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Of all the venues in Gloucestershire the ‘Gloucester’ needs little introduction to the match angler. The venue has hosted many big matches over the years and when the big grain barges and petrol tankers used it the canal was permanently coloured which encouraged the Bream to feed especially at two mile bend. These days are gone as is the Hempsted bend (see the link above to see how it used to look) and the big ships. This canal is unlike many others in the country due to the size of the ships and barges it was designed to take. At some 25 - 30 metres wide and 4 -5 metres deep in the boat channel the Gloucester needs a different approach.  The canal has recently been straightened to carry the Gloucester South West Bypass and time will tell how much of an effect this will have on the shoals of fish that inhabited this stretch. Two mile bend was always the favourite draw in a match due to the resident shoals of bream. The Hempsted section has always been a favourite with the match angler so much so that Mark Downes one of Team England’s Youth coach and joint Senior Team Manager has held some of the Sensas challenge matches here. In 2005 Team Sensas came over from from France to participate, this was an education in the use of leam and ‘pigeon sheet’. Jeane Desque has also fished the canal several times along with other Sensas team members, the groundbaiting technique is an education!

As the canal has changed so have the target species. The venue is clearer now due to the lack of boat traffic resulting in more marginal weed and lilies. While these provide cover and food, Bream and Roach stay will use this to hide in during the day. This is due to the water clarity which has seen an increase in both the Pike and  Zander populations. The upside is that rumours of 30lb+ pike are becoming more commonplace and specialist Pike anglers are a familiar sight as are the ‘bivvy boys’ after the big carp that can be found in select locations. British Waterways stocked the venue with Tench and Rudd in the last year and it will be interesting to see if they show in any of the matches .

One of the pleasures for me is fishing for roach using hempseed. Bags to 20-25lb were commonplace before the pike explosion but they are still there if you know where to find them, Hempsted, Pilot and Castle are still the best locations from July on. Favourite venues at the moment are Castle up and down, Pilot and the length between Sims and Rea. Get on down now if you want Roach. If you enjoy Pike fishing then a shoal of quality roach is a draw for a quick and easy meal. One guy was being troubled by Pike and he invited a wandering Pike fisherman to fish his peg and he removed 3 pike to 12lbs. In Winter the roach tend to drift up the canal towards the docks and good bags can often be made from Sims to Rea and the Hempsted straight. You could try linking to the Mark Downes interview on BBC Radio Gloucestershire although made a couple of years ago the migration of the fish still holds true today. Click here   Fancy some big pike?Or specimen Zander the latest one of 15lbs 10ozs came in a ‘knockup’on Sunday 2nd Nov 2008. The fish was caught on groundbait feeder taking triple red maggot at the beginning of the match on peg 46 I understand as in most matches on the gloucesterl now zander do not count however Steve Poulsford also caught over 15lbs of Bream as well so it was not all bad. Thanks to the two Marks and further info from the mark at Lobbys :www.lobbystackle.co.uk further rumours on an as yet unconfirmed 16 pounder at Cambridge. Looking for predators? Where do you think they will be? Tracking the shoals of Roach, so get on down feed groundbait at around 10 12 metres feed maggot over the top and set out a deadbait, that’s called groundbaiting for predators!Some of the Zander anglers are using Polish lures to good effect fish in the lower teens appear to be relatively common with the size and numbers of Roach being caught this year it comes as no surprise.

Also of interest to some are the resident Carp. One good tip I learnt that the best time to target Carp on the canal is when the barometer is 1009 or less. As in any water they can be difficult to target and the locations are often kept secret. To my knowledge their are Carp in Gloucester Docks, no fishing! I am aware of some carp being caught at Hempsted bridge area, rumour has it that some of the local business’s by the canal are staffed by anglers who ‘feed’ the carp in the lunchtime. I have seen people ‘bivvied up’ while travelling into work over the bridge. Recently (August 2008) people have been bivvying up between Sims and Rea no information on any fish but rumours abound of quite a few carp to 28lb now being caught between Hempsted and the Sims Rea area. Pegthorne bay (between Castle and Junction) is also an area where carp have been targeted and caught in the past the downside is that they lie on the opposite bank and part of this area is out of bounds due to power lines. I have seen carp caught but not landed at Tanker Bay Quedgeley, my neighbour did get a small one out, 5-6 lbs, some 4 years ago. I wonder who put the lily in here? Carp were also caught at the Junction and Cabury factory years ago so they are here but it’s location, location, location. If you find them 20lbs plus fish are a possibility or bigger. A favourite venue with a number of 20plus carp is the Permali stretch and Hempsted, put your feed and bait near any feature tree, weed etc and wait. During the last match at Christmas Ian Didcote got done by a large fish using bread that refused to gaze upon his ego, it must have been big. Speaking of Bread this seems to be the in bait this winter liquidised through the feeder and a 6mm punch on the hook good luck.

One of the favourite spots is around the ‘cut offs’ where the old Hempsted Bend was. These will in future provide prime areas for Carp and Tench many of which are also now showing. As these areas weed up it will provide both spawning and food larders. One of the best spots is to fish around late 50’s and 60’s targeting the far side, if you can get the peg that enables you to cast to the V that is formed from the old channel and new channel casting just off the point. This is not the only spot however if you can give it a big chuck to reach right across to the shelf that remains on the far side and both Carp and Bream patrol along here. Quite a few Chub are also appearing to maggot feeder, where have they been the last few years, along the Hempsted stretch?

Don’t forget the groundbait and if you are targeting Roach I always feed hemp. If fishing the boat channel around 11/13 metres feed around 8- 10 balls of groundbait laced with chopped worm and caster the usual mix for Bream. As one of the canal’s secrets is now out of the bag include fishmeal this has been in use for some 2 years or more for the Bream. Those who are more of a traditional Bream fisherman then a mix made up with crumb with a sweet additive such as Brasem always works. If you are lucky when fishing Hempsted you may connect with one of the Tench. These are usually of a large size as Martin Price found out on last weeks match. They tend to feel unstoppable in a slow ponderous sort of way and then kite off to the right or left when you hook them, needless to say if it is one of the carp hold on and pray!

Many parts of the canal have now entered winter mode with Roach and Bream still feeding well.

   If you landed on this page check out Jamie’s carp a superb Common of 28lbs and an equally impressive Mirror of 24lbs these are recent (November 2007). The exact location remains a secret but from local knowledge fish like these have been caught within 6 miles of Gloucester Town Centre.

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