FISHING THE ‘SHROPPIE’ aka the Shropshire Union Canal
Whether you match or pleasure fish the Shropshire Union
Canal at Norbury Junction offers some tremendous sport for
the towpath anglers.
Stoke City DAA have control of the fishing from Gnosall
downstream to Grubb Street beyond Woodseaves. After setting
yourself up with one of the Junction Inn’s famous large
breakfasts what better than to unwind and get away from the
rigours of work and town life by participating in a
relaxing fishing session. Stoke City DAA control the
fishing from the towpath bank, uninterrupted, except for
power cables for more than three miles of canal here. Day
permits are not issued but a yearly membership is available
and will hardly break the bank! Season tickets are just £15
for adults, these can be purchased from Stoke City AA
committee man Eric Gardner on 01782 818380.
The fishing on the “Shroppie” is held in very high regard,
so much so that the hugely successful Angling Trust
Division One National Championships, THE premier angling
event, took place here in 2009. The pracise matches for
this event attracted as many as 280 anglers and the
‘Junction’ catered for that amount with ease. Another top
event that takes place at Norbury Junction is the
Staffordshire Championships, one of the oldest matches in
the whole of the angling calendar and amazingly still going
in its third century having started life in the mid 1800s.
There are also regular weekly Saturday matches – with the
occasional exception, generally starting from some time in
the summer, right through the winter until the middle of
March; there certainly is plenty going on for the matchmen
at Norbury! For the regular ‘Shroppie’ match angler it is
the ideal day, breakfast before the draw at 8.45am followed
by five hours fishing from 10.15am to 3.15pm then back to
the Junction for the results and a beverage. If you want to
try one of these contests just turn up at the Junction by
8.45am - a little earlier if you want a breakfast or better
still give Fred Cheetham a ring on 01782 321084 - he
organises all the matches at Norbury.
MATCHES
Various species tend to win the matches at Norbury but in
reality it is famously known for the large head of roach
that are present. Roach may not win every match but they do
ensure that there are generally plenty of bites for all.
Although roach do win some matches to bread punch, squatt,
hemp or caster, chub can be caught to chopped worm and
caster and they win at times. The same applies to bream,
skimmers and very big perch, the latter have been caught at
over 4 lbs. Also, just once in a while, someone will sit on
a ‘nest’ of gudgeon and they have been known to win. In the
main though, all these species mentioned can, and often
are, caught from the same peg.
Dave McCall (Shakespeare) is the current holder of the
match record with over 58 lbs of chub. Weights of roach
only have topped 20 lbs on more than one occasion and the
same applies for skimmers, hybrids, bream and perch.
PLEASURE
The pleasure angler can always do his own thing or follow
the several ‘leads’ left by the match angler. With more
time and space and choice of where to fish pleasure catches
can be spectacular at times. If you are prepared to start
early, to miss the boat traffic, remarkable bags of roach
are possible to caster; they run to a size the matchmen
hardly ever see! One species that has not been mentioned
are carp, there are a few here and they provide a good
challenge and are very rewarding when you catch one.
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