The Pursuit of Roach and Happiness

As October drew to a close I said a fond farewell to the Leeds Liverpool canal by way of a couple of short sessions on my two favourite stretches. No remarkable catches just a few small roach and perch and a soaking on both days. So now I have a new challenge as we have moved to live in Lancaster. The canal is only a few minutes walk from home so I'm about to embark on exploring this city centre stretch. If I follow the canal in one direction it leads me to a large basin area which I'm told has plenty of pike and I would assume lots of other fish too. If I go the other direction the canal passes old mill buildings and eventually reaches the Lune Aqueduct. At the moment I favour investigating this stretch. I've walked a short section of it and there's plenty of far bank tree cover plus high walls that keep the canal separate from roads and houses that surround it. Of course as it is now winter the big challenge is finding where the fish have decided to hole up. This is made harder by limited time due to work and the short daylight hours. Some mornings I manage a quick walk along the towpath whilst I'm on the way to work. I'm searching for any signs of fish, even small fry breaking the surface would be an indication of where they have gone.

So far I have had a few short sessions on this new stretch and have blanked twice and managed a small bream and a roach of 4oz on the other occasion. In fairness to the canal and myself conditions on each visit have been far from perfect. One day it was snowing, another there was a fearsome easterly blowing and on the day I did catch it was actually fairly benign conditions. `Of course I've met a couple of local experts who've informed me that 'further along is better and that maggots are the best bait'! Being me I've ignored this received wisdom and continued in my own vein using breadflake or crust. If it was good enough for the old canal experts like Albert Oldfield then it's good enough for me. Angling may have become far more technologically advanced in recent years but roach are still roach and if you can find them it's my experience that bread is still a top class bait especially in the winter.

I've also been reading to brush up my skills at canal fishing. When I first began fishing way back when I was 12 years old my guide was Peter Stone's Teach Yourself Coarse Fishing.There was a copy in the school library and I probably spent far too much time reading that rather than concentrating on my studies. My new guide is Canal Fishing by Kenneth Seaman. Originally published as part of the Pan Angler's Library, which also published Dick Walker's Stillwater Angling, it is proving to be an invaluable guide plus it contains a few great stories about  the canal experts of the 60s and 70s.. There are chapters on bait, tackle and the fish likely to be found in your local 'cut'. My favourite chapter not surprisingly is the one on big roach and it's in this one that we get a few hints on the exploits of Mr Oldfield.
Apparently Albert rated lobworms or lob tails as his favourite roach bait. after a cold snap had ended and caught numerous  2lb plus fish using them. On one occasion he caught a magnificent 3lb 2oz specimen on a lob tail fished through a hole in the ice. The story goes that he had fished the same spot a dozen times without a single bite before this outstanding fish was caught. Most of us would have given up long before that and maybe that's the essential essence of fishing for big roach. It's easy to catch small ones but to net a truly remarkable fish requires perseverance, patience and a great understanding of both your quarry and the water you are fishing and maybe a bit of luck too.
By fishing a wild, unstocked water like the Lancaster canal I am of course making a huge assumption that specimen roach are still present. With increased levels of predation and illegal netting it could be that none exist.Thankfully we seem to be free of cormorants which may be a result of the canals proximity to the M6 and the fact that it is still a navigable stretch so there are plenty of smaller fish.  So far I have caught fish up to 9oz in the Carnforth area and truly believe that bigger fish are present. From my point of view I would rather spend another season trying to catch one, suffering the frustrations and blank days that I know will come because if I do manage to break the magical 2lb mark I will be the happiest man alive.