Big things from small places

Have you ever been driving along looking through the window and spotted some plonk 'a fishing in that little drain that runs beside the road , it was probably me ! especially if it was the middle of winter or there had been weeks of flooding rain during the summer months.

“Land drains they call e'm” those insignificant looking little trenches that run besides most roads up and down the country, this is a story of such a drain although it is most probably one of the wider ones that you may encounter as it is fed from a small river as well although not directly being more of a back flush really, especially when it is in flood, it is about 11 meters from bank to bank in most places with no features to speak of , rushes do line the far bank but it is not possible to fish these as a feature because of the depth found which is about 10 inches and tends to be a little clear for the most part although I have caught fish there they have been very few and only in times of heavy colour , it’s main channel is at best three feet deep at around 7 meters from the bank on the road side , it must have been dug originally or possibly dredged from the field side as it is deeper at your feet from the road side and shows all the characteristics of being dug with a bucket from the field side bank gradually sloping to nothing on that side, there are a huge number of anglers in and around this area as the thaw after the recent frosts indicated with miles upon miles of water being fished after they had been frozen for several weeks, in fact I can’t remember the last time that I saw so many anglers on the banks as I drove along trying to find a place to fish but on this like so many occasions there was not a sole to be seen fishing this drain for it’s mile or so of bank, why I just do not know probably the only thing that would be against it is it’s proximity to the road, having only about 10 meters of grass verge between you and a reasonable amount of traffic which can be rather annoying sometimes.

This little gem of a place is full of fish roach, perch, skimmers and tench can all be caught in numbers depending on conditions and time of year although I must admit I normally hit the venue in the winter months when it holds the most colour and fishing becomes difficult elsewhere, it being an ideal place to guarantee catching some fish no matter the conditions as long as it is not frozen 10 pounds is always on the cards to the humble maggot, It was many winters ago that I first discovered there were many fish to be caught in these often forgotten or overlooked places even a tiny drain behind our local canal which is only six meters wide and at most one and a half to two feet deep holds loads of fish and can give you a great days fishing, these places are often not controlled by any clubs or associations so the fishing is free ? Yes I said free “which is nice” in a world gone mad for money and ripping people off even the local village pond will cost you nearly a weeks paper round money along with bait and end tackle there is no wonder the youth of today find it difficult to drag themselves away from the play station of a weekend, If I were to say that this drain holds roach to two pounds or more especially when the main river is in flood along with Tench odd carp and good sized bream, “yeah I bet” came the reply , it would make you laugh yes ! Well at least you have used those muscles that do you so good, the only way to find out is at least to try for yourself, that drain that you have passed so many times even though you have probably seen one or two anglers fishing it you have not even given it another thought well now is perhaps the time to try something a little different for a change and get out of that routine, The amount of fish that live in this drain at this time of year is amazing and the methods that you can use to catch even when it is freezing cold show how many are present with competition for food beginning almost straight away even after putting five or six good sized cups of ground bait in full of casters the fish are competing from the off getting larger as you feed throughout the session.

The odd pike and shoals of big perch can be a pest at times with the water being so shallow they tend to spook the smaller fish away for some time before they depart or you happen to catch one on a fish which is being netted and we all know how startling that can be when unexpected, but generally this is part and parcel of the days fishing and you can’t blame old Esox for taking an easy meal can you, it is often hard during the winter months to find a place where you do not have to jerk about with squat and pinkies or bloodworm to catch fish and even if you do they are normally of small proportions so it is nice to be able to find a place to use proper baits like big maggot, hemp and casters to catch winter fish, the more you fish it the more that you seem to catch with the bait going in on a regular basis the fish become more used to feeding in certain areas although we do tend to move about a bit up and down the stretch just to add a little variety to the fishing, we have found that it fishes at it’s best on a low tide with it being linked to automatic pumps from the main river that flows into the river Trent and on then into the Humber which is not very far away so the pumps at the sluice pull the drain off for the majority of the day at a steady pace which in turn ensures that the fish feed all day with enthusiasm as that little bit of movement can make all the difference to the end result although it does fish a little when it is not pulling the fish are much smaller and far more tentative in their approach with a bumped fish costing you dearly in the shallow water.

It is interesting that when reading a national magazine just the other day (on fishing of course) I just happened to be looking at an article about fishing a canal that was five to seven feet in depth with this certain individual explaining how important it was when fishing the far shelf not to spook the fish that are lying down the track in his main swim by fishing with his pole at the far bank over this main swim thus casting a shadow over it and seemingly frightening the fish off when doing so , suggesting that you should fish the far bank swim at an angle to your seating position using another section to reach the designated spot and elevating this problem, sounds awfully complicated doesn't it especially when you read on only to find out that the venue in question holds a good amount of colour in the winter and is like pea soup in the summer , “what”, it doesn't seem to add up somehow does it, as all of the canals, drains or whatever that hold colour especially if they have this type of depth don't mind a bit of pole waving at all as I very much doubt that the fish can see a thing anyway, a venue with no colour is a different matter with fish often being spooked from a tea bag being dropped in such is the clarity of the water even if the venue is ten feet deep.

This is the time to try those little unforgotten places whilst other places are not fishing so well or you will find yourself not trying them at all once the weather starts to improve and the rest of the waters start to fish again, I have not fished this place in the summer months as I am to often visiting the banks of the great river Trent but know of some anglers who do when it has a little colour and they say that they have caught up to and beyond fifty pounds of fish which is not unbelievable as a lot of the Tench and bream tend to move into it to spawn and when the main river is in flood so if you were to hit it at the right time you would be quid’s in, so don't be shy and stop to see if that drain that you pass every day but have not even thought to fish will produce anything.

 you never know you may be surprised !

Tomo.