Coventry Canal, Zander

My fishing time has been limited of late but I have still been out in the fresh air having a good time due to this little beast. We have been using it to clear acres of brambles, nettles and even whole trees. The amount of controls it has means that it takes a considerable amount of hand/eye co-ordination but I have got it sussed, and it has been great fun.

An invitation to meet up with fellow bloggers for a roving Zander match tempted me away from my big toy this Sunday. The Jeff Hatt birthday bash(not revealing his age!) wasn't due to start until 3pm, a sensible time for Zander so I headed down to the brook in the morning to catch some fresh dead baits.

This diminutive watercourse is a stunning place to fish. Completely natural with trees draped over the water, overgrown pegs, long glides, little whirlpools and weed infested sections, all full of a variety of fish. I had bites right from the start, too quick in fact as I missed the first one but I got my co-ordination together and started to catch. I had Perch, all too big to be bait, Minnows which were too small, some Dace that were good, a Chub and a surprise Trout, also both too big. When the float went under you have no idea what is on the other end, a lovely way to fish. The best fish of the session was this 6oz Dace, which of course went back.

I ended up taking three baits which was never going to be enough but I had some shop bought Roach in the freezer so was not too bothered.
Ten bloggers including Phil Smith (has he got a book out at the moment?) gathered together in Coventry, a really good turn out, and the 3ish match finally got going about 3.30pm. A Le mans style start saw anglers heading off in all different directions and being a virgin on these waters (in fact it has been 23years since I wet a line in a canal) I followed Lee to the site of his recent pb. I chose to fish next to a boat that had obviously not moved for a decade and placed one bait alongside and the other over towards the far side, next to an entanglement of bushes. Within seconds the 'boat' rod indicated a bite, I left it for ten seconds and it carried on twitching so I struck. Thin air and no bait! That was one fresh bait gone already.
The far side bait twitched but not enough to strike at and after 5 minutes I brought it in, covered in teeth marks on one side and a plastic bag on the other. Darkness fell and with it the bites slowed down, I decided on a move to a different swim, meeting up with Keith on the way. We settled on one of the most comfortable swims on the whole canal. A park bench and this is the view:

The baits were cast in and Keith popped to the bar. I know it is not the right way to chose a swim more beercraft than watercraft but it was a social event. Needless to say we blanked. Word was going round of a few fish taken, Andy landing two and beating Danny to second place and at 7.30pm the match was wrapped up and all the fishermen retired to the local hostelry.
The banter was good, all fishing based of course and the evening finished with a revelation about a certain famous angler courtesy of Danny, ask him because I am not revealing anything!
Well done to all who caught and thanks again to all for a pleasant evening. Happy Birthday Jeff.