With my summer leave just started and 4 weeks off work I see
this as the ideal time to get on top of my fishing once again, after the disaster
down at Viaduct I was keen to get back on a natural venue that being the
K&A Canal. With the canal being literally on my door step and about 20
minutes away it really is a no brainer.
The stretch that I normally fish is run by Pewsey &
District Angling Association who control 7 miles of the canal from the jewel in
the crown up at Ladies Bridge where on the right day big bags of bream can be achieved
down through the wharf at Pewsey leading down to Milkhouse. With plenty of fish
in the stretch throughout and for £20 membership for the year it really is an
area that appeals to me, granted some days it can fish hot or cold and that is
what keeps me going back time and time again.
With the added bonus of a monthly canal match, it gives me
the chance to pit my skills against some of the local talented anglers who know
the canal better than me. Interested? Further details can be found here on the
PDAA webpage www.pewseyfishingclub.co.uk.
So Saturday saw me off to the local tackle shop to renew my
membership and to get my pint of pinkie. Now the plan for the 7 mile stretch over
leave is to start off from one end and work my way down the various stretches
fishing simple tactics of ground bait and Pinkie just to see where the fish
were and what stretches fish better than others. I could have brought more bait
like worm and caster but at the same time I want to prove just how cheap it can
be fishing on the canal with a small amount of bait but at the same time having
a good day and keeping the fish coming.
The decision was taken to fish the Milkhouse Stretch first
and then where possible work my way up the canal or bounce from stretch on
other days. Having seen posts on Facebook and hearing reports there were plenty
of fish in that stretch I was on the bank ready to go by about 1045 on the
Monday morning. Now having only fished Milkhouse once before a few years ago in
the winter I am not aware of any areas that are all and out fliers so positioned
myself about 40 meters from the bridge with a tree to my right on the far bank
and reeds to my left again on the far bank. A 3 prong attack was decided
fishing on my top 3, three quarters across and one tight but just off the far
bank straight across.
All rigs would be kept simple with a 4x12 Tubertini Stix for
the top 3 line, mainline would be Browning 0.08mm to a 4inch 0.06mm hook length
finished off with a B511 size 22 hook. Shotting would consist of a bulk 1 ½ ft
from the hook with 2 droppers to get the bait down. With work having been done
to the bank it I was pleased to see that I had 4ft immediately straight out in front
of me where the bank had been rebuilt.
My ¾ across line would be to the 11 o’clock position towards
the reeds but just off them by about a meter. Here I had 3ft of water so setup
a Richard Lattimer squatt 5x10 float. Same line as per the top 3 line but with
a 0.08mm hook length to a B511 size 20 hook, this is where I was expecting to
catch most of my fish once my top 3 line had died and was shotted with a bulk
and 2 droppers with the idea that I would catch most of the fish in the last
foot of water. I did notice that when setting up the boats that were coming by
tended to be closer to my bank than the far bank due to the tree hanging out
missing my ¾ across line so felt confident they would settle over there more.
My last line would be a throw away line just o ff the far
bank where I found a foot of water, another Richard Lattimer squatt float this
time a 3x9 setup with a spread shotting pattern down the line. All 3 lines
where matched to a latex number 3 elastic.
My groundbait consisted of half a kilo of Browning Champion’s
Choice Canal and another half kilo of Sensas 3000 sweet fishmeal bream mix
which gave it a slighter lighter colour to what I normally fish but at the same
time gave it a nice sweet smell that would hopefully attract the fish in and
keep them there.
I kicked off the session with 2 golf ball sized balls of
ground bait with one of the balls containing a few pinkies just to get the fish
interested. Then it was straight onto the short line with the float straight
away shooting under and the clicker had its first fish recorded. This carried
on for about an hour with 50 fish on the clicker and with every 3rd
fish a pinch of pinkie added. At the same time both my other swims were having 5-10
pinkies pinged across, hoping that when my inside line dried up I would be able
to carry on there.
It wasn’t long just after the hour mark that the inside line
dried up so it was a re feed and move across to my ¾ line. And as I had
expected the float was under within seconds, I started to slow the lose feed
going in over the top but noticed quickly the bites would also tail off. The
more I fed the more bites I was getting with the float setting and the fish
taking it within the last foot of water. I had the float dotted right down to
the point the tip was a pin prick just above the water and sensitive enough to
spot the slightest bites. With me in a rhythm and putting a decent bag of fish
together it was only a matter of time until the boat traffic picked up (now I’m
all for boats and enjoy looking at the paintings and different boats that go up
and down) but what really miffs me off when they feel the need to speed down
the canal over take one another and have very little regard to others who use
the canal. Now while the fish were still
coming I noticed that once a boat had gone past a smaller stamp of fish would
find its way in my net, with a top up of ground bait and 10 minute gap from the
boats passing the stamp would pick up again. 
I had a 10 minute quiet period where the float lay still but
wasn’t surprised when I hooked into a cray fish which I managed to get in the
landing un hook and release further down the canal out the way of my swim. With
the clicker hitting the 200 fish mark just before the 4 hour mark I decided to
call it a day and pack up. With a few larger fish lost and nothing really
coming from the far bank swim I was happy with the amount of fish but lost a
couple more that would have bumped my weight and stamp up. Still a good day out
from a stretch that I have only visited once. Next stop was meant to be Paines
Bridge however I’m back on the bank on Wednesday at Wilcot Road the other side
of the K&A to where I have just been.
No comments:
Post a Comment