Staffs & Worcs Canal

[Zerkalo]

I got my BAA membership yesterday morning so I could fish a stretch of the Staffs & Worcs canal in Caunsall. I already knew not to expect too many Gudgeon which were my initial target species as I'd fished the Stourbridge canal nearby last week, and so realised my beloved Gudgeon aren't there anymore and the new targets would be Roach, Perch and Skimmers.

I now remember why we never used to fish the canal in summer, first of all, no pinkies or squats available from local tackle shops, and secondly, the amount of traffic; boats and cyclists. The boats were really churning up the silt so everytime one went through I switched from the inside whip line to the far bank.

The fishing was quite slow compared to the first two hours I had on the Stourbridge canal. Far less bites, no skimmers, and what did show was mostly Perch. I fished for about 3 hours using maggots and casters and most fish came from the inside whip line.



It's a useful stretch being close to my house, but I'm not sure how much I'm going to fish it until it cools down a bit as the boat traffic is so heavy/bottom so silty. So I reckon I might try some other stretches like Swindon/Womborne to see if they hold a bit more than the Perch I caught.

 

[Silverfisher]

Some decent looking perch there

 

[Zerkalo]

Yeah they're fun to play on a whip too. With the amount of nice sized perch in there I have thought about using an elasticated top 2 instead of the whip as it's not exactly speed fishing and I got snapped a couple of times yesterday.

I went again this afternoon and as expected boat traffic was unbearable. And I caught 1x perch, 1x roach and 2x bleak for a grand total of 4 fish!

 

[Silverfisher]

I can imagine the boats being bad, I don’t tend to touch canals after April until October for that reason. Much more room on the rivers for them to stay out of the way.

 

[Zerkalo]

I'm looking at Arley or Bridgenorth on the Severn as my next river session but looking at the weather I reckon it might be a few weeks.

 

[Silverfisher]

Yeah not looking good is it. I’m lucky on the Thames that it takes a lot of rain to do much to it so when you get a decent day it’s almost always in decent condition winter aside. On the itchen Monday though for a change.

 

[bluemack]

Some big chub at bridge 40 in Swindon .

 

[Zerkalo]

Used to fish Swindon years ago! Good to hear there's still fish there. I'm going to fish there again soon.

Was going to try the Stewponey as close to house today, still might this evening, just trying to get the one job I have done but my phone won't charge, nightmare of a day so far but hopefully the boat traffic will be a bit quieter this evening.

 

[Zerkalo]

As planned I spent a couple of hours fishing the Stewponey (I think Bridge 33) where it joins the Stourbridge Canal.

It started of well and I caught a couple of Gudgeon on first couple of chucks which made me think I might have found a decent spot...




But a few Perch later and the swim went dead. Ended up with about 20 fish in total. Boat traffic was better being a Monday but I packed up when I didn't have a bite for half an hour.

 

[Scribe]

Ahh the Gudgeon they may be small, but such a beautiful fish.

 

[Zerkalo]

They're ingrained in me as a perfect fish for fair matches so and so it carries through to me with pleasure fishing.

 

[Zerkalo]

Had a pint of maggots and 4 hours spare this afternoon so decided to fish Caunsall again.



Decided to beef up a bit this time by fishing 0.10 hooklength as was regularly catching stamp Perch^.

It worked as I got all but one fish in which snapped the size 20 hook on the whip. I even hooked a pike again. It's funny when I used to fish canals you could expect maybe a couple of bonus perch, now it seems like they're the main species. I'm looking forward to trying chopped worm and bread punch (for the roach) when it gets to Autumn. Much less boat traffic today too.




Made for an enjoyable day catching Perch and Roach with nice bag of fish in the end.

 

[Zerkalo]

Not sure why attachment didn't load first time.

 

[Silverfisher]

Some nice perch there

 

[Zerkalo]

Thanks! I had a good day catching them.
A pike took one of them about 6oz. Thought I was going to get the pike in too but it let go and I still landed the Perch.

 

[RedRidingHood]

You live close to these Rivers / Canals? if so you're extremely lucky!
Would love to do a lot more river fishing, We have some seriously nice stretches but I don't drive sadly and theyre too far out of walking distance. I was thinking about getting a trades bike and hauling my gear about with that, But It'd suck to get a puncture out in the middle of nowhere lol.

Lovely net of Perch!

 

[Zerkalo]

Yeah I'm basically on the Stour and the Staffs Worcs Canal.

 

[RedRidingHood]

Yeah I'm basically on the Stour and the Staffs Worcs Canal.

yeah I'd just read the rest of your comments where you plainly point that out, My bad!
Some incredible fishing though pal, keep it up!

 

[Zerkalo]

Thanks! I'm on a waiting list for this club Kinver Freeliners Angling Club

That would put a lot of more venues on the cards for me but already feeling a bit spolied as it is.

 

[Dslayer]

Plenty of good chub and bream in the Staffie too.... and i know barbel to 7lb and double figure carp have come out too. All a matter of location.....