New stretch and circle hooks on dropshot test.

Today the weather was mild and since I had found a nice looking stretch of the canal on google maps, I didn't think twice and was off fishing! I bought some new softbaits and some circle hooks that I wanted to try them on the dropshot for perch.. The area is a marina on the Lancaster canal and when I arrived it did indeed look very fishy... First problem was the lack of parking space but after some maneuvering I managed to park my Punto in a way that it wouldn't bother anybody.. Second problem (potentially) was the state of the water.. After two weeks of bad weather the level was high and visibility was bad (30cm aprox). I expected the fishing to be slow and near the bottom, as the fish would probably need a few more days of settled conditions to feed confidently.. Thus I shortened the distance of the sinker to the lure (20cm from usual 35cm aprox) and started fishing as close to the barges and the dock as I could..

the state of the water.

After working a large area without a touch I reached a corner of the marina and casting inches from the canal edge I got the first nibble and letting the softbait to fall I connected to the first little perch of the session.. As soon as I caught the fish from its jaw the hook came free, something that I should have taken as a warning... After the little perch I recast to the same area and got three more fish on, only for them to get free from the hook shortly after! The last one within inches from the bank and a good one as well... I didn't set the hook in any fish as you are not meant to when using circle hooks but as soon I reverted back to mosquito hooks I didn't loose any fish.


the only one that stayed on the circle hook.

I kept fishing and walking but after moving to an area with no bites, I went back to where I caught the first one. Trying different baits and slowing the speed even more, I managed to find some more fish. Most were small  and I noticed that they wanted very slow presentation (slight twitches) and minimal resistance with long pauses. Nearing dusk, I managed a better fish of about a pound, that gave a good account of itself on the UL spinning gear...

Overall the fishing was slow and hard work with the fish not really in an aggressive hunting mood, but managing to catch some fish after a couple blanks is always good! I don't think I will continue using circle hooks on my dropshot though..
The best baits today were the LFT live baby shad 2.25" and lunker City fin-s fish 2".
Soon I'm going to try and fish for pike on a modified dropshot rig, incorporating a trace and cant wait to land some pike on the UL gear..

Thanks for reading.