fishing on the tiverton canal basin

9th January 2014

      Welcome back and happy new year so we are into the second week of January and now the weather as been crap with storm after storm and weeks of low pressure with 2013 coming to the end i think we all thought and hoped that 2014 would bring better weather but it didn't it brought new winds new storms and record braking rainfall with all the rivers through out the UK  on a high red flood alert and most sea front on the west and south coast and ever one near these areas are bracing there self's for record high winds and very high tides up to 15  meter at its worse anyway with watching the weather forecast Thursday Was going to be the better day of the week with just the slight chance of a light shower with light to medium winds so i decided i was going to brave it and give it a go  on the local canal. So i sorted the fishing gear got my bait prepared the night before and was ready for the morning i woke up but was in no rush i left at about 9;50 and made my way up to the canal i was going to go down toward the basin end were the boats arr  it is that little bit deeper there was a light north/north west wind blowing down through the basin.I set up just to the left  hand side  of the gwc company horse drawn barge i set my gear up i was only going to set up one top kit which would  be a match top 3 kit with a number 3 elastic just through the top 1 tip section it was a browning latex white solid elastic very soft and very good for this sort of fishing on the canal.i set the top up with a 2lb mainline  and a 1.4oz hook length to a size 20 hook  the float was a carp 4x12 light float  with a orange float tip this rig was shotted with a string of  Preston stozs i plumbed this rig up at 9.5 meters and i was set to dead depth as this is how i fish the punch so with it plumbed up I fed a small cup of liquidises bread and left it for a while I set the rest of
My gear up and had a chat with my mate fishing just to my right before I went back and started fishing i started of by using a 4mm bread punch i shipped my rig out to were i had fed my bread as i had fed bait about 20 minutes or so i was excepting to get a bite very quick and i did it was not long before my float dipped  once then again and then it sailed away bang i was into my first  fish of the day a small roach but with the sun on the water and a brisk north wind blowing i was struggling to see my float and the bites so i changed to a maver elite pole float with a thick bright orange tip which made it so much easier to see with a new rig on i went back out on the same spot and was catching roach straight away but they were all very very small fish but in the early afternoon i had a good skimmer of about 12oz or so and another straight after a bit smaller at about 8 oz but it was now mid afternoon and the wind was a lot stronger and i was struggling to hold the pole now out at 10 meters i decided to come in a bit closer to about 6 meters to my left which would help me alot with seeing the float i fed this the same as i did when i started it was now 2 pm i was frozen so i decided i would fish on the inside swim for another hour until 3pm and i was then going to pack up i fished the inside swim the same as  did the 9 meter one that i started off on i caught  a couple more fish but again they were still very small which is very strange for the basin end of the canal as it is normally known for  better roach and skimmers and the odd bream because its a bit deeper and normally fished really well even in the cold depth of winter but today was one of the bad days so 3pm came i started to pack up it had got colder started raining and the wind was very Strong i was frozen to the bone so was time to head off home i had about 15 very small roach and the 2 better size skimmers i packed up arranged the next session with my mate and headed off home so until my next

blog if your on the bank tight lines and be safe

Tight lines

Lee

PUNCH FISHING ON THE GRAND WESTERN CANAL          28TH DECEMBER 2013 

WELCOME BACK TO MY LATEST BLOG ON FISHING THE GRAND WESTERN CANAL AFTER A VERY WET AND WINDY FEW DAYS OVER CHRISTMAS SATURDAY THE 28^TH WAS FORECAST TO BE THE BEST DAY WE HAVE HAD FOR A WHILE AND WITH ANOTHER STORM FORECAST FOR THE 29^TH AND OVER THE NEW YEAR IT WAS THE ONLY DAY THAT LOOKED GOOD TO GET OUT FISHING. WITH THE NEW YEAR VERY CLOSE THIS WAS GOING TO BE MY LAST SESSION FISHING ON THE GRAND WESTERN CANAL FOR 2013 AND WITH THE STORMS FORECAST AND THE RIVERS RUNNING HIGH IN FACT MOST LOCAL RIVERS ARE READY TO BURST THERE BANKS ITS GOING TO BE A WHILE BEFORE I AM GOING  TO GET BACK OUT FISHING ANYWAY BACK TO TODAY'S FISHING SESSION ON THE CANAL.I GOT ALL MY GEAR SORTED AND HEADED OF FOR THE CANAL WHEN I ARRIVED AT THE OPENING OF THE CANAL I WAS EXCEPTING TO SEE THE CANAL MUDDY BROWN WHAT WITH ALL THE RAIN WE HAVE HAD BUT THERE WAS NO COLOUR AT ALL WHICH I WAS VERY SURPRISED ABOUT I DECIDED TO FISH ONE PEG TO THE LEFT OF THE WILLIAM ARTHER FOOT BRIDGE KNOWN TO ANGLERS AS THE GREEN BRIDGE OR THE WOODEN BRIDGE AS BEFORE THEY REPLACED THE BRIDGE WITH CONCRETE IT WAS An  OLD NARROW WOODEN FOOT BRIDGE THIS STRETCH OF CANAL IS KNOW AS THE DEAD STRETCH AND THE FIRST 2 PEGS TO THE LEFT OF THE FOOT BRIDGE IS 2 OF THE BEST PEGS ON THE STRETCH I DECIDED TO FISH THE FIRST PEG PAST THE FOOT BRIDGE WHICH HAD A LARGE OVERHANGING BAMBOO BUSH OVER HANGING THE FAR BANK RIGHT INTO THE WATER I WAS GOING TO FISH 8 TO 9 METERS SLIGHTLY TO MY RIGHT  TO THE OVER HANGING BAMBOO BUSH. I ONLY PLUMBED UP THE ONE TOP KIT WHICH WAS A MATCH TOP 3 KIT WITH A NUMBER 3 BROWNING WHITE LATEX ELASTIC THROUGH JUST THE TOP ONE SECTION I PUT A MADE UP RIG ON THIS TOP WHICH WAS A BROWNING 0.40GR SHORT POLE FLOAT ON A 1.7LB MAIN LINE TO A SHORT 6 TO 8 INCH 1.1LB HOOK LENGTH TIED TO A SIZE 22 BARB LESS SPADE END HOOK  I GOT THE WEIGHT RIGHT SO I WAS HAPPY WITH THE AMOUNT OF POLE FLOAT TIP THAT WAS SHOWING AND PLUMBED THE RIG UP SO I WAS FISHING DEAD DEPTH I STARTED BY FEEDING A SMALL CUP OF LIQUIDISED BREAD AND LEFT IT FOR ABOUT 10 MINUTES OR SO WHILE I SET THE REST OF MY GEAR UP AROUND ME AND PLACED THE BAG OFF THE TOW PATH ECT . I STARTED OF BY FISHING WITH A 4MM BREAD PUNCH AND SHIPPED OUT TO WERE I HAD FEED MY BAIT WITHIN A COUPLE MINUTES I HAD MY FIRST BITE BUT I MISSED IT I PUT ON ANOTHER 4MM BREAD PUNCH AND SHIPPED STRAIGHT BACK OUT TO WERE I WAS FISHING AND I WENT ON AND MISTED MY FIRST 5 BITES ONE AFTER THE OTHER J FINALLY I HOOKE THE 6^TH BITE I HAD IT WAS A SMALL ROACH BUT AT LEAST IT WAS A FISH AND IT WAS IN MY NET I CARRIED ON AND HAD ABOUT 10 OR MORE ROACH ON THIS SPOT JUST OFF THE BAMBOO BUSH BEFORE I TANGLED MY RIG AND HAD TO CHANCE IT AS I COULD NOT UNTANGLE IT I DECIDE TO CHANGE TO A DIFFERENT RIG I HAD MADE UP IN MY BOX WHICH WAS A DRENNAN LIGHT CARO 1 4X12 WITH A VERY SHORT BRIGHT ORANGE TIP IDEAL FLOAT FOR THE PUNCH FISHING IN THE DARK SHADED WATER THIS RIG WAS ALSO 1.7 MAIN LINE TO A 1.1  6 TO 8 INCH HOOK LENGTH BUT A SLIGHTLY LARGER HOOK A PR311 SIZE 20 HOOK.I PLUMBED THIS RIG UP SLIGHTLY TO MY LEFT AT AROUND 7 METERS I DID THE SAME AS BEFORE BY PUTTING IN A SMALL CUP OF BREAD AND LEAVING IT WHILE I HAD A COFFEE AND A BITE TO EAT THEN I DID THE SAME AS BEFORE AND WENT OUT AND FISHED WITH A 4MM BREAD PUNCH I WAS SURPRISED THAT I STARTED CATCHING STRAIGHT AWAY THE FISH MUST HAVE BEEN IN THE AREA TO COME STRAIGHT IN ON A NEW SPOT JUST AFTER I HAD PUT BAIT IN BUT AGAIN IT WAS ONLY SMALL ROACH BUT I ENJOY BEING ON THE BANK AND CATCH WHAT EVER THE SIZE OF THE FISH I

COULDN'T COMPLAIN AS I WAS NOW GETTING A FISH EVER PUT IN WHICH WAS GREAT AFTER A BOUT 10 OR 12 SMALL ROACH I HOOKED A FISH A BIT BIGGER AND MORE ELASTIC WAS COMING OUT WHEN I LANDED IT WAS A SMALL SKIMMER OF ABOUT 12 OZ I THOUGHT THAT BY CATCHING THIS SKIMMER MAYBE THE BETTER FISH HAD MOVED IN ON THE BAIT AND PUSHED THE SMALLER FISH OUT BUT ONCE AGAIN I WAS WRONG J I WAS ONLY GOING TO FISH UNTIL ABOUT 2 PM TODAY AS I HAD THINGS TO GET DONE AT HOME WITH CHRISTMAS NOW ONLY 3 DAYS AWAY SO I HAD A HOUR FISHING TIME LEFT I CAUGHT A FEW MORE SMALL FISH AND 4 BETTER ROACH NOT BIG BUT 2 WAS AROUND THE HALF POUND MARK 2PM WAS HERE AND IT WAS TIME TO PACK UP I TOOK THE KEEP NET OUT AND HAD A LOOK AT MY CATCH FOR TODAY AND I WAS VERY PLEASE AS I HAD ENJOYED THE SESSION AND HAD AROUND 30 PLUS ROACH NOT FORGETTING THE BETTER SIZE ONES AND A SKIMMER OF 12 OZ

I PACKED THE KIT AWAY LOADED IT ON THE TROLLEY AND HEADED OFF HOME THIS IS THE LAST SESSION I DO IN 2013 SO IF I GET IT UP BY THE END OF THE YEAR I WOULD LIKE TO WISH ALL THE READERS A HAPPY NEW YEAR FOR 2014 AND THANKS YOU ALL FOR READING AND SUPPORTING MY BLOG WITH ALL YOU COMMENTS AND FEED BACK AND HOPE YOU ARE STILL GOING TO BE READING THEM IN THE NEW YEAR UNTIL MY NEXT BLOG IF YOU ON THE BANKS BE SAFE AND TIGHT LINES

LEE

3/1/14