The Towpath Angler
Our monthly look at the angling scene
I AM starting to get one or two facts together regarding the Canal & River Trust’s consultation with its users.
Messages are certainly quite mixed which is disappointing because the issue has received some exposure at national level, albeit pre-Covid. It will probably be something for the agenda for the upcoming council meeting.
I am looking forward to the resumption of real council meetings. Virtual meetings worked well during the worst of the pandemic but I am sure, like myself, many delegates often get as much from the networking these meetings bring as the meetings themselves.
On a related note I have received several enquiries, complaints even, regarding the behaviour of some boaters on our rivers and canals. I guess the current ‘staycation’ concept has seen a significant increase in the amount of boating activity this year which, in turn, has likely meant an increase in the number of incidents.
On my local section of the Trent people have seen boaters come out of a riverside pub, clearly under the influence, and steer a boat away. Speeding is another major problem which, due to the excessive wash created, does the banks and bankside flora and fauna no good at all.
Another area of concern has been hire boats. By their very nature these craft are often operated by people who have never taken a boat out before and who are quite ignorant of the rules of the water and, more worryingly, of the rights and needs of other users.
I know that the hire companies are supposed to brief their customers and, I am sure, the majority do very diligently, but I doubt this is universally the case. Finally I have had complaints about groups of kayakers and paddleboarders again displaying no consideration for others. I accept this is a particularly difficult area because there is little by way of regulation.
This is why I am of the view that ‘live’ meetings of local user forums are reintroduced as soon as possible. I firmly believe these forums are one of the best tools at the trust’s disposal in that they allow all the users to understand the issues of others and, from my personal experience, I have seen the fruits of this relationship opportunity on a number of occasions.
National championships
On the competitions front the Angling Trust’s Division 1 National Championship on the Grand Union Canal in Northamptonshire took place a couple of weeks ago with 42 of the country’s top teams taking part.
Leading up to match day, opinions as to how it would fish were mixed to say the least because the accumulated intel on the canal and even individual pegs was phenomenal. Of course some ‘canal specialist’ teams, in particular, were fancied to win in addition to those teams whose records in such events is outstanding whatever the venue.
The top individual weighed more than 19kg and 8kg was needed to make the top 10. All in all it was a good event and a credit to everyone involved. Division 2 was scheduled for September 11 on the Gloucester & Sharpness Canal which also seemed to be in pretty reasonable form. At the time of writing there is even a chance I might be fishing this one. If so I will give you a report on my match in next month’s article.
After a difficult summer, fishing is just beginning to settle down with catches from all venues being more of the seasonal norm, no doubt helped by the predicted August heatwave failing to materialise. The rivers are producing good nets of bream and other silver fish and, on my local River Trent, barbel are starting to show with a fish of just under 8kg being reported last week. My friend up in South Yorkshire tells me that the big canals there are consistently producing good nets of fish.
I mentioned last time about my wife breaking her wrist. I am delighted to say that the fracture looks to be mending well and so the plaster came off last week. She is a much happier person now and has already begun doing things around the house.
This has allowed me to look at fishing more frequently again. I fished an open last Tuesday and won my section, then on Monday finished second on my lake so, all in all, a reasonable way to start my return. Hopefully the more I get back into it I may pick up a few more ‘brown envelopes’. I’m not holding my breath though.
Tight lines!