L_A_2015_S_

TERRORS

TOWPATH
PART 2

to be overseen by bright, frosty

conditions. On the canals I don’t

feel it matters at all if I am

honest, I’ve caught them in mega

bright sun and scorching hot

conditions and also in mega

bright sun and freezing cold

conditions. The only conditions

I’m not too keen on and I feel it is

only because of the light nature

of the tackle I am using, is the

gusty winds that often blow

through. I think in honesty the

canals turn everything upside

down, because wind and plenty

of it was a blessing on bigger

waters such as gravel pits and

rivers where zander were

concerned. On the canal it

makes it difficult to control

the small lures and to me

therefore is a poor weather

mode. They don’t really need

it, in that they are pretty

permanently coloured

whereas the bigger waters

often tended to require the

winds in order to bring a bit of

colour to them.

Location wise, to be honest, I

tend to find that (aside from

Simon’s fantastic fish) generally

the fish seem a bit smaller

although often more plentiful,

nearer the locks and other such

features. The bigger fish for me

have all come from areas well,

well away from the nearest

access or feature. In fact that

isn’t totally true, because the

area I’ve had my biggest fish

from the LACC canal is full of

features, but they are all under

the water and are of the plant

variety. Generally I’ll know if

I’m ‘in the zone’ because before

I get a fish, I’ll normally feel the

very gentle pluck of weeds, then

a very digital, sharp but almost

always tentative rap of a fish hit

and then boom a strike, if I’m

fishing well and covering the

area properly, a fish or two. Size

wise, my PB from the LACC

canal is 6lb 1oz and it smothered

a 2inch shad as you’d expect and

fought like a tiger on the UL

equipment. Although I also

managed a 4lb 8oz fish that

morning and lost a smaller one,

the average size of the zeds I

catch from this venue are about

8oz – 2lbs. All great fun though

on light lure gear and it has to be

said, catching zander on lures is

very addictive and of course, not

everyone has managed it!

Statistically, as already

mentioned, I definitely find the

bigger fish well away from

everyone else and there’s no

end of tourists, boat travellers,

dog walkers and the odd angler

fishing the locks, all causing

noise and confusion. The day

Simon caught his 9lb 6oz fish,

I walked as far as I was able

given the time involved and

whilst fishing with my old mate

Kev Taylor, I landed 3 fish for

almost 12lbs. I don’t think aside

from Simon and I, anyone else

registered a fish much over 2lbs

that day, it certainly wasn’t the

easiest day out for sure. Such

fish as those of 4lbs or 5lbs+ tend

also to give up an extraordinary

scrap on such light tackle and

whilst often commonplace on

other larger venues, fish of that

size on lures should be savoured

on a Midlands canal, as they are

very decent fish.

I’ve often found them to sit in

tight little bunches, in my

experience it isn’t uncommon for

two or three of us to be fishing

within 20 yards or so but for only

one of us to be getting the hits.

One little spot I found which

showed up a few schoolies for me

over a few trips last year was as

subtle as a minute little change

in direction of the bank paving,

constructed to accommodate the

nearby lock. As I lowered a shad

into it on two or three

consecutive trips, it was smacked

by aggressive shoal zander each

and every time. Under situations

like this, it’s important to give

the area a little while and don’t

be too tight on your mates if you

are the lucky one getting the

smacks! Another little

phenomenon I’ve noticed is that

you must be tuned into your

tackle, as I’ve mentioned earlier

I have two lovely little set ups

that I use and on which I

generally catch each time I fish a

Canal venue. Yet my good

mucker Ray has had two trips

using one of my set-ups and

despite having a few hits, has yet

to actually put a fish on the bank.

Put simply, it is set up for me but

he isn’t tuned in to it.

I haven’t lure fished for zander

much this year, as I have a new

project involving a fairly robust

16ft boat with plenty of room for

a few rods off the back and a

nice, comfy cabin for sleeping in,

so my heart is in a different place

at the moment as I decide to

chase a dream. That said, zander

fishing on the canals (or

anywhere else) with light gear

seems to be quite an addictive

kind of challenge. They don’t

seem to crawl up the line but

when you do get them, they fight

hard on such gear. Above all else,

the beauty in it for me is that

every single zed regardless of

size is to be savoured.

4lb 8oz zed

whilst fishing

with my old

mate Kev Taylor

Dave’s buddy

‘Big Ray’ scales

down to fool the

canal zander