Helomavaart - 28 October 2023 

This is a great little canal that I have fish 3 times until now. First time, I had a net of small Roach on the pole, the second time, a net good net of Bream and Roach on the pole, and the last time, almost 80 lb of Bream on the feeder.

This is exactly where I fished: Helomavaart 

My peg today - one of the larger platforms on the match length. You have to be very careful as the wood is very, very slippery!

Today, I'm going to use the pole at 10 m as it is really windy and a lot of rain is forecast - hopefully, fishing at just 10 m, the wind will let me stay at the same distance all day.

The Inter Carbon rig and the cupping kit - both top 2 and 3 m long.

I've put the umbrella up, and fastened it securely to my Preston Platform - I'm using the platform to give me a very stable base and some extra points to attach things. 

10 m of pole - today the Preston XS1000 Carp with top 2's from the Competition 3000.

I have plumbed the depth and found 2.4 m at 10 m from the bank, and it's very flat. There is a lot of wind but it's directly over my head, so the water looks fairly calm.

This strong Octbox roller is a must for quickly shipping the landing net out and back with a fish really fast. Until you've tried it, you won't understand how much faster it is.

Just two rigs for today. First is a 0.5 g Chianti, and second is a 0.75 g Inter Carbon. I may go up to an Inter Carbon 1 g rig if the wind makes it too difficult to fish these lighter floats.

Both Monoblocks have Dura Slip No. 5 in the 1.55 m long tips - that works out to about 1.4 m of elastic. This is great for any fish including big Bream - this stuff powers up really quicker for more powerful fish but you don't bump-off smaller fish Awesome stuff!

The Preston Innovations Chianti has caught me thousands of fish over the years. I wish they did a 0.75 g version as well.

I've mixed up 3 bags of groundbait, one bag each of VDE Secret Black, Zammataro Roach & Skimmers & Zammataro Bream. Any leftovers I can use tomorrow.

The usual baits for a day on the canal - this time with some expenders for a change. My dead pinkies and dead maggot were still frozen - it wasn't until towards the end of the session that they had all thawed out.

For the hook and feeding I have casters, maggots, pinkies (dead as well - and mostly frozen) hemp and some expanders. As always I have some mixed worms with me as well. 

This is the stamp of fish that I was catching. No Bream at all today.

After feeding 6 large balls contains a few casters and dead pinkies with the pole cup, I fed 2 more large balls with a good helping of casters and dead pinkies - but not too much. You can put more in, but you can't take any out. I then cupped in some hemp over the top. 

These pliers are taking some getting used too, but they are easier to use than the old stotz pincers.

A cup of tea and a biscuit and then I was ready to start. It took about 5 minutes to get the first bite from a small Skimmer on the Chianti rig. I was using a size 18 Preston N10 hook with a single live or dead maggot - they seemed to prefer taking the dead maggot. 

On the 0.75 g Inter Carbon rig, I was using a size 18 N20, and that was baited with casters, maggots, dead maggots or small worms.

I use stotz and micro cubes exclusively now - I haven't used split shot for a few years. There has been no reduction in my catch rates and the presentation of my rigs has stayed spot on. The new pliers from Preston are working well. 

There was a pull on the canal from right to left most of the time. When it slowed down I caught more fish. Holding the float still and over-depth didn't work well. They only really wanted it running at them just touching bottom. At one time, I tried a 1.5 g flat flat and nailed the bait to the bottom, but this didn't work at all.

In the end I had to settle for just 33 fish and 6 lb 7 oz - not what I was expecting.

It wasn't that easy to get bites. In the beginning the Chianti was the best rig, but later in the session the Inter Carbon was much better.

The fish were very cold, and the water temperature has dropped rapidly over the past 2 weeks. All the cold rain and the colder wind has done its job in cooling down the water.

I persevered on a hard day and finished up with just 33 fish. No fish of any size, so quite a low weight today. So much different from my last visit when I had 78 lb of Bream.

In England it would be time for Fish & Chips, but in Holland I have to make do with a Frikadelle and chips with Mao. Mmm...

This is a nice water where you can fish the pole, waggler or feeder. Just be careful that you don't slip and fall on the platforms - the surface is like ice!

Tight Lines,

Steve