Nice day at the canal

After getting word on Saturday that Martin Hall was 'fishing like a toilet' I headed off to the canal at Tarleton for a pleasure chuck. Wrighty was doing a sterling job of holding up the front wall of the house when I went past at half seven (brew in hand, wearing the famous green & black...) and after exchanging pleasantries, i made my way to the canal.

After quickly setting-up and feeding down the track, it wasn't long before I was into the fish, with a small skimmer succumbing to 4mm punch. A few more followed but the bites were thinning out quite rapidly. I turned my attention to the far side where the shade was and put a big cup of sloppy bread in. Straight over the top with 8mm punch and the float slid away immediately with a nice 10oz Roach taking it on the drop. Next put-in had the same result, with a skimmer of around a pound taking the butty. This followed for around a dozen put-ins until I latched-onto a different sort of beast altogether. The encounter was over within seconds, the elastic pouring out to my left as the fish disappeared into the reeds. The hook straightened and the rig came straight back - tip missing from the float. I setup again and within a matter of a minute or so, I was into another large finned 'thing'. This one went off to the right and almost made it to a fallen willow before I got it turned. This time the hook parted as I was shipping back - another rig wrecked...

The bright sun hampered things a bit, with the bites tailing off in the heat. As the sun moved over, the trees made a bit of shelter and the fish came back, but not for long. A few more hybrids and a decent lump followed, but with the skies darkening and the wind picking up, I packed up and headed for home. That stretch is a great venue and I'll be back again quite soon.