That awkward moment when you catch a fish…….

‘We can always walk on the canal and you can fish’ she said.

Must have been Christmas. 😂

So we decided 2 days running to get out of the house and explore new areas of the canal on foot to get some daylight, excersize and my dose of fishing related activities much needed. I really wanted for My fiancee Emily to catch her first Perch and was pretty confident that she could do so if time and daylight permitted.

We walked from the car and headed towards an aquaduct I had previously mentioned as Em wanted to see it. I set the rod up and flicked a lure out so she could get a photo of me fishing over the motorway below. I wound the lure in and then flicked it out to my left a little further as Emily went to continue walking. I felt a quick tap and my muscle memory kicked in as I striked and set the hook. The fish felt a fair size, not a monster but enough to put a bend in the 0.5-7g rated lrf rod.

I called to Emily to let her know I had a fish on and she couldnt believe it.

I am jammy!

I passed her the net and she landed the fish for me and then took a few photos also.

We released the fish and I encouraged Emily to take the rod and tried to guide her to a fish. She foshed the margins and the deeper areas of the canal for a good hour or so as well as under a few bridges I was confident there would be a few small perch present at but all to no avail. I think she had a few tail bites but nothing solid. As we were heading back towards the car she passed me the rod to hold whilst she drank some tea.

Of course I couldnt resist a flick at the next bridge we passed.

Ooops. Fish on!

I called to Em again and she couldnt believe my luck. Neither could I to be honest and I felt a little guilty.

I released the fish and passed the rod over again and recommended she had a few casts around the bridge but again nothing was interested. As it was getting dark (bloody winter) we called it a day.

The next day we decided to take a drive a little further and take a look at a new stretch.

I set the rod up a little earlier this time as I had seen some locks and bridges ahead and was keen to be ready for the opportunities ahead.

I let Emily take the rod first and we fished under a long bridge which had an inlet of water to it providing plenty of oxygenated water.

She had bites again and pulled in a few branches 🤣, but the luck still evaded her. We tried for a good 20 minutes at this spot before Emily passed me the rod as some passers by were squeezing past on the tow path. I just couldnt resist a quick flick and placed the lure just to the side of where the inlet of water was bubbling into the canal.

2 turns of the reel and I was into a fish. I couldnt bloody believe it and I felt terrible.

I reeled in the fish and I released it pretty quickly as I didn’t want to rub it in.

I passed the rod back and told Em to try the same technique of fishing the frothy area by the inlet but again she couldnt find a fish.

We tried another few spots but nothing to show for the effort and it was soon getting dark again so we headed back towards the car.

Hopefully next time!!!!!

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