Tuesday 30 October 2012

Mostly Zedding!

What have I been up to the past few weeks? Mostly Zedding, that's what. As well as fishing some of my usual Zander holes I've also tried a few new stretches of canal where I've heard of a few good fish coming out. Luck has been on my side and I've banked several fish, mostly small, I'm trying hard for a double and my best so far this year is a lovely conditioned six pound six ounce fish which is the largest I've had for a while.
 
Six pound six.
I fished an old haunt last week, a stretch of canal that has been very kind to me in the past and I was hoping to hook up with an old friend. I'd seen some swims that screamed 'Zander' on a walk along this stretch a few weeks ago and after having a rove around to check a few out I decided on one spot to settle down on and fish for a couple of hours into darkness. I thought it was going to be a quiet session but I wasn't alone for long, within the space of half an hour a stretch of bank to my left as long as a nine second sprint by Usain Bolt became occupied by five other anglers and by the look of things we were all after the same target. It became so uncomfortable with dead fish flying all over the place as anglers tried to hit their spots in the dark, with all the noise and commotion any decent sized Zed in the area would have packed their bags done a runner up Beduff. Something else that I'm never comfortable fishing around are overhead electric cables, they just happen to cross this stretch of canal at the best fishing spot in the area, whether that has anything to do with how well it fishes is another question to ask.
The drizzle filled air made the cables fizz and buzz overhead adding to the uncomfortable feeling I had about fishing this spot especially as now I wasn't alone. This feeling was soon forgotten when one of my glowing bobbins twitched and rose up towards  the rod gently and slowly, it was like a Zander take but in slow motion, I picked up the rod and waited for things to move, nothing, I tightened up and felt some resistance but it wasn't a fish of the variety I was after, it was a crayfish.

Zed bait?
Through the rest of the session I kept getting tugs on the bait which got rather annoying as I'd never come across this many Cray's in one area but having seen the amount of dead fish being thrown in the water in this stretch I'm not surprised there's so many. As soon as the bait settled on the bottom they were on it, might have to bring Cerys down here for a spot of 'crabbing'. I stuck it out for the rest of the session in the hope that a Zed would find the remains of my bait but ended up blanking.

I wonder if Crayfish would make a good Zed bait?

2 comments:

  1. Zander are a species on my hit list this winter. I’ve just started a new fishing blog (http://leepoultney.blogspot.co.uk/) and although it’s still in its infancy I was wondering if you could add it to your blog list and I’ll do likewise with your site. Many thanks, Lee

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  2. I think I might have an idea where this was Roger!

    The crays are making inroads thereabouts. Soon though the perch will pile on the pounds with any luck.

    Next time you're going let me know. I'd have a zed session there anytime and have a few clues where the big girls just might be

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