Two bites of the cherry....

My Tench campaign has pretty much stalled at the moment, well it's ground to a halt really with just a couple of blank session to report of late.  I decided a quick change was needed, so after work and visiting my parents was completed, I made it to the canal and set up the rods in time for a quick Zed session, with only an hour left till darkness fell.

With the rods  both out fishing half roach each on the far shelf,  I was expecting some quick action but nothing had happened after the first half an hour.  I started to leapfrog the rods up the canal along some reeds on the opposite side.  I settled one rod in a gap between the reeds and was concentrating my gaze on the float rod about 10 feet further along,  when the bobbin on the ledger rod suddenly sprang to life,  a steady take resulting in a strong and somewhat weighty fish pulling back.
As is often the case, the fish rolled on the surface quickly, but then headed back down and hugged the bottom.  From the glimpse I got of her it seemed a good fish and I could feel it heading for the cover of an overhanging bush.  I tried to steer it away but the the hook pulled and the fish was off,  arghh. !

Now in my limited experience with zander,  you can often get another take from the same fish if you get the bait back in position quickly, which is exactly what happened.  Within minutes the bobbin rose up again in a steady jerking movement.  I  wound down into the fish then pulled the hook home hard, I felt a familiar solid weight again, then suddenly the fish was up on the surface again and I was slipping the net under her.

At 5lb 2oz its not a massive fish by any stretch of the imagination, but for the canal it's not a bad one and it's my second largest to date.  In fact the fish looked spawned out and felt pretty flat around the belly, so it could have been  nearer six earlier in the year.

With the river season imminent, I can't wait to get out there to try some river spots for a bigger and better stamp of zeds.