A PIT STOP IN COVENTRY
For bites and unexpected company galore on our urban canals, all you need is a couple of hours and a handful of bait, says Dom Garnett
OF all the places you might cast a line in the towns and cities of Britain, canals remain among the most consistent venues you could wish for. We might rarely wax lyrical about them, but they are often in a healthier place than our rivers these days.
These venues have a special place in my heart, admittedly. I must have fished over 40 in all, across various articles and my book Canal Fishing. Perhaps what I love best about them is that they blend the familiar and the mysterious so well. Indeed, all have similarities, but each is also a one-off with fish stocks that tend to be a tantalising unknown.
With day tickets just a fiver online, and a meeting to attend
nearby, it seemed rude not to give it an hour or three in Coventry. My usual approach for the canal is to target the zander with lures or bait, but with leftovers from the Canal Pairs match series, I really fancied a quick pole session.
I set up in a completely unfamiliar spot, under a backdrop of warehouses and cranes, right in the thick of it. With the light already starting to dim I would have a mere couple of hours to make hay.
After hastily tackling up a couple of top kits, it didn’t take long to get interest from both fish and locals. With just four metres of pole out to test the inside, the bites were immediate on maggots, with lovely hand-sized roach from the off. And then I met the other locals. Someone’s little boy wanted to touch the fish. Someone’s dog quite fancied the groundbait. Inevitably, every other passer-by had their own take on the fishing! Three lads told me of large carp and zander; an old chap said he’d once landed a huge eel. Tantalisingly, it was impossible to separate fact and fiction.
Chopped worm to the far bank is usually a recipe for a brute or two on any canal, but on this occasion the only monsters on show were signal crayfish. Two swiftly met the heel of my boot before normal service returned. I can’t be the only angler who finds this curiously satisfying!
To make a real lucky dip of fish in two hours, I added a skimmer, a small hybrid and the obligatory perch. Thanks to streetlights I could still just about see the float tip for another few minutes as darkness came down. Enough to add another fish or two. I wonder what else might be swimming around the streets of Coventry.