I prefer smaller lures, especially in the winter months when the fish aren’t as active as they are when the water temperature is higher. Small lures won’t deter big fish but the reverse can be an issue, and so in order to give myself maximum opportunity, I fished with a 1g jig-head and a small Berkley rubber minnow.
Setting up alongside a bridge that took a road over the canal, I cast out into open water, slowly bringing the lure back into the narrower confines leading to a lock. As you can see from the images above (click to enlarge), I caught, and although not big fish, I was certainly more than happy under the circumstances of the low temperatures, both air and water.
The water in particular was rock bottom, so much so that even handling the fish sent my fingers back to the ice age. In fact driving home, I had the heater on full blast, with the grilles pointing at my hands. It took me back to chub fishing days, many years ago, on the upper Severn in the depths of winter, when my hands were still cold an hour into driving on the return journey.
