The Lure of Lures.......

So after meeting Paul last weekend (the Countesthorpe Lure Angler) I started doing a little research on Lure Fishing as another approach to my canal predator fishing. 

Lure Fishing is something I've never really tried before other than one attempt with a spinner as a youngster on a Fen Drain which ended with me being bitten off by a Pike as I had no idea I needed a wire trace! As the years have flashed by and I've become a Fly Fisherman (of sorts) the idea of Lure Fishing has started to appeal greatly to me as it's so similar in it's attributes to Fly Fishing, active, travelling light and always on the move while searching the water with an artificial lure, very similar really when you think about it? So, today I picked up my first Lure rod, a Middy 30Plus Radar 8' Lure rod which I'm hoping to christen on the local canal very soon.

 

I intend to concentrate on my Fly Fishing for Pike, Zander and Perch on the canal but will also be taking along the Lure rod on my trips just to keep my options open and hopefully pick up a new fishing skill along the way.

I'll keep you posted, I'm thinking there may be exciting times ahead.......

First casts into the murky depths....

So today I took the first steps on this new path of fishing enlightenment and headed off to the local canal for my first foray into Flyfishing for Pike and Zander.

Hannah dropped me at the side of the canal around mid-morning and armed with rucksack, rod, stalking net and unhooking mat off I squelched onto the tow path excited at the prospect of trying this, new to me, art of Pike Flyfishing.

Late winter on the local canal

To say the water was coloured would be a bit of an understatement, it looked more like a dirty thick soup with an abundance of flotsam and jetsam floating around on the surface. I have to admit to feeling a little disheartened as I knew I had no flies dark enough to provide a strong silhouette in such murky conditions, but I was here and I was determined to at least start on my fact finding mission for the long journey ahead.

The murky mire!

Just as I was clipping on my fly another angler appeared on the tow path, a lure fisherman called Paul who was on his second visit to the canal in search of Zander. A quick chat revealed he'd had no luck with either Zander or Pike but had caught a couple of small Perch, it was quite good to hear he'd been informed that other anglers had caught Zander out of this particular stretch of canal and to see another angler here with similar intent to me lifted my spirits a little.

I picked my way along the occasionally muddy, slippery tow path searching for likely looking 'Pikey' spots both on the far and near banks and started making my first tentative casts. It took a little while before I started to get used to flicking out such a large fly on the #9 weight rod I have acquired for the task, thankfully though it soon started to come together and wasn't long before I was able to get the fly into some nice fishy tight spots between the reeds on the opposite bank.

The first casts...

Unfortunately today was not going to be the day I hooked my first Pike on the fly, I wandered for a good few miles trying various spots but couldn't find a fish. I spent a good few hours searching the depths but to no avail and with some dark ominous looking clouds looming on the horizon and the breeze picking up, I decided to call time on my first Pike Flyfishing trip of the year and headed for home.

'Great British Countryside'

I'm never too disheartened with a blank, it's just nice to be out on the banks soaking in the surroundings. I thoroughly enjoyed my first trip on this new flyfishing path and had to raise a smile when looking through bridge 13 on the way home I saw a boat moored up flying the Union Jack, a very British end to a day out fishing in our wonderful countryside.

For this old dog the journey's just beginning.....

I've spent a considerable amount of hours fishing over the years, from those childhood days spent float fishing with my father, grandfather and uncle on the local canal and various fenland drains, through to the origin of my fly fishing with trips to Grafham and Packington with my father in the late 70’s early 80’s and then finally onto dabbling in 'Big Carp' fishing in the late 80's early 90's. However, over the last ten years I've drifted away from my fishing only occasionally dusting down the fly gear for a day out on some of the local fisheries or the odd special day out on Llyn Clywedog.

I have to say I've missed my time at the water’s edge, not just the fishing but also being out there seeing those wonderful sites that nature has to offer for those of us that spend time in her playground. So this year with that deep rooted yearn to be out fishing bubbling away I’ve vowed to re-kindle my passion for the art that is fly fishing but not just my pursuit of Trout!

After reading a few Blogs and articles by Dominic Garnett, then picking up a copy of his excellent book Fly Fishing for Coarse Fish, I’ve decided I’d like to broaden my horizons and attempt to catch a few coarse fish on the fly, setting my sights on trying to tempt, hook and land Pike, Perch, Zander and Carp on the fly during 2015. I’m not sure how I’m going to get on with this challenge especially as I’ve chosen to make the main focus of this new adventure the mostly uncharted waters (for me) of my local canal, I do know that the canal in question holds all of my target species to a decent size but it is a very murky water with a fair amount of boat traffic so I may have bitten off more than I can chew!

With this being such a new and intriguing fishing challenge for me and as I enjoy reading the blogs from the likes of Dominic Garnett (Crooked Lines), Jeff Hatt (Idler's Quest) and Ian Barnett (Wildscribbler) I thought I’d try and put my canal fishing experience during this next year into my first ever Blog, a small nod in appreciation of these great writers. It certainly won’t be anywhere near as informative or eloquent as some of the other Blogs out there but hopefully it will be an interesting read for anyone stumbling across it.

Here we are then, it’s late February with the promise of at least one dry day this weekend so it’s time I took that first step on my Lurcherfly Canal Peregrination......