A Month To Remember

September's fishing began on the canal at Stenson Bubble, float-fishing red maggots with a 10'6" split-cane rod and Hardy Altex reel. I landed plenty of Roach, although the Perch were absent, so when the bites stopped, I moved downstream.

I watched a Buzzard circle overhead between bites, and did a double-take when I watched a Terepin about the size of my hand float past!

After being cancelled due to the pandemic, the Earl of Harrington's annual fancy dress charity match returned to Allestree Lake. Eight of us fished the six-hour match, and I managed third place with two small Perch. Three Roach took second place and three nice Bream took first place. Conditions were ideal for fishing, so I was surprised we didn't catch more; oh well, that's fishing.

My next session was back on the canal at Findern. This time, the day of Her Majesty The Queen's funeral. There was hardly any traffic on the roads and the towpath was pretty quiet, as was the boat traffic. I landed several good-sized Perch, float-fishing red maggots with a 12' hollow fibreglass rod and Mitchell 300 reel.

I heard there were a lot of small Carp at Heatherton Pond, which is known as a specimen water and a difficult water to fish. It's near where I live and a nice place to fish, so I thought it would be a nice place to catch a few of the smaller fish.

With strong line on the Mitchell 300 just in case I hooked one of the larger fish, I float-fished my Avon rod using red maggots, sweetcorn, and pellets on a size 12 hook.

It wasn't long before Carp weighing a few pounds were landed, as well as some nice Rudd, which I didn't even know were in the pond.

Then back on the cut for the next session, this time at Shardlow on a stretch I'd not fished before, near the first or last lock before the canal joins the River Trent. I had a good session catching Dace, Perch, and Skimmers, and was told it was a good stretch to fish in winter for Bream with bread or sweetcorn for hook bait.

The final session this month was back at Heatherton after those smaller Carp and Rudd. The session was a bit of a washout; although I did catch one of the small Carp. It started to lash it down with rain, so after no more bites, I called it a day.