Janet

Do it - go get a boat! We bought an inflatable dinghy and an outboard from Preston Marina, and have had brilliant days on it. It all fits (just!) in the boot of the car, and takes minutes to inflate and get in the water. It's very rigid, and fits three people plus bags etc. Janet

Thanks for that! We've found a campsite right on the canal near Gargrave, but we'll be travelling up and down a bit, as we're taking our dinghy and outboard, I'll be able to see where the fish are so I know where to fish! Cheating? Janet

Good afternoon guys, We're planning a weekend camping and boating trip this weekend, over at Gargrave, near Skipton. Does anyone know who has the fishing rights to this area of the canal? Cheers - I know someone out there will have the answer! Janet

You should have seen the ones that got away! Seriously, at one point I saw some small silver fish jumping along the canal like skimming stones. Suddenly a massive, and I mean MASSIVE pike leapt out of the water like a dolphin. It must have been almost four feet long (and I'm not prone to exaggeration!) I've never seen anything like it. It scared the living daylights out of me! I'm glad I didn't hook that on my first proper trip! I saw it cruising past me later on, and was able to assess its size as it passed, as I had my rod lying on the bank to give me an idea of scale. As I was walking home, I also saw a large silver coloured carp cruising along about six inches from the bank, just slowly meandering along. Even my presence didn't seem to disturb it. It was approaching about 18" long. The best thing about the canals is that on a clear day, with little boat movement, in certain areas you can see straight down to the bottom. Providing you keep your shadow off the water and don't make too much noise, you can just sit and watch the fish. It's amazing what you can see. It's fascinated me for years. Janet

Hmmm. That was an interesting thread. I may splash out and get one after reading that. My friend came up to visit me whilst I was fishing yesterday, to see how I was getting on. It would have been SO good to let him see, rather than having to just rely on a photograph. I think the water was deep enough, and not too hot to have been able to keep my small catch safe for an hour or two. I'll have to weigh up the pros and cons before I decide. Incidentally, I'm not sure about the perch thing. I caught four in quick succession, each one being released immediately. I certainly didn't notice any drop off in activity there! Janet

I must have missed the thread about keepnets. I can only use the forum whilst I'm at work, so don't have time to check out everything. I'll hunt it down now and have a read! Janet

I was wondering if I should have bought one or not, and yesterday I thought at the end of the day that it would have been nice to be able to see all I'd caught. Still, I think it was better that the fish were caught, admired and released back into their natural environment as soon as possihle. I don't need to see them all in a distressed heap at the end of the day to make my day enjoyable. Am I in a minority here? I usually see anglers with keep nets when I'm walking or boating. Always wondered why, if they weren't in a match. Janet

As I don't have transport and I'm working all week, I can't get to the canal before the weekend. However, just 10 minutes walk from my home is the River Calder, and a weir. The river is quite shallow, only two or three feet deep in places, very shallow in others. I don't know how deep it is by the weir, but I'd guess not very deep. I know the river contains brown trout, but I'm not sure what other species there might be. What do you guys think? Do you think it's worth me having a go? At least I can get two or three hours in during the evening. Janet

The angler who saw me land the bream said he reckoned over 3lbs. It was very solid, and heavy. He said he'd been trying for 3 years to catch a large bream, but hadn't been successful. He put it down to beginners luck! Cheeky bugger! I'd estimate it at more like 2 to 2 and a half pounds, without exaggerating! The best thing about it was just not knowing what to expect each time. It was a thrill bringing the fish in, waiting to see what it was going to be. Also, it was great to see what lovely condition the fish were in. I did notice that whilst I unhooked and put the fish back in the water carefully, holding them in my net until they were ready to swim away strongly and then just sliding them out gently, the perch took considerably longer than the other fish to recover. Is this normal? Janet Edit - Yes, spot on John! I walked from Hapton to just past Shuttleworth Hall Bridge. A lovely spot. Tried three separate areas along there.

Hi guys. Well, thanks for all your help. I followed as much of your advice as I could remember, and had a brilliant day. The weather stayed dry and calm until the last hour. The first fish I caught (yes, I DID catch!) was a beautiful big bream. Hooked it on my first cast with a couple of red maggots. Panic! I hadn't even got my landing net ready! Cue lots of frantic juggliing, trying to put it together whist keeping the fish on the line. Thankfully it didn't put up too much of a fight, and I landed it safely, with a handy passing fisherman to witness it. I don't have any scales, so the only way I could show the size was to use my mobile phone to photograph it next to something, hence the picture of it lying next to my large flask of tea! I measured the flask when I got home, and it's 12" tall, so that was a pretty good sized fish for my first! I wish I'd had the presence of mind to get that passing angler to photograph me with it! I have the picture on my computer here, but can't figure out how to add it! Bit dim on the technical side of things! Unhooking it was easy enough, though a bit daunting as I hadn't done it before. I had a disgorger and forceps etc, but it was just hooked in the lip, so the hook slid out easily. I went on to catch four perch, one rudd and two roach. Not being able to tell how big they were, I tore off bits of Angling Times the same length as the fish, and measured them when I got home! A very useful publication! I wonder if anyone can estimate the weight from the length measurements? All measured from nose to fork in tail. Bream 12" long (an absolute beauty!) Perch 8 1/4" long & 6" long (plus a couple of smaller ones, under 5") Rudd just under 8" long. Roach just over 7" long. I started off by plumbing the depth as advised, and threw in a few balls of home made ground bait, (the recipe will probably make you proper anglers cringe, but it worked!) then I sat and had a cup of tea - with no buses till 9.45 on a Sunday, I'd set off walking at 7.30, and didn't get to my chosen spot until 9.30. I needed a brew! Sure enough, after a few minutes, I could see movement in the water, and lots of bubbles, so I knew I had some fish around. I'd decided to try to catch off the far bank, near some reeds, as I'd seen fish there on previous visits, but every fish I got was caught in the middle of the canal. Every fish was absolutely perfect - not a mark on them. I especially loved the perch. I knew from seaching this forum to be careful handling them, so I was prepared. They are the most beautiful fish. What I really enjoyed was sitting there in the sunshine, away from the pressures of work, just relaxing and wondering if, or when, I would get a bite. The feeling when that float bobbed a bit and then went under with a definite bite was fantastic, even more so when I realised that I actually had a fish on the end of my line! I learned during the day to be patient - to wait until the float went under rather than striking straight away. Don't know if that's the right technique, but it worked for me. Probably meant I missed a few, but I don't care. I had a brilliant day, and can't wait to get back out again! Once again - a big THANKS to all of you for your advice! Janet

Well, it looks like the weather isn't going to be too great. Last time I went out it was horizontal driving rain. Are there different techniques I should use for fishing in the rain? I'm hoping it's going to stick with this light drizzle, and not get too heavy again. Well, I'm actually hoping it's going to be dry, but I'll settle for this! Janet

Thanks for the tip Phil. I'll try that tomorrow. I'm hoping to make a full day of it, weather permitting. Janet

It's OK - they are brown trout, so my licence covers me. The salmon, unfortunately, are a bit of a freak occurrence. We've heard of a 14lb one, and someone saw one trying to jump up the weir, but they are very, very rare, and it's highly unlikely that I'll even see one, never mind catch one! Janet PS. Thanks for trying to keep me on the straight and narrow!

Sorry if my replies and my grateful thanks are late. I posted early this morning to thank you all for your advice, but as I'm new, my posts have to be checked. I am on line and reading everything though! Janet

It won't put me off posting. I really don't care what size of fish I catch - it's the trying to catch that's fun. It's sitting, watching, enjoying the outdoors, breathing the fresh air, clearing away the cobwebs. Looking at some of the magazines I've bought to learn how to fish was almost enough to put me off altogether. I really don't see what is sporting or fun about catching egg laden fish, time after time. Fish that are recognisable because of the scars and wounds caused by being caught regularly. ....or is it just that men are obsessed with size? Janet

Wow. Thanks for all the advice guys! Yes, that sounds just about spot on. I told the guys in the tackle shop the sort of fishing I intended to do, and I've every confidence that they've set me up ok. I've always fancied it, but never had anyone to teach me. On a recent boating trip I bought a kiddies fishing rod to dangle over the stern in the evening. Didn't have any luck with it, but on a recent camping trip I loaded it with a bit of sweetcorn and landed a two pound brown trout. I was hooked! I thought if I didn't do it now, I probably never would, so went straight out and bought my gear. Yes, purely pleasure. I love canals, so intend to do the majority of my fishing there. We go on regular narrowboat holidays, and have our own dinghy and outboard, so I'm on the canals most weekends. Also, I don't drive, so the Leeds Liverpool is pretty handy for me. There's also the River Calder running past the bottom of my street, which I believe holds plenty of brown trout and the occasional salmon. There's a weir in the town too - would it be worth trying there? From the advice you've all given me there, it seems I'm not really doing anything wrong. I've been plumbing the depth, feeding regularly etc, so I think it's a combination of bad luck and lousy weather that's stopped me catching so far. When I went out this week the rain was lashing down sideways, so I don't suppose it's surprising that I didn't catch anything! I've bought every coarse fishing magazine I can find, read them from cover to cover, as well as a few videos I bought from a car boot sale. I wasn't impressed with the videos - I really don't think that sitting next to a huge hole stuffed with carp is my sort of thing. Of course, once I get to know what I'm doing, I may change my mind, but at the moment I'm quite happy if I only catch tiddlers! Thanks again for all the helpful advice. I'll let you know how I get on! Janet

Hi guys, As a complete angling newcomer, I'm looking for some advice. I've recently bought my first rod, with the intention of fishing on my local canal. I was given lots of help and advice by my local angling shop, who kept me supplied with many cups of tea and set me up with basic equipment ready to start. My problem is that I have never fished before, and don't know anyone else who does, so I'm really having to teach myself - it's not proving easy! I've searched the forum and found loads of advice, perhaps too much, because I'm getting very confused with all the conflicting advice and some of the terminology. Can some of you kind people please give me some practical and simple advice to get me started? I've been to the canal a couple of times, had a few bites, but haven't managed to catch anything yet. I'm not too worried about that, and it's not putting me off, but a fish would be nice! Thanks! Janet

I've had a look for local coaches, and I've found a few in my area, so I'm just waiting for information back from them. Do you have a rough idea of what I should expect to pay? Janet

Yes, I noticed the delay. A good thing I think. I've been on another forum recently which was populated with what I can only describe as juvenile muppets. Full of text speak, dreadful English and very, very annoying! They could do with some Mods to sort it out. This site is so much better. I've already got loads of useful information. Janet

I'll do that shortly! Thanks for the advice. Janet PS. Are there any other women anglers around? Haven't been on the forum long. Just finding my way round now.

I was fishing between Hapton and Clayton-le-Moors, not far from Burnley. A lovely area, but a bit windswept at times! Janet

I'm in the same position - trying to teach myself. Not easy! I don't know anyone else who fishes. I've been out three times now, caught two tiddlers on my first day, then nothing. Spent 6 hours yesterday sat on the Leeds & Liverpool canal with horizontal rain and wind - didn't catch a thing, but thoroughly enjoyed it! Only gave up because frostbite set in! I've read loads on the Internet, bought several books and some videos, but while helpful, there's nothing like practice. I'll take the advice and try and find myself a coach. I'll catch something one day! Janet

Hi there, Most hire companies usually say to cruise only between 8.00am and 8.00pm, or from dawn to dusk. In practice, when we're cruising, we tend to carry on until the light goes, which can be anything up to nine or ten in the evening, or when it gets too dark to see the bank to moor up! JSD

Hi there, For hire boats, it's normally stated in the booking conditions that you shouldn't cruise before 8am or after 8pm. When we're out cruising however, we follow the rule that if it's going dark, it's time to stop before you can't see where to moor up! Basically, if you can see where you're going, you can carry on. In practice though, it's polite not to cruise too late, particularly past moored boats. There may be restricted opening times on some locks, usually to conserve water, or because of vandalism restricting the opening times. JSD