Over the last month or two, Gav and I have travelled around North Wiltshire in search of predators. It seems like such a long time since we actually spent any time on the water on our doorsteps. In addition to that fact, we seem to have had more than our fair share of early starts, so we decided to stay more local and go for an afternoon session this weekend. With that decided, I met Gav up at The Kennet and Avon Canal in Devizes. At 3 pm, I pulled into the parking space, and the first thing I noticed after emptying the car was the level of the water. I have seen the levels low, but the Catholic pound was a couple of feet down from where it should be. Thankfully, this seemed to be an issue affecting that pound alone.
Today's weapons of choice were the Westin W3 Dropshot, the Illex Pepper, and the Favorite Black Swan. I had rigged up the Pepper and Black Swan with open jigheads and planned to fish various shad with them. I like the Westin dropshot rod, but the Illex and Favorite are just different gravy.
People ask me if they are worth their price tag, the very same question I asked Dave at Predator a few months back. He set up half a dozen rods for me and arranged them from the lowest price up to the higher end. We talked about the pros and cons of why one rod was better than the other. The rods he picked out were all way better than the rods I was already using. When we got to the Illex Pepper and the St Croix Legend Extreme, the sensitivity was insane. That day I walked away with the Black Swan, then a few months later I was in possession of the Pepper too. In the shop, they were lovely; in use, they were immense. Were they worth all the extra money? I don't know; I just know I love using them both. The Pepper is so versatile, light, and sensitive, whereas the Black Swan is those things, but it feels just a little heavier and longer. I paired the Pepper with the Shimano Vanquish 1500 and the Black Swan with a really nice Gunki Chooten Cut 2000. They are my go-to rods now. Gav was using the Gunki Power Game and his Favorite Whitebird. Both are very nice rods and available from Predator Tackle at crazy low prices.
The weather was warm, and a blustery wind was definitely going to be a challenge. Over the last couple of years, I have fished the Devizes stretch an awful lot. Both Gav and I definitely have our favorite spots. But as a rule, we start up at the bridge on Northgate Street and work our way down to the top of the flight. The Canal in Devizes is literally never clear. With all the boat activity and the constant ebb and flow of the pounds, visibility is a luxury we do not get. We fish to structure and spots we are confident hold perch. They may be there, but getting them to bite is another thing. The added issue of heavy angler activity at this time of the year definitely has a detrimental effect on fishing too.
As predicted for the conditions and time of day, the fishing was slow; as usual, we cycled through lures and methods in a bid to entice a perch or two. Hot spot #1 just never produced. This has been one of Gav's winning locations over the last 18 months. Today it stuck two fingers up at us and laughed.
We move on, giving Catholics a miss and Gav helping some poor boater who was grounded in the quickly emptying pound. Through Bathers' pound, with a few wasps falling to Gav's baits. There was no real excitement till we reached Black Horse pound. I was still biteless, never mind fishless. We tapped the moorings with small lures until Gav finally exclaimed he had a "Good Un" on. I rushed back up the banks with the net just in time for Gav to curse, "It's a pike". Now, as a rule, I am the one who usually bags a pike or three. Recent encounters have resulted in some nice pike. They are not the target species, but they do put up a scrap, and of course they do save a blank. In truth, we don't really want to be catching them in the current weather. Quickly unhooked and snapped the lovely little jack was back in the water and swimming away strongly.
I can't deny feeling a little bit envious as a result of my lack of even a bite, let alone a fish. Still several more pounds to go. It was really beginning to feel like one of those days. Gav was having fun fishing his smaller baits and catching the odd wasp, i personally aimed this year to fish bigger baits in the hope it would mean fewer wasps and more tanks. The year had started so amazingly well; however, the recent weeks had been challenging. Yes, we had done very well on the Avoncliff stretch a couple of weeks back, but the bigger baits were just not working as a rule. Time to "Match the hatch". A switch to a small Spro jighead in 2g with a Keitech Easy Shiner 2" in black. Black baits have worked really well this year; I was confident the switch-up would result in a fish or two, even if they might be smaller.
Sometimes you just need to unlock the door, and that combination seemed to be the key. In 15 minutes, I was blessed with a wasp, which was more welcome than it deserved to be, but it was a real blank saver. The little guy certainly put a smile on my face. This was quickly followed by 3 better fish, including a really nice perch of 33cm on the mat. They were definitely more interested in the small black lures, they all attacked the lure like it was the last bit of food in the water.
We landed a few more wasps, but Gav the pike meister was not done yet, his penchant for catching cucumbers was strong today. Again he hit into what seemed like a decent perch, only to slip the net under another pike.
To be fair, we actually did better than we expected. The walk back up to the starting point was steady. We made a few speculative casts, but the action was slow again. We called it as the sun was dipping down behind the trees lining the canal. A tough session, but always great to spend some time on the bank with friends. All things considered, we had a good catch-up, caught some fish, laughed a bit, and learnt a little bit more about the location.
