Lancaster Canal

[alan strickland]

Section of Fishery or river stretch: Non-navigable section top end
Date: 5/07/03
Time fished: 17.00hrs -11.00hrs
Weather conditions:warm overcat all day
Water conditions: lots of weed floating and fixed,north tow with wind
Water Temperature:
Fishing Forecast
Bait: castors and pellets
Method: 1 float rod
Results: 2 tench
remarks:fished mainly to get some bait down for early morning sesion.2 small tench of 2lb and lost 1 6lb ish mirror carp(not known to be in by baliff)

 

[alan strickland]

Section of Fishery or river stretch: Non-navigable section top end
Date: 5/07/03
Time fished: 4.00hrs -15.00hrs
Weather conditions:warm overcat all day no sun getting through
Water conditions: lots of weed floating and fixed,north tow with wind
Water Temperature:
Fishing Forecast
Bait: castors and pellets
Method: 1 float rod/1 ledger
Results: 18 tench
remarks:By 9.00 id only had 2 tench of 2lb and was thinking of packing up at 10.00 but at 9.45 the swim was alive with bubbles and mud being thrown up in huge clouds.caught regular good fish from 9.45 until 14.30,pulled in ledger to target just my float as bites were very fast and shy like roach bites.lost at least 6 hooked fish in weeds and 1 of them was at least 8lb easy biggest tench ive seen.
fantastic sesion and a bonus was very few eople walking and had basin to myself.
6 x 2lb
4 x 4lb
5 x 5lb (best 5lb 10 oz)
1 x 6lb 11oz
2 x 7lb (best 7lb 4oz) 1 oz short of pb

 

[alan strickland]

sorry report with lost 6lb mirror should be
4/07/03

 

[alan strickland]

Section of Fishery or river stretch: Non-navigable section top end
Date: 7/07/03
Time fished: 16.45hrs -21.50hrs
Weather conditions:dull overcat all day with a fair wind blowing from south
Water conditions: wind overnight has blown the surface weed away,still enough wind for a good ripple
Water Temperature:
Fishing Forecast
Bait: castors and pellets
Method: 1 float rod
Results: 2 tench dozen 4" perch
remarks:wind made fishing hard but not as much as the shoal of little perch,used rake in end and that got rid of everything for an hour!! rain started at 21.40 so i packed up got a pair of 6lb tench in last hour,also had a float smashed to bit`s by a small pike who snapped from just under my feet at it on retreive

 

[alan strickland]

Section of Fishery or river stretch: Non-navigable section top end
Date: 10/07/03
Time fished: 16.00hrs -22.30hrs
Weather conditions:dull but warm
Water conditions: very clear but surface weed has returned
Water Temperature:
Fishing Forecast
Bait: castors and pellets
Method: 1 float rod
Results: blank
remarks:not a lot of movement or bubbles so decided to bait a few swims for morning

 

[alan strickland]

Section of Fishery or river stretch: Non-navigable section top end
Date: 11/07/03
Time fished: 4.00hrs -10.30hrs
Weather conditions:dull but warm showery
Water conditions: very clear but surface weed has returned
Water Temperature:
Fishing Forecast
Bait: castors and pellets
Method: 1 float rod
Results: 8 tench a few perch and a 1lb roach
remarks:nice morning and showers kept walkers away best tench was 6lb2oz.all bubbles ect stopped at 10.00 so decided to pack up,soon as id put gear away the swim was alive with bubbles again.

 

[alan strickland]

Section of Fishery or river stretch: Non-navigable section top end
Date: 12/07/03
Time fished: 4.00hrs -9.00hrs-17.00hrs-23.00hrs
Weather conditions:bright sunny day no cloud
Water conditions: very clear but surface weed has returned
Water Temperature:21
Fishing Forecast
Bait: castors and pellets
Method: 1 float rod/1 ledger
Results: morn 1 tench eve 3 3/4lb roach
arived early and all looked good got a few bites and then 1 tench at 6.00 but soon after the sun hit the water and all went dead so baited up for eve ust before leaving the ledger rod screamed off but i got a line tangle round tip and after a few seconds fight i was snapped on 6lb(never seen fish but it fought like a very big tench).
eve session got loads of bites but couldnt hit them,then caught a 3/4lb roach.scaled down to 1 hook and single castor and caught 2 more and lost 1 biggy before it was too dark and tme to leave.
so baited up for morning.......

 

[alan strickland]

Section of Fishery or river stretch: Non-navigable section top end
Date: 13/07/03
Time fished: 4.00hrs -11.00hrs
Weather conditions:very nice morning,mist coming off the water and my swim looked like a mud milkshake very hot and sunny from 7am
Water conditions: very clear but surface weed has returned
Water Temperature:
Fishing Forecast
Bait: castors and pellets
Method: 1 float rod
Results: 17 tench
remarks:tench a cast from my 1st swim with no need for feed/groundbait,caught 6 untill at 6.30 sun was on water and all was quite so moved swim to were tree`s give shade untill 11.30,caught 11 and left hapy and sunburnt.

 

[alan strickland]

Section of Fishery or river stretch: Non-navigable section top end
Date: 14/07/03
Time fished: 3.30hrs -9.00hrs
Weather conditions:very warm morning no mist slight wing from SE
Water conditions: very clear but surface weed has returned
Water Temperature:
Fishing Forecast
Bait: castors and pellets
Method: 1 float rod
Results: 4 tench
remarks: no bubbles this morning like yesterday caught 3 tench including a new PB of just over 8lb before moving to shady swim at 6am, caught 1 more tench,average fish are 4lb - 5lb

 

[alan strickland]

Section of Fishery or river stretch: Non-navigable section top end
Date: 16/07/03
Time fished: 4.30hrs -8.00hrs
Weather conditions:very warm morning no mist slight wing from SE
Water conditions: very clear but surface weed has returned
Water Temperature:
Fishing Forecast
Bait: castors and pellets
Method: 1 float rod
Results: 4 tench 1 eel
remarks:nice morning but to bright and sunny after am so packed,did get a 2lb eel and 4 41/2lb tench

 

[alan strickland]

Section of Fishery or river stretch: Non-navigable section top end
Date: 20/07/03
Time fished: 5.30hrs -10.30hrs
Weather conditions:warm with wind from south
Water conditions: very clear with ripple
Water Temperature:
Fishing Forecast
Bait: castors and pellets
Method: 1 float rod
Results: 3 tench ,2 grass carp
remarks:caught 3 nice tench early morning but as normal fishing stopped by sunshine on water at 7am so packed up,on way back to car seen a shoal of about 12 grassy`s eating the floating weed(really munching away at it) cast a floating bait and caught a 11lb grassy 1 st cast,fight took me away from shoal wich was good but it still took me 20 min to get it in on my float rod.Re cast and after a few minutes caught another @ just under 8lb (both fish PB`s) but this one smashed through the shoal at least 3 times before i landed it,no idea were shoal went after this they just disapeared.
Very good morning and think i will now leave the tench for rest of the season,i want to try for the chub and barbel from the ribble and later in the year bream from the lune and possibly my 1st pike.

 

[john conway]

Section of Fishery or river stretch:... Non-navigable section top end
Date:... 18/03/04
Time fished:... 16:30hrs - 20:30hrs
Weather conditions:...Very windy with heavy showers. Wind blowing north up the canal
Water conditions:... Canal full and coloured with lots of ripple
Air temperature...9C dropping to 6C at dusk
Water Temperature:...9C
Bait:...Bread, sweetcorn and worm cocktail
Method:...2 Rods swing tip rigged fixed paternoster and fished over mash bread
Results:...Blank
Comments & remarks:...This is the earliest I?ve fished the Lankie and also the coldest. Just before dark I hooked into a good fish that nearly took my rod in, but I lost it under the rod tip. Didn?t get a look at it, so it could have been a good tench or a middling grassie. Nice to be back on the canal different world to the Ribble but still a beautiful canal to fish even thought the weather was absolutely crap.

 

[john conway]

Section of Fishery or river stretch:... Non-navigable section top end
Date:... 27/03/04
Time fished:... 06:30hrs - 12:30hrs
Weather conditions:...Mild, dull and no wind.
Water conditions:... Canal full and coloured with a small tow which changed direction a couple of times.
Air temperature...7C rising to 10C by mid day.
Water Temperature:...8C
Bait:...Bread and dead maggots
Method:...2 Rods swing tip rigged fixed paternoster and fished over mash bread
Results:...Blank
Comments & remarks:...Loads of activity by the time I arrived, I'd slept in and in the rush to get there forgot my rake. Quite a few line bites but nothing developed. Spent too much time nattering to anglers I'd not seen since last spring. No fish but I really enjoyed the morning and I'm now getting quite excited about the spring Tench.

 

[alan strickland]

Section of Fishery or river stretch:... Non-navigable section top end
Date:... 27/03/04
Time fished:... 16:30hrs - 19:30hrs
Weather conditions:...Warm but wind got up a bit after 18:00 and felt cooler in breeze
Water conditions:... Canal very full and coloured.
Air temperature...8C dropping to 7c
Water Temperature:...8C
Bait:...maggots over hemp/pellet
Method:...1 Float rod fished a fooot over depth
Results:...2 small perch 1 tench 3lb 4oz(m)
Comments & remarks:...Good to be back on the lanky,bites hard to come by until after 18.00 got pestered with very small perch so lobbed the bait dropper in a few time`s to scare them off,Tench came just before i was packing up.Put up a great scrap and thought it was a good perch until it broke surface.Not huge but a welcome 1st tench of the season,got a good reminder of last summer as i drove home with smell of tench in the car.Look`s like the winter was kind to the Coots spotted 12 in just in a short 200yrd section so there will be big battles to come this summer.As i left i put a bed of pellet/hemp down to fish in the morning if i get out of bed ,which i failed to do this morning.

 

[alan strickland]

Section of Fishery or river stretch:... Non-navigable section top end
Date:... 28/03/04
Time fished:... 6:30hrs - 11:30hrs
Weather conditions:...Fely cooler than yesterday and wind was very fresh
Water conditions:... Canal very full and coloured.
Air temperature...6C dropping to 9c
Water Temperature:...7C
Bait:...maggots over hemp/pellet
Method:...1 Float rod fished a fooot over depth
Results:.. 1 tench 3lb 4oz(f)
Comments & remarks:...Met up with John Conway at dawn and fished either end of basin.Had 1st bite not long after starting but lost fish after a few seconds fight,fishing was slow with very little happening until 2nd and last bite of day that resulted in a 3lb female in fine nick,Tench on the lanky really do have great colours to them(dark green back,bright red eye and a buttery gold belly that flashes at you on last roll before the net.
Not alot of movement on the canal this morning ,unless you count a squad of kids in 4 canoes, a team of huskeys puling a wheeled sledge and a very large buzzard that im sure was eyeing up the lamb`s.On packing up at the car John also spotted a stoat,looking foward to watching the canal grow back into its lush summer coat as its all a bit barren and brown just now.

 

[john conway]

Section of Fishery or river stretch:... Non-navigable section top end
Date:... 28/03/04
Time fished:... 06:30hrs - 11:30hrs
Weather conditions:...Felt cooler than yesterday and wind was very fresh
Water conditions:... Canal full and coloured with a small tow which changed direction a couple of times.
Air temperature...6C rising to 9C by mid day.
Water Temperature:...8C
Bait:...Bread, sweet corn, worm and dead maggots
Method:...2 Rods swing tip rigged fixed paternoster and fished over dead maggots, sweet corn and micro pellets.
Results:...Blank
Comments & remarks:...Absolutely dead but as Alan has explained plenty of other activity to occupy the morning.

 

[alan strickland]

Section of Fishery or river stretch:... Non-navigable section top end
Date:... 31/03/04
Time fished:... 17:30hrs - 20:30hrs
Weather conditions:...Warm and dry but windy
Water conditions:... Canal full and coloured
Air temperature...11C dropping to 9C
Water Temperature:...11C
Bait:...sweet corn/castors/ maggots
Method:...2 rods castors on float and sweetcorn on ledger.
Results:...Blank
Comments & remarks:...Float fishing was really tough in wind and couldnt spot feeding fish due to ripple.
Lost a good tench at 19.00,cast to only bubbles id spotted all eve and was into fish within minutes.Fish shed hook after id won early battle.
Learnt that my hook tying is up to scratch now after a few hour`s spent at home testing with a hook puller,also i used the small drennon float attachment rubber`s for the first time and was pleased with them so eve wasnt a total loss.

 

[john conway]

Section of Fishery or river stretch:... Non-navigable section top end
Date:... 31/03/04
Time fished:... 16:30hrs - 22:00hrs
Weather conditions:...Warm and dry but very windy
Water conditions:... Canal full and coloured
Air temperature...11C dropping to 9C
Water Temperature:...11C
Bait:...Bread/castors/ maggots
Method:...2 rods castors on float and bread on ledger.
Results:...Blank
Comments & remarks:..Like Alan said float fishing was really tough in the wind which was blowing from the NE down the canal and into your face and you couldnt spot feeding fish due to ripple.

 

[alan strickland]

Section of Fishery or river stretch:... Non-navigable section top end
Date:... 1/04/04
Time fished:... 16:00hrs - 20:30hrs
Weather conditions:...Warm and dry,not as much wind as yesterday
Water conditions:... Canal full and coloured
Air temperature...13C dropping to 10C
Water Temperature:...12C
Bait:...sweet corn/castors/ maggots
Method:...1 rod castors on float
Results:...2 tench
Comments & remarks:...Conditions much beter than last night as wind had dropped so stuck with float until i couldnt see it.1st tench 4lb2oz(f) came within minutes of starting and second tench came at last light 6lb9oz(m).
Had a guy come upto me at 18.00 claiming to be the new bailiff, he said day tickets are no longer available for the stretch and it now belong`s to a wigan syndicate.Never heard so much bullsh** come from one person in my life.Anyway he wouldnt show me his card so told him him sod off or id throw him in canal (only a little bloke).Seen his car parked lower down the canal as i was driving home,my guess is i was in the swim he wanted.
This stretch is run by Kendal anglers and has a dayticket of ?2,dont let anyone tell you differnt.

 

[alan strickland]

Section of Fishery or river stretch:... Non-navigable section top end
Date:... 06/04/04
Time fished:... 16:00hrs - 21:30hrs
Weather conditions:...Windy at start but went calm at sunset.Much colder after dark than last week.
Water conditions:... Canal full and coloured
Air temperature...10c dropping to 4c
Water Temperature:...n/a
Bait:...sweet corn/castors/ maggots
Method:...1 rod castors on float
Results:...blank
Comments & remarks:...A few bubbles around dusk was only sign of fish no bites.Had 3 young lads turn up at about 18.00 was amazed how well behaved they were for there age (9-13),no noise no running about on bank`s they just got on with there fishing until dark then rang home on the mobile and left with there parent`s.
Glad to see this is still possible for kids that age.