Thanks, it was a bit of a botch job as the first day was unexpected and not well recorded. Day two was a bit of a let down but, having thought about it, the water was coloured when the bigger fish were feeding but clear when they were not... Is this the case with Zander? That they take better in murky conditions? Any advise appreciated.....
Presumably, yes. I remember watching Matt Hayes and "Sir Michael" fishing for them from a boat near Tewkesbury many years ago and that was before they showed up in the canal. The numbers in both waters are now very high which will, I should imagine, reduce the average size even though there does seem to be a vast amount of bait fish in the canal so this may prove to be an advantage to the occasional angler as access is so much easier than the Severn. There is a lot of pressure on some areas, near Gloucester, but with 16+ miles of canal, it should be easy to find a quieter spot; as I did!
@wyeme9047 is the canal stocked with baitfish or is it just a prolific place in that regard ? I am in South Wales and a trip over on a day ticket and a few nights bed and breakfast is my idea of a nice holiday rather than baking in the Spanish sun 😆
Good question ~ and even though I haven't landed one on it yet it seemed to manage a Jack of about 4lbs until it bit me off. This is the "fast" version which I presume refers to the action and it does seem to have a fine and responsive top but is quite firm in the butt section. I wouldn't want to tackle anything over 4 - 6lbs in still water but it would probably survive a heavier scrap as long as you were willing to play the fish out. In my limited opinion I would suggest a 10 - 12lbs Fish would about the max it could take without becoming over-loaded. The majority of canal pike do seem to be around this size but I may test the theory later in the season as this venue can produce the occasional beast well over 20lbs ~ that would be interesting ~ if anyone has landed something big on one of these I'd be interested to know..... Thanks for your interest.
@wyeme9047 I have the hto hooligan in the 5 to 20 g and the shimano vengeance in 3 to 21 g and that sounds like a rod of similar capability . In terms of getting bitten off I use a wire trace of 6kg or 13 pounds when pike are present . I am not surprised there are big pike in that venue , its a very big canal and reminds me of the Exeter ship canal .
Just uploaded a new short video of this outfit handling a small pike which it managed with ease so I reckon it could cope with something nearing the 10lbs mark!
