The Traditional Fisherman's Forum

Bloody cold again this afternoon. Half a dozen Roach to six ounces came at lengthy intervals and a smattering of mainly missed bites at dusk. I was treated to a quite impressive Plke/ Zander ? Attack which occurred close to a lock overflow spillway, a good number of Roach scattering in all directions including upwards!

Was that from the winding hole?
I spent the morning fishing worms for perch on the GU and never had a flicker which surprised me I must say. I'm on a bit of a bad run at the moment, three consecutive blanks on three different waters. One of those things, but I can't remember when that last happened.

Eric, you'll need to enlighten me as to the nature and location of the "Winding Hole"? It sounds like one of Fred J's favourite swims! The fishing is definitely hard at the moment. I know the turning bay at Alrewas is always full of fish, particularly Bream and skimmers. So six little Roach is a pretty meagre catch from here. Hardly anything topping at dusk either, just one quite big fish possibly a Chub although some crusts lobbed out in the general direction remained untouched until a couple of Moorhens found them!

A winding hole is the correct term I think for a turning bay, it seems to be what the boaters call them anyway. I just looked it up on Gurgle and found this, so I have learned something today even if I can't catch any fish.
"A winding hole is a short length of very wide canal, used as a place to turn a boat around, and it is pronounced 'whin-ding'; not 'wine-ding'. It is so named because the wind can be used to help the boat to turn."
btw I got my roads mixed up in that previous post, I meant between the bridge above where you were fishing down to the Trent, not the A38. I've definitely caught chub and a lot of zander where that lock bypass channel flows back into the main canal just there.

There, I've learned something too. I've had several boaters get into difficulty in front of me on windy days. Several times it was lucky I don't use a keep net! Most of the fish came from below the lock fifty yards to the right of the 'Winding Hole" the Fradley end of the village with the cricket pitch on the opposite bank . The overflow from this lock flows through the garden of the far bank cottage and comes out quite powerfully at right angles. The Roach that the Pike? Attacked were lying just to the right of the flow a yard or so from the far bank. A few minutes later I put a couple of casts out there but hooked only leaves! I've not had a Chub from this area but two miles away at Wood End I've had quite a few now.