MARINA DANGLING.......

After taking a walk along my favourite marina and seeing the lock empty it gave me the urge to get up there at first light and have a wee dangle for the once plentiful perch that used to reside there. So the next day saw me sitting in the car park just before dawn eagerly awaiting the big ball of fire to rise over the tree tops. After what seemed like hours but was probably only 20 mins it was light enough for me to grab my kit, dropshot and light lure set-up this morning, and try my luck.

Well i started of by using the drop shot method in between the moored boats in the hope of a perch or two as i,ve had plenty of action here in previous years. The drop shot is an ideal method for fishing in tight gaps as i was, because you can just flick the small weight and lure out and fish it in one position for a while, just giving the rod tip a little tap tap now and then to get the little imitation fish to waggle around seductively. I did this for 45 mins or so in various spots, all spots that i,ve caught from before, and only had a couple little plucks for my efforts.

I decided to change tactics to a small jighead fished shad cast along the boats a little further up the river and straight away i was getting follows and a few knocks. After a dozen casts or so i hooked into this little terror which gave a cracking scrap on my lightweight set-up. He was only small but much appreciated and the only fish i banked. I only fished for a total of 2 hours at most but thoroughly enjoyed myself and although it was pretty cold, the sky was blue and the sun was strong which made it a beautiful time to be out and about.......

I think that maybe this marina has had its day as i havn,t managed to catch anything of note for the past few years. Time to move on and find somewhere else for my perch i reckon........