The Traditional Fisherman's Forum

First session of new season, fished off the back of my narrowboat, Scruffy Fox, on the T&M, just above Shardlow. Lots of small perch, roach and to my delight a nice little rudd, the first I have caught in a longtime. A later session further up the canal was rewarded with some small (1/2lb bream) - very welcome, but very slimy

Eventually out of maggots, so switched to cheese, which we had on the boat, but no luck. Of course the best spot of all, was at Tixall Wide on the Staffs and Worcs canal. This is where the canal widens out into a 'broad' (built so the local aristocracy could have a nice view!), but it screams tench with lillypads and little bays all around. Alas, fishing tackle packed away by then, and family wanted to move boat on, so could only sit and wonder...

Has anyone had any experience on this inviting bit of water?

Got to say, judging by the number of bites and appearance of the canal, both the T&M and the Staffs and Worcs are in very good fishing condition.

Never fished round Shardlow or Tixall but used to fish the Erewash canal which comes into the Trent near there at Long Eaton. Unfortunately there was a bad pollution incident there a few years ago and I haven't been since but I hear it's revived a lot.

I used to fish a little further up near Barrow. I remember catching Roach, Perch, sometimes Bream, and the odd Pike. That was in the 60s mind, I have no idea what it's like there now.

I used to fish the Trent and Mersey for carp with my Dad when I was a young boy. See this thread for pictures a a very young magggotdrowner:

viewtopic.php?f=335&t=12428

Apologies for going off topic, but 'Tixall' reminded me of a rather tragic Twitching incident I read about a few years ago.

On April 1st 2005 a belted kingfisher (normally found in North America) was reported being seen fishing in the canal at Tixall - potentially only the third ever seen in Britain.

Of course, most twitchers looked at the date and the location (it sounds like 'ticks all') and laughed it off but then some photos emerged in the mid afternoon and the birding world went crazy. 700 people turned up before dusk and one poor chap, running too fast down the towpath, suffered a heart attack and died.....desperately sad, but an extraordinary tale.

Again, apologies for the tangent - I do hope the kingfisher left you some fish to catch...

I have happy memories of fishing the Wides throughout the 1970s . The main species was bream. Fish around the 3lb mark could be caught in good numbers. There was also a good head of tench, in the Wides and also further up the canal towards Tixall.
But that was forty years ago. I live in Yorkshire now and have no idea how the Wides fishes these days.
Kev, speaking of twitchers reminds me that a bittern took up temporary residence in the reed beds, one year, and caused great excitement among the twitchers. Every time a crow popped up over the distant reed bed, someone would shout "There it is!"

Alan

Ryeman wrote: Kev, speaking of twitchers reminds me that a bittern took up temporary residence in the reed beds, one year, and caused great excitement among the twitchers. Every time a crow popped up over the distant reed bed, someone would shout "There it is!"

Alan

Brilliant!

A bittern and a belted kingfisher......there must be plenty of fish in those reeds....

When I fished it there were plenty of fish, and lots of bird life too, including Great Crested Grebes, and Dabchicks.
I remember once, tackling-up in the "narrows" just up from the Wides, and a Moorhen with a tiny chick was swimming frantically around and going bananas on the far side of the canal. Then I felt something drop on my head and get stuck in the back of my shirt collar. It was a Moorhen chick. The nest was in a hollow tree above my head. I had heard of moorhens nesting in trees but had never seen it before. The mother had obviously been encouraging it to jump.
I put the tiny chick in the water's edge, and it shot across the canal like a little speedboat; straight to mum, who swam off with her two chicks, without a word of thanks.
I moved off to a different swim in case there were any more chicks still waiting to jump....

Alan

Hello all, finished reading my book Fly Fishing For Course Fish , theory and technique by WJ Howes a while ago. So off to the canal (Trent and Mersey, Stoke on Trent), turned out to be a great day. Abundant small roach willing to take a Black Gnat, great sport. But you do get some funny looks and questions asked.

Nice. My wife bought me a mornings fly fishing at a lake near St Albans. I caught no trout but managed to pick up some decent roach and even a skimmer bream on the fly.

Never had the confidence to go out on a coarse fishing venue and use a fly, although I don't see why it wouldn't be successful