 14m with a decent bit of worm tipped with caster and waited. Not very long as it happens, which is usually the case when you allow the worm line to settle for a good length of time. The culprit was an 8-10oz perch, quickly followed by two more of similar size. I thought I might be on for a real red-letter day as far as the perch were concerned but I only managed two more at random intervals during the rest of the session (plus a smaller one on bread). There was snow falling when I awoke at half seven back home, and it certainly didn't feel any warmer than the forecast high of 6 degrees at any point during the day, yet the next fish to show on the fourteen metre line was a decent tench of about two and a half pounds. Around half an hour later I had an even better one which must have been 4lb, a very decent fish for the Bridgwater canal I reckon.
I put some more bait in and took a walk with my pike rod, snaring a jack of around 3lb; a beautifully conditioned fish and one of many it would seem on this particular stretch. Is the poaching problem on this canal not as bad as made out? On the other hand, I have seen a high number of poorly equipped anglers cycling and walking along this section. I also bumped into a reader of this blog, Steve Fisher, who was out after pike, stretching his legs and covering plenty of water much as I like to do. I snagged a roach through the fin whilst I fished the whip and we chatted, to which Steve remarked "Ah, that's the Tiverton method is it!". I believe he had three or four jacks himself before passing me a second time.
Back to my swim and the sun was now reflecting off the water where I was fishing the worm. There was no way I would be able to see my float for some time so I dumped in a proper pot full of worm and caster (plus a few red maggots) and concentrated on the whip, feeding heavily. A ball a chuck soon had rudd throwing themselves all over the place in my swim. Then a 4oz perch on punch gave some indication as to why. Not long after that I hooked an absolute lump; one of those fish which doesn't need to shake its head or body to build up any sort of momentum, this fish just made its way along the canal and kept going! A tench I would imagine, but I'll never know as it broke the hooklength at the loop. I suspect a pike would have bitten me off instead, and there was no way it was a big roach, rudd or perch.
I think any pike angler who fishes deadbaits on canals with a decent head of roach or rudd, could do worse than take a bag of liquidised bread along with them. This really does send small silvers into a frenzy which never fails to attract pike. I had two more on small rudd flipped over the top of this line, the larger of which was around 4lb and provided a few headaches as I battled to keep it out of the reeds with my short rod.
As soon as the sun moved far enough around for me to fish the long pole again, the whip went up the bank and a worm slipped on the heavy rig (I say heavy, but the hooklength was 0.10 to a 14 B520). Small rudd were a nuisance here aswell but on the two occasions when the bait reached the bottom, it didn't take long to pick up a further couple of tench, similar in size to the first. Then, to avoid the rudd, I slipped on two whole worms and had a slow dragging bite followed by solid, slow resistance which I straight away knew was a pike. I lost it after a five-minute battle, as I faffed about trying to net it too close to the marginal reeds, but I got a good look at it and it was but average size for this canal. That unseen whip fish remains a mystery however.
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