Fishing on Thursday...

Well, how about that then? Fishing again! At this rate people might think I am taking this seriously. To be honest, it is more about taking advantage of the last few days of good weather we are likely to have this year. I can't see me sitting by the water freezing my bits off, I am not that keen!

Beaver Fishery - Jeff's lake earlier this year

I am going to be very boring this week,  and pay yet another visit to Beaver to get as much practise as I can before the last match of the season, next week. I have got the feeder fishing up to an acceptable level, still room for improvement but a lot better than it has been. It is the float fishing I need to brush up on to see if I can catch something other than carp! Not that I am complaining, the carp soon add up to give a good weight.

Looking at the weather forecast for next week, it looks like it will be raining for the match so I will have to make sure I have my wet gear with me. If I can get set up in the dry that will be good. It is not so bad if it starts raining during the session. Knowing my luck it will rain until the shout for all-in and then it will stop! What ever happens it will be fun and, as usual my only goal is to stay off the bottom slot in the results table... We will see.

As the weather gets cooler and the days get shorter I intend to continue my fishing adventures in town roaming about fishing light. Initially I intend to do a spot of dropshotting in a place I have been planning to visit for the past six months, The Regent's Canal in West London. The canal runs around North London from Paddington Basin in the west to Limehouse basin in the East. There is about 8½ miles of it and I can fish all of it. It is possible to fish Limehouse basin itself but I have yet to investigate that. I understand it is only particular areas where fishing is allowed. The canal can be fished under the Canal and River Trust, Waterway Wanderers scheme The permit costs £20/year or £10 to members of the Angling Trust. 

In recent years the public transport system in London has been improved enormously with easy connections and a much easier payment system that includes suburban rail systems as well as the tube, buses, trams and the Overground (a sort of cross between the suburban trains and the tube). A ten to fifteen minute walk from my front door will get me to any one of three railway stations on three different lines. There are plenty of buses running along the main road and a quick hop on the bus will get me to the dockland light railway. With all this transportation to hand, it makes prefect sense to use it. Driving and parking in central London is just not a practical option these days with congestion and parking charges to pay let alone the hassle of driving in almost grid-locked traffic.

Dropshotting gear is the perfect kit for carting about on public transport. What's more the bait is not smelly or wriggly - it's plastic! Short, light rod, a small 1500 size reel and the smallest landing net is about it, apart from a few bits of tackle and a bag to carry it all in!

The other place I fancy fishing is the Great Stour that runs through Canterbury town centre where fishing is free. I need to go and have a look around on foot, I hear great things about it but I think you have to pick your spot. Parking will be a problem in the centre of Canterbury and even if there is a space, long-term that is, more than a couple of hours is expensive. I will probably investigate the park and ride service. I plan to keep the gear down to a minimum, all light tackle keep moving. if I do take anything to sit on it will be a fold up stool on a sling, or maybe one of those rucksack tackle bags with a stool attached. I don't plan to take a seat box, not even my plastic one! The bag in the photograph looks ideal for what I need. At under £20.00 it has to be worth a look. It appears to have plenty of room for the small amount of tackle and bait required. I might even get my sandwiches in there too! My small landing net and pole will easily tuck under the flap leaving me with just the rod to carry in my hand, either made up while on the 'bank' or folded while travelling.

The idea of fishing light really appeals to me, especially in the urban environment. Maybe that is because I am a townie born and bred, having lived in London for almost sixty years living no more than 3.7 miles away (according to Google maps) from where I live now. This is about to change, with a planned move to the North Kent coast early next year, hence the interest in Canterbury.

I am  sure I will have a totally different approach to fishing, living down by the sea. Not only is there the sea to explore, but there are far more places to fish in and around that area we intend to move to than we have here in the streets South East London. They even filled in the canals that I knew as a kid but never fished.

All that musing is for another day, for now I must concentrate on the task in hand. Time to go and tie some hooklengths, sort out the bait and get everything ready for a spot more practise...

Ralph.