Kennet & Avon Canal, Newbury, Saturday 3rd November 2012

A day out looking for perch along a stretch of the canal which has received zero fishing attention from me so far. Having seen elsewhere what constitutes a good perch swim (and what it can hold) and then seen it destroyed I like to think that I’m a bit more clued up on what to look for. The weather forecast suggested I might get a morning of overcast conditions, it’d be cold and breezy but the sun might stay in for a bit....it didn’t, I arrived at the start point on a glorious, crisp bright morning which would’ve been wonderful for any activity other than perch fishing;

Never mind I was there now and with a long walk to my destination I got on with it by dropping a big juicy lob under the brick bridge. A roach only about as long as the worm wolfed it down immediately, a blank saver first cast!

Thereafter it was a case of searching out the perch in water which wasn’t directly in sunlight, this was almost always on the far bank so any overhanging trees were given due attention. The tactics worked to a degree, they were small fish so the camera, scales and landing net were untroubled but I was pleased to be having some success in such adverse conditions. Strangely the lock cuts I tried failed to produce any perch but the surprise of the day came from just such a swim, a chublet of all things;

The locks provided an opportunity to access the far bank, not usually very far up or downstream but sometimes you do get a chance to get right into some of the vegetation. It was at one of these swims were the stamp of perch improved, still not needing the net but not tiddlers either. That swim’s logged in the memory banks for next time. You have to be a bit careful doing this, if the boaters don’t shut the lock gates once they’ve gone through it’s possible to be marooned on the wrong side of the canal until the next boat comes through. Why don’t both sets of gates have decent width platforms for crossing?

One mile after starting out I arrived at the turning point, the entrance to Speen Moors. I couldn’t resist a dabble in the weirpools so a short diversion was included in the walk during which I bumped into Merv, a NAA committee member. We had an interesting chat about the river past and present before he headed off to walk his dog and I set out on the return journey.

So that’s it really, I hadn’t expected the day to produce spectacular fish and was pleased to find any to be honest. A couple of swims will get a return visit possibly today as it’s pretty gloomy outside but it’s also pouring with rain. If it clears up later who knows?