Simply Pole Fishing

 Twente Canal, Enschede 

 20 September 2019  

Today I went up to meet Roger and fish with him on the venue for the Stippevent 2019 - the Twente Canal in Enschede.

We fished close together like in a pairs match - great for having a natter. You can see Roger's top kits just reaching my side tray.

We settled on a swim just to the left of the Twente Stadium - it's a popular area and there are a few fish to catch. I prefer the area more to the left where the trees begin to get thicker on the other bank - just before Zweikomm. There are more fish in this area - and a lot more big Rudd.

My new Pole Roost / Deluxe Kit Tidy from Preston Innovations is working a treat and is so fast and easy to set up. Thanks Preston.

I used my Deeper Pro to have a look around and we had 3.6 m in the middle, gradually shallowing up to 3.2 m at the tins under our feet. I didn't find any ledges at any distance from the bank. There were a few fish about, with plenty right next to the tins - probably Perch in the main. Fish don't always show up on the scanner as I've set to a narrow scan (15°) - which is just a small cone in only 3 m of water.

Ready for the start - everything to hand. The landing net is really fast and easy to use on the Octbox small roller - very strong.

Groundbait was 1 bag of VDE Secret, 1 bag of Supercrack Roach and 1/2 bag of Zammataro Kanal Mix Black (to darken the blend a bit). I made up 10 balls - 3 for short at 4 m and 7 for long at 11 m. 1 ball short and 2 balls long were rich with casters and pinkies - the others just had a light sprinkle of casters and hemp in them.

Roger's swim with his big platform setup as always. He certainly isn't a 'tackle tart' :-)

Rigs were Dave Harrell's DH13 in 1.5 g and DH21 in 1 g. The DH 13 with 2 droppers and the DH21 with a string of No. 12 Stotz over the bottom metre or so to catch on the drop.

The new Preston Innovations Accu Power line is proving to be just as reliable as the Reflo Power I used for so many years.

Hook on the DH 13 rig was a Kamasan B611 size 16 on a 0.10 mm Reflo Accu Power hooklink and on the DH21 a B512 size 16 to 0.09 mm hooklink. Kamasan are the only hooks I use now as they have proven to be reliable time and time again. Confidence is king. The  new Accu Power line from Preston is used for all my hooklinks now, and is proving to be very reliable as well.

I started short and had a 100 g Roach after 5 minutes on double pinkie. I caught regularly on the 4 m line for about an hour and then tried the long line. The 11 m line proved difficult today, with me only catching 5 fish out there - 3 Roach, a Skimmer and a Perch.

27 fish for me today for a total weight of 2,040 grams. Not brilliant but OK for my first visit to the venue this year.

The canal was flowing from left to right and then right to left all day - with 3-4 grams needed to hold back. I should have set up a heavier DH13 4 g rig and tried that out at 11 m - but I didn't, so I'll never know if it would have worked.

We both lost a couple of fish, but Roger lost a really big Perch - they only count though when they are in the net!

Roger smiling with his catch of 1,460 grams - stuffed him again!

The canal acts normally again (no lock traffic) after about 17:00 hrs, when the boat traffic stops. On Sundays the canal is fairly still - so if you have a match on a Sunday - like the Stippevent - then only practice on a Sunday!

I will visit the canal - on Sundays - over the next few weeks to get myself ready for the Stippevent on the 27th October. I need to fine-tune some rigs and work out exactly how to catch those big Roach, Rudd and Perch. On the pole, Bream are always a bonus fish here. I would really like to win it again, and the only way to win is with practice, practice. practice.

Tight Lines,

Steve