Sunday 16 January 2011

This Perch doesn't count.

Saturday, on the Oxford canal with Barry trying for a Zander. It was very windy where we set out ready to fish into dark, we've had a few Zed's along this stretch and I was hoping for one for the challenge. I had half a pint of reds with me and put a maggot feeder out on one of the rods in the hope of attracting a Perch or two, drawing a few smaller fish into our swims should attract a few predators as well. Barry had three dropped takes and I had one plus a five ounce Roach on maggot so at least I had something to put on the list.

Tricky to weigh at this size.
Sunday, with rain forecast for the afternoon I headed out mid morning for a short session exploring a couple of new pools, I've heard a few fishy tales about the place and there's a few pictures on Google Earth which make the place look interesting so I thought I'd have a go just to see if anything lived in there and if it didn't work out the canal was nearby as back up. I was expecting the pools to be full of rubbish and shopping trolleys but was very surprised, it all looked very clean and tidy and both pools have seen angling activity. I wasn't sure what to expect and was armed with a deadbait rod as I've heard tales of Pike as well as the left over maggots from Saturday.
I concentrated my efforts on the smaller of the two pools as it looked the fishiest but was disappointed in the lack of depth, however, I was soon rewarded with a Perch on the maggot rod, when I say Perch it was more of a Perchlet or Perchling that barely pulled the scales round to two ounces,  it's so small that I'm not sure if I should count it in the challenge, I'm a bit embarrassed to say that I weighed it!

This Perch doesn't count!

I went on to catch another seven stripey's, all the same size, hoping that wading through the smaller fish would eventually catch me a bigger specimen and I thought I'd cracked it when I struck into something that gave a much better account for itself, I was convinced it was a good Perch until it reached the net, it was a Rudd.

A bit out of focus.
Twelve ounce bar of Gold.

It pulled the scales to twelve ounces which I was very pleased with, it's a shame that I ran out of maggots, I would have liked to have caught a few more of these.

I think this pool will be seeing a bit more of me this year.

7 comments:

  1. Hi roger great work on the rudd a real beaut! I think rudd could be a good points gainer! Your roach looks a bit breamish?

    ReplyDelete
  2. It does now you mention it but it was a Roach, you can't see the red fins because of my fingers and it doesn't help that it's not in focus!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Roger,

    I was going to visit the pools today (if i think they are the same ones?) but the ice put paid to that?

    The pools i am thinking of, are very close to the canal, and i know hold plenty of Rudd, so i am having a educated guess that they are the same ones?

    Gaza

    ReplyDelete
  4. Gaza
    Is there much in the big pool, I've heard tales of Pike?

    ReplyDelete
  5. hi roger nice roach mate im thinking of jointing the L.A.A in april so i may see around ryton pool i live in bedworth so may know them pool

    ReplyDelete
  6. The L.A.A might be loosing Ryton Pool next year, I'll keep you posted

    ReplyDelete
  7. It's a shame if Ryton goes. Keep us posted Roger.

    As for your 2 pools, I had a dabble on them around April last year. The big one was frustrating on my visit, but I would definitely have another go.

    The smaller one produced a few small Carp and silver fish in a short session. A second visit saw me picking the wrong peg and there was no depth (so I moved to the big pool). If you fish in the corner that's nearest the canal (with the wooded area and bigger pool directly behind you), it's about 6ft deep there. It gets very weedy in summer though.

    ReplyDelete