Rufford Canal

Today I opted for a different stretch of the Canal. I fished at Tarleton near Bank Hall. I caught a good net of fish, a mixed bag of Skimmers, Roach and a couple of Eels. I had around 50 fish, which isn't bad as I only started fishing after 4pm, and I was told that it wasn't fishing too well today.

Mixed Bag of Roach and Skimmers

Perch at Heapy Reservoir

I fancied a go on the tip at Heapy Reservoir near Chorley. Once again I fished on Worm and was hoping for some decent rod bending action. It didn't happen! I did though catch some Perch, around a dozen or so, the biggest being 6oz. Pity that I didn't manage to hook into a decent Bream or Carp. I stayed until dark, but the bites completely died off from around 7pm.

Biggest Perch of the day at 6oz
Sunsets on Heapy

Two days fishing on Twin Lakes Croston

Friday: I fancied a change of scenery today, so I thought I'd have a bash at Twin Lakes in Croston, I haven't been there since last summer, this venue is still on the SDAA ticket, so I had nothing to lose. I opted for my tip rod and fancied catching some of the larger residents of the lake so I used a size 10 hook baited with Worm, The bites were constant but I was constantly being bothered by small fish. I did though catch a decent amount of Skimmer Bream.

Saturday: Another session on Twin Lakes, once again I fished on the tip. I started off on Worm, and managed to tempt a decent sized Bream of around 3 and a half pounds, although if I'm completely honest, it was caught while I was changing bait and I'd left my old bait dangling over the side. The bait must have been laid on the bottom and was in the right place at the right time, my rod nearly ended up in the lake as the clutch was set tight. Phew! Close one! By dinnertime I'd caught a good head of fish, however each and every single fish was a Skimmer. So I decided to scale things down, I changed to a size 16 hook and fished on single maggot, if it was Skimmers that were feeding, it was Skimmers that I'd catch. I caught a lot of them too, pity that there is a keep net ban on the lake until June 16th.

View across the North lake

The accidental catch
One of the day's typical customers

Late sessions on the tip rod

I've had several late sessions on the canal over the last week, one session I arrived as late as 7.45pm. Each session has produced me some fair sized Bream, an average stamp of around 2lb's. Nothing to ride home about, but still great fun on my Greys tip rod, and using the 2oz section. The takes are unmistakable. Fishing on the tip, is one of my favourite methods of fishing, it's a great sight to see when your rod arcs over signalling a take. I'm still fishing on lob worms at the moment, a great bait, and one that you can fish with confidence, as you know that it's always going to stay on the hook, as opposed to bread, which although a fabulous bait, can often have you thinking, is it? Or isn't it still on the hook? Tonights session was rather quiet, I fished until the edge of dark, I had one Bream of around 2lb's and two Eel's the biggest being perhaps a pound and a half to two pounds. Now that the temperature has risen the Eel's seem to be waking up.

First proper sized Eel of the year

2lb Bream
Fine Example of a Sollom Bream

Cold day on the canal

I fished at Sollom again today, the weather wasn't the best, although it didn't give the rain that was promised, the breeze made it pretty damn cold. I had an OK bag of fish, not so many Roach only half a dozen or so, I did though have a few Skimmers and Four decent Bream, the best being probably just short of 3lb's. Not be too long now until the Bream properly come on the feed

Hi Ho Silvers at Sollom

Although a few posts eariler I mentioned that my target over the next few weeks was to be to catch a double Pike off the canal at Sollom, I instead decided to hang my Pike rods up for the season and to concentrate on catching Silvers on the Pole. I'd forgotten how much I like doing this. This week I've had a good head of Roach and a few Skimmers, and now that the weather has started to improve, the temperature has risen from 8c to around 15c in the day, which has brought the Bream back on the feed, I had 4 Bream to around 2lb's today. I caught a lot of fish on Bread Punch, although all the Bream fell to a single Pinkie.