Simply Pole Fishing

 North Holland 

 5 October 2018  

I managed a few of days in the North of Holland with Theo, Roger, Nico and Marco on two small canals and caught plenty of fish.

We fished just below the bridge on the left hand bank.

First we fished on the Beukers Canal near Steenwijk, a lovely little canal with plenty of colour in the water.

Great weather and a great peg

The bank behind us had plenty of room for un-shipping the pole and we could park the car right behind us. It doesn't get much better than this.

This is a very comfortable place to fish!

I decided just to fish the pole at 11.5 m where I had about 3.2 m depth with no noticeable changes in depth after 10 m.

There was no appreciable flow on the canal - if anything a very slight pull to the left - so I set up a 1.5 g DH13 rig and a 1 g Inter Carbon rig, both with carbon stems.

The 2 rigs I used on the canal.

A Kamasan B611 size 16 on the lighter rig and a B711 15 on the heavier rig. I had a No. 8 Preston Slip elastic through 2 sections (2.4 m) on the heavier rig and a No. 6 elastic through 1 section (1.2 m) on the lighter rig.  

An assortment of bait and some chocolate biscuits - ready!

I mixed up a kg of VDE Expo with a kg of Zammataro Roach and Skimmer Natur and added some hemp, chopped worms and casters. At the start, I cupped-in 5 balls and started on the lighter rig. Bites came more-or-less straight away from small Roach and Skimmers.

My catch from the Beukers canal - a good day's fishing.

I caught fairly steady throughout the day, occasionally topping up with small balls of groundbait and loose feeding casters and hemp over the top throughout the day.

A nice surprise in the way of a 4 lb Tench came along after a few hours, but other than that it was just small Skimmers and Roach.

 6 & 7 October 

For the next 2 days we fished on the Warkumer Trekveart.

The canal has a good bank and you can park at the peg. Cosy.

We were at the canal fairly early and began to set up. I was on the left end peg next to Theo and then Roger. There was a good distance between all the pegs.

It was an early start today. Not much wind - looks good.

The conditions look good for today, with not much wind and a bit overcast. The Bream should be feeding if they are in our area.

Just making sure the cyclists see the end of my pole!

I set up a waggler rig and a pole rig. The waggler was a 4 AAA Drennan peacock waggler on 3 lb main line. A 0.10 mm Preston Reflo Power bottom, size 18 B611 hook connected to the main line via a swivel, and a few No. 8 droppers on the line completed the rig.

Groundbait ready for feeding.

Plenty of groundbait was made up, full of casters and chopped worm. I cupped-in 7 balls at 11.5 m, and also put 3 balls out on the waggler line at about 20 m. Groundbait was a mix of Zammataro Roach & Skimmer Natur and VDE Expo.

Maggots, Casters, Hemp and Worms. Plenty.

I started on the waggler and had a fish within 10 minutes - a small Skimmer. Bites came fairly steady and I was putting a good weight together.

Another day with plenty of bites - but Theo won the day today.

I switched to the pole every now and again, but I was catching fish much quicker on the waggler line.

Theo had a great day catching plenty of fish and a few bonus Bream and Skimmers.

Unfortunately, I hooked a very big fish on the waggler just as a large yacht was going through. It snagged the line and I lost the fish and the rig. I couldn't see the boat coming through the tall reeds.

A few fish on the Waggler.

This is a great venue full of fish, and I'm looking forward to fishing here again next year.

The Einfachstippen lads in North Holland - Roger was behind the camera