Simply Pole Fishing

 Mussel Canal, Mussel - 27.06.2015 

Today we were all together and heading north to the Mussel Canal.

Outside Theo's shop in Gescher - 07:00 hrs

We picked Theo up at 7 o'clock and headed up the motorway for about 130 km.

We fished a nice part of the canal below Stadskanaal

I have never been here before and was unsure what to expect. I was pleasantly surprised.

What a lovely canal swim - bliss!

It is a lovely looking venue, and if there are fish in it we were in for a treat. I set up three rigs, two on the pole and a waggler rod.

Theo checking out the waggler rig - a method not fished that often in Holland

I used a 1 g Drennan Carbo with strung out 11s below the olivette and a 1 g Drennan G-Tip 2 with two No. 10 droppers below the olivette.

Setting up on the Mussel Canal

A 3AAA Drennan insert peacock waggler, 3 lb Maxima main line, 0.10 mm Reflo Power bottom, size 18 B520, three 8s as bulk and a No. 8 and No. 10 droppers completed the waggler setup.

A poles eye view of a lovely swim

It wasn't long before we were all ready and the traditional Dutch groundbait bombardment could begin.

Roger signalling that we can raise the level of the canal by a few centimetres :-)

I balled in seven Jaffa-sized balls at 10.5 metres at the bottom of a small ledge. The groundbait was two 1 kg bags of Zammataro, a bag of Roach & Skimmer Black mixed with a bag of Canal.

Roger's Zammataro groundbait blend - before mixing

I put a large handful of casters, a large handful of chopped worms and a few grains of sweetcorn into the mix.

Absolute 14' Float and Shimano Aero 4000FA Match reel - a brilliant combination!

At the start, I picked up the waggler rod and started feeding hemp and casters across to the far side - just short of the lily pads in about 1.5 metres of water.

Theo playing a nice Gusta

I had my first fish on my second cast and then a bite a cast from then on. Feeding hemp and casters every cast soon had them lined up.

Would have preferred to stand, but this was a chilling-out day on the waggler

I was catching Gusta, Roach and really nice Rudd - these fish have never seen a hook before! I fished on the waggler nearly all the time, and only when I foolishly snapped-off on my pole rest, did I swap to the pole.

Close-up of Theo's Gusta

My heart wasn't into pole fishing today as I was having so much fun on the waggler - I'd forget how great waggler fishing is!  

Theo with a nice Gusta

Theo put together almost 2 Kg of fish including a nice Gusta.

Roger had a few on the pole to hand

I managed 3 kg on the waggler and didn't really fish much for the last hour after losing my rig.

My net of waggler-caught fish

Roger had a lot of small fish towards the end of the day fishing 5 metres to hand and put 3.2 kg on the scales - well done mate!

A nice net of Roach, Rudd and Gusta

I think a 4-5 metres to hand rig and a waggler would be devastating in a match - the long pole is just too slow and there are not many Bream to be caught. I will be back here in a few weeks for another go at these waggler Roach, Rudd and Gusta.

Tight Lines,

Steve