The Towpath Angler

Our monthly look at the angling scene

ANYONE who read my last article in Towpath Talk will recall my talking about inconsiderate behaviour by some users which impacts upon and greatly diminishes the enjoyment of our waterways by the majority of other users. Just three weeks into a new year, a story of very inconsiderate practice by a boater came to light. Thankfully this incident has been registered “in the system” so, hopefully, there will be an outcome which clearly spells out what is acceptable and what is not acceptable. The trust’s mantra of sharing the towpaths must be upheld for the benefit of all. No one has the divine right to act in such a way that causes problems for others.

As a further example, my wife and I walked along the local canal just last Thursday. Because of all the wet weather the towpath, which generally has a decent surface, was not surprisingly dotted with puddles. There were a number of other pedestrians, dog walkers and cyclists out enjoying the afternoon sunshine.

A couple of hundred yards from the point at which we were due to leave the towpath we passed a couple walking their dog and stopped for a chat. Suddenly a lycra-clad cyclist came hurtling past, shouting and swearing at us to get out of his way. The lady with whom we were talking got badly splashed as he tore through a nearby puddle. Needless to say, he did not stop.

Storm impact

Having just seen the passing of the 10th named storm of the winter and all the horrendous damage and misery these storms have caused it is pleasing to see that the weather has settled for a while. Obviously, rivers have been out of their banks for weeks and this, in turn, has created some serious problems on the canal network, including breaches and overtopping, especially on those riverine canal sections. Of course, there are changes happening to Earth’s climate with factors from across the globe creating weather scenarios rarely seen.

Interestingly though, in mentioning just how long the rivers have been out of bank this winter, I remember vividly, when just about all coarse fishing took place on rivers, canals and some small pools, that the rivers were annually unfishable through until the middle of March. In fact, my father and others of his generation frequently used the term February filldyke. I guess it begs the question: are things that different now?

In those days when I fished the rivers the high water did not generally deter us unless, of course, there were clear safety issues. We would look for slack water in little bays or behind a tree and fish with light tackle, hoping for a few small fish. On other occasions, we would fish a swimfeeder carrying plenty of lead to “nail” it to the river bed. Usually, this method did not produce many bites but often any fish caught would be sizeable. These days it is unusual for any angler to fish a flooded river other than, possibly, the odd specialist angler, especially those who specifically target barbel in the firm belief that the best sport is to be had when rivers are carrying flood water. I think it is true to say that we are all much more safety conscious these days so, thankfully, these sessions rarely produce any problems.

Quite the catch

Catch-wise I have, again, heard some good reports from the Shropshire Union. Speaking to a friend of mine earlier this week, he told me that his weekly trip to the Grand Union had been his most productive of the winter. He caught a number of small roach and bream which he estimated to have weighed around 4lb. One of my fishing buddies spent an afternoon on my local Erewash Canal last Sunday. He, too, had had around 30 small fish despite the water being extremely “muddy” following the rains. It seems as though the commercials are producing some decent sport, probably benefiting from the higher-than-normal temperatures and, importantly, frostfree nights.

I have only been on the bank twice during January. I fished a small open contest on my local commercial where I drew a peg which has a good reputation in summer. I caught just one fish but had my chances to do better.

I then fished with a “veterans “group. My peg was in a pretty decent area and, once I sussed it out, caught a few fish which put me third overall but ruing having lost six fish at the net. It was a lovely, sunny day throughout so the bonus was we all went home dry.

Tight lines.