 Church Reach-a good spinning venue |
SEASONAL CHANGES
November
– December. All to quickly this
time of year has come around again! It seems the transitional period between the
autumn and winter seasons is always the most challenging one for the angler.
As the last of the leaves fall from the trees, and the water temperatures plummet, most species go into a state of confusion and tempting them into taking a bait becomes much harder.
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Church Reach-a good spinning venue |
Although
with a little more thought results can still be had with most of our target
species, the fish I choose to go for now are the Perch.
With the colder weather comes a decline in boat traffic and as a result,
water clarity starts to improve. This lends itself ideally to spinning.
I
like to find an area without too many trees along the towpath.
The reason for this is there are far less leaves sitting on the bottom of
the canal. As these leaves start to
rot, they give off gases which although harmless, have a definite negative
effect on fish’s appetites! I think these fish tend to congregate in clean
areas where their feeding habits seem less affected.
Small,
bright lures worked alongside moored barges and walls leading to lock cuts are
always likely to be intercepted by a Perch or two.
Personally I prefer a teaspoon sized spinner, with bright yellow or gold
colours on a black background, although this is probably a confidence thing, as
I have had lots of success with these patterns!
A selection of spinners |
Don’t be put off by using larger lures, as the Perch is the greediest of all the species and will often attack lures larger than itself! Also, there is always the chance of a bonus
pike,
making the use of a wire trace and at least 8lb line of paramount importance.
There can be no greater sin than leaving a hard to remove spinner in a
predator’s mouth, solely as a result of carelessness on our part.
Proof
of the pudding comes, as in the last two weeks a couple of friends and myself
have had a number of Perch to 2lb + along with some small pike, all on spinners,
and at this time of year it’s good to get the sport.
Get out there and give it a go, our length of the canal holds some really big fish, so the rewards are there to be taken. Good luck!
Till next time......
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