OK I'm sensationalising a little, eyeing up a job with the tabloids, but joking aside as I fished the very famous Exeter Canal on Saturday, I really felt that the place has an almost legendary aspect to it.
It began with a visit to the rather excellent Exeter Angling Centre to buy our day tickets. This time it was myself, Will, Olly and my girlfriend Ellie indulging in some Lure fishing for our favourite predator. Our intention was to try the River Exe instead of the Canal as we had never tried it before. It turned out the River was a little awkward for lures racing through as it was, so we moved quickly onto the canal. This is a slight problem with social fishing especially if you are all of different skill levels. Myself, I'm no expert but I've been fishing for over 15 years now so I know a few things. My accomplices that day had only really got into it fairly recently or were new to freshwater fishing in the case of Olly. This puts a slight pressure on myself as I want to put us in the best swims where we all stand a good chance of hooking up, unfortunately there are no guarantees in fishing. So with that in mind I went for the easier option - the Canal. Now when I say easy, I mean easy to fish, not to CATCH fish. The access is superb but the Pike are well fed and regularly fished for. I haven't had much success on it before, a fish of 7lb being my best from the water but there is plenty of talk of monsters. The rumours that drift up and down the canal are fantastic and you never know who to believe, but the important thing to know is there really are giant Pike in that water... Somewhere.
We started off near Double-locks Pub but quickly found the amount of Kayakers and dog walkers to be a real annoyance to our fishing. I decided that we should try down the far end of the Canal by Turf Locks as Will had seen a huge Pike miss his lure there before. We arrived at the car park and first cast Olly was in! He couldn't quite believe it as the take had been barely noticeable. When he got the fish in it was clear why that was, the Pike had engulfed the Lure which meant he had hit it straight at Olly on the slack line, hiding the take. It wasn't an issue to unhook though (exactly why forceps are a must!) and as Olly held up his biggest ever Pike of around 3-4lb it was obvious what a beautifully conditioned and well-fed fish it was.
This emboldened us all and in the late Winter sunshine we marched along the Canal all in pursuit of our own Beast Of The Canal. Unfortunately after that we had absolutely no hint there were any other Pike in the water. That was until we made it down near the Turf Locks boat moorings. There we spoke to a friendly Pike Fisherman who was deadbaiting. He told us he was having no luck this year despite the same tactics serving him superbly before. He also gladly informed us of a couple of 20's that had been caught recently by the Boat Moorings. The legends continued. At the entrance to the moorings as we started fishing we saw something that I haven't seen in years, bait fish exploding out of the water being chased by hungry Pike! The water would just erupt with tiny roach trying to escape their toothy deaths. We cast all manner of lures into the fray but received nothing but disappointment. It's quite frustrating to see Pike so clearly on the feed yet ignoring your lures. Sometimes you just have to admit you can't imitate exactly what they are eating and just admire the show. It was a privilege to watch and I witnessed the back of a huge fish breach like a whale in pursuit of the prey. A Carp angler came along and told the tale of a young lad who had caught a 27lber on a tiny Perch Imitation lure only a couple of weeks ago. He didn't seem the wind up type so it only added to the mythical nature of the place. We fished it the best we could but nothing would take. So digressed to the pub.
I'll admit after a couple of pints by the fire none of us were feeling inspired. The monsters were resigned to stay Myths and Legends to us. I did manage to get one fish of a similar size to Olly's on the way back though which boosted my spirits but it was a shame that Will and Ellie had to make do with a blank.
I will be back soon and try again to turn rumours into reality.
As always, thanks for reading.
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