Simply Pole Fishing

 Workumer Trekfeart  

This canal is not far from our house in Makkum. We fished here last year and Theo had a good day catching some of the larger Skimmers. We checked the depth again with my Deeper Pro Sonar - this has become an indispensable piece of kit.

Roger, Marco & Nico getting ready to fish the Workumertrekvaart Canal

Today the wind is quite strong and some heavy rain and strong gusts are coming our way - fortunately, the wind is on our back so it shouldn't be too bad.

Tucked in nicely behind my new super strong and big Preston Innovations umbrella. The different ways you can use this umbrella make it a very versatile piece of kit.

With the bad weather on its way, I decided to fish the waggler again and tuck myself in behind my new big brolley. It was a good decision.

They are getting some groundbait today. VDE Expo, Zammataro Roach & Skimmers Cloud Natur and Kanal Mix Black. I hope they are ready for this - all or nothing time!

With just a 3g Drennan Visi Wag to set up, I was ready for the off really quick. I think more anglers over here should think about using the waggler in these shallow waters.

It rained a little bit now and again. Here Theo is scrambling for his umbrella - Roger was already prepared!

When the depth is 10ft (3m) or below, it is fairly easy to fish the fixed waggler on a 14-foot (4.2m) rod.  I have a 4lb Dave Harrell Pro Match line on the Preston Centris NT420 reel, and a 0.11mm Reflo Power bottom to a size 13 Kamasan B711 hook.

This hook worked well yesterday, so it's a good one to start on. I have joined the lines together with a double-barrelled swivel to ensure that I don't get any line twist. In fact, all day I was able to use the same bottom with the same hook - pretty good these Kamasan hooks!

Nice nets of fish on this really nice venue. No massive Bream weights here - but still loads of bites and great fun.

I only fed two lines, one across about 5m from the far bank, and one at 10m just in case I got the pole out later - and to stop the fish short from going over to my neighbour's swim.  The rig went through the swim slowly tripping the bottom, just a couple of centimetres over-depth.

This seemed to work very well. Later on in the session I shallowed up to be well off bottom, and caught some really good Roach.

Theo with a good catch on the pole.

I caught 8,450g (18lb 10oz) on the waggler and never even set up the pole. Roger weighed 3,300g, Theo 5,800g, Nico 5,900g and Marco 6,200g. Looks like Roger got it wrong today - it happens to us all.

Another good day on the waggler. Two wins and a second now - looking good, although not really proper matches.

For me, the waggler definitely had the edge over the pole. There seem to be many more fish across on the far side of the canal - away from the noisy anglers & cars perhaps.