On the Thin and Narrow.

Ryton was still producing some very good fish but all has suddenly gone quiet, too much feed me thinks, less is more!! just wish I could get on there as often as I'd like to, roll on the spring. The last session was a break from the pool, I've been thinking about a stretch of canal I was told held a good head of Carp, Barry had a few out earlier this year and they were good looking fish but it's the tales about one of this stretches larger inhabitants that has me interested. This session was also a chance to try my Ryton 3.4 boilie mix on another water just to check that these baits really do work.

 

I overshot the first lob to a margin reed line but was bang on the second chuck, I was just hoping that the first attempt hadn't ruined the spot. The baits had been in the water for less than an hour when I got a strange take, the bobbin rose quickly and stopped then nothing happened, it was exactly the same as some of the Bream and Tench bites at Ryton. After a couple of minutes, off it went, a Carp, exactly what I was after to confirm that my bait works on other waters, it wasn't a big fish but at least I wasn't going to blank.

Canal Common.

After seeing the damage to its top lip I think these fish may have been caught several times before, maybe this stretch of water has been more heavily fished for Carp than I thought?

 

Another cast onto the same spot resulted in another fast take that pulled the bobbin up tight but whatever picked up the bait spooked off without feeling the point of the hook, I think these fish might be a bit 'cute' to being fished for with boilies. After this take I didn't get any more enquiries and as evening approached I was hovering around my rods expecting a take any second as everything was looking perfect for a bite but nothing developed and left having caught just the one common. Barry bagged up which resulted in the duck changing hands, quack quack!