Canal Fishing

[crazycarphunter]

Hey guys,

 

I am new to fishing (been fishing for roughly 8 weeks now) and I have been fishing my local canal - the leeds to liverpool canal at feniscowles, blackburn. I have been going with my mate, we have been baiting the swim with groundbait, maggots, worms, sweetcorn, bread, dog biscuits and luncheon meat, and we use worm, maggot, sweetcorn, bread and dog biscuit as our choice of hook bait. I regularly pull out small perch maybe half a pound at best, but we are after bigger fish or we want to pull out fish more often. When we fish with maggots, sweetcorn, bread and biscuits we dont get anything, even though we feed the swim little and often, put a worm on and we get bites quite often but hardly catch. My best is 2 small perch in 3 hours.

 

Over the past 2 weeks alot of bubbles have been occurring on the far bank amongst the weed bed which we have been told will most likely be carp, but we still only pull out the odd perch no matter how we bait up.

 

Does anyone have any tips on how to bag more fish on this section of the canal?

 

We usually use waggler floats with size 14 hooks on a 3lb line with one of the baits named above.

 

We have tried fishing at the far bank in front of the weed bed, just infront of the ledge, in the middle at the bottom, at the near bank amongst the weeds, right next to the barge at the far bank (which has been stationary for months) and I even set up a hair rig and fished above hemp seed with boilies, then I changed to fishing the bottom with boilies to no avail. I have seen some big fish here quite often but we still havent landed a 1lb fish. We have seen a few big pike pass by a few times so we have tried the lures and spinners for them and we managed to bag a small perch.

 

Any tips would be really helpful on landing more fish, bigger fish or even the carp.

 

In this section of the canal there is bream, carp, tench, perch, roach and chub with the odd pike as far as we know there may even be different fish here.

 

Thanks for any help/tips/tactics provided.

 

Danny

[watatoad]

Hi Crazycarphunter,

 

Welcome to Anglers Net.

 

I have not done much Canal fishing of late, you really need someone both near to where you fish and with recent canal experience, no doubt you will get a response quite soon. Not everyone get on every day so just hang in there and I am sure you will get the best answers to your inquiry.

 

When I fish a canal I fish very very light and would probably start with a number 20 or 22 barbless hook with a single white maggot (hookbait depending on species), my first weight would most likely be about 18" (46cms) from the hook, most likely a number 8, hook tied to .05 or 1lb hook length line, to a 1.6lb or 2lb mainline. Perhaps some bread paste. I would use the groundbait quite sparingly dependent on speed and force of flow.

Edited June 10, 2011 by watatoad

[crazycarphunter]

Thanks for the welcome mate, I appreciate that

 

This may sound stupid, but what is a hook length line? How would I set one up? (like I said, I'm new to fishing lol).

 

The other night I managed to get a half decent fish but it snapped my line so I tried an 18 hook and I did get more bites but I just kept pulling the hook and bait out of the fish mouths lol. I took it that it was due to the hook being to small, maybe its the way I am set up?

 

I tend to feed the line through the float then go back around an through the float so the float is stiff but can be moved by hand (this allows me to fish at different depths quickly and easily) I then place the shots a few inches below the float with my hook a minimum of 9 inches away...is this a bad set up?

 

Cheers

 

Danny

[Tench-man]

hi ..ive been pole fishing the canal for about a year now in the west london area ..it depends what type of fish youd like to catch really if you want loads of silver fish i usually jus cup out 2-3 orange size balls of groundbait and fish pinkies or single/double red maggot ..

 

if you dont get bites after a little bit put cup full of maggots out n maybe a ball of groundbait with them . then when you do get bites jus keep putting 4-5 maggots out every 20-30 seconds n you should get some more bites ..for big perch roach and skimmers useing bread punch can be very effective in the right ime and place

[Alan Stubbs]

I fish the Brindley in Runcorn and Leeds & Liverpool Canals (around Maghull).

 

When I started, I had the same issues as you. I soon learned, that prebaiting isn't much use, and if you fish bread-punch and maggot, you'll attract small roach and perch.

The larger stamp of bream (6-8lbs) have all been taken on 4mm halibut or trout pellet or caster.

 

The Brindley is gin clear at the head, and fishing is really hard as the predators are spooking the fish. Squats and pinkies will draw the smaller bream / skimmers.

 

I hope it helps....please keep us posted.

[Alan Stubbs]

Hey guys,

 

I am new to fishing (been fishing for roughly 8 weeks now) and I have been fishing my local canal - the leeds to liverpool canal at feniscowles, blackburn. I have been going with my mate, we have been baiting the swim with groundbait, maggots, worms, sweetcorn, bread, dog biscuits and luncheon meat, and we use worm, maggot, sweetcorn, bread and dog biscuit as our choice of hook bait. I regularly pull out small perch maybe half a pound at best, but we are after bigger fish or we want to pull out fish more often. When we fish with maggots, sweetcorn, bread and biscuits we dont get anything, even though we feed the swim little and often, put a worm on and we get bites quite often but hardly catch. My best is 2 small perch in 3 hours.

 

Over the past 2 weeks alot of bubbles have been occurring on the far bank amongst the weed bed which we have been told will most likely be carp, but we still only pull out the odd perch no matter how we bait up.

 

Does anyone have any tips on how to bag more fish on this section of the canal?

 

We usually use waggler floats with size 14 hooks on a 3lb line with one of the baits named above.

 

We have tried fishing at the far bank in front of the weed bed, just infront of the ledge, in the middle at the bottom, at the near bank amongst the weeds, right next to the barge at the far bank (which has been stationary for months) and I even set up a hair rig and fished above hemp seed with boilies, then I changed to fishing the bottom with boilies to no avail. I have seen some big fish here quite often but we still havent landed a 1lb fish. We have seen a few big pike pass by a few times so we have tried the lures and spinners for them and we managed to bag a small perch.

 

Any tips would be really helpful on landing more fish, bigger fish or even the carp.

 

In this section of the canal there is bream, carp, tench, perch, roach and chub with the odd pike as far as we know there may even be different fish here.

 

Thanks for any help/tips/tactics provided.

 

Danny

 

A size 14 hook is huge! (Relatively speaking.) The largest hook I use is an 18 - and a 1.5lb hooklength with 4lb max mainline. Works for me.

[watatoad]

Thanks for the welcome mate, I appreciate that

 

This may sound stupid, but what is a hook length line? How would I set one up? (like I said, I'm new to fishing lol).

 

The other night I managed to get a half decent fish but it snapped my line so I tried an 18 hook and I did get more bites but I just kept pulling the hook and bait out of the fish mouths lol. I took it that it was due to the hook being to small, maybe its the way I am set up?

 

I tend to feed the line through the float then go back around an through the float so the float is stiff but can be moved by hand (this allows me to fish at different depths quickly and easily) I then place the shots a few inches below the float with my hook a minimum of 9 inches away...is this a bad set up?

 

Cheers

 

Danny

 

How deep is the place you are fishing?

Is there much flow?

Is the bottom free of obstacles?

Is there much weed growth?

Please bear in mind I am trying to advise you without seeing the water which is not the easiest thing to do.

 

The average depth of a canal is about 3' (90cms) to 4' (120cms) except at locks

To find the depth of the water you are fishing you need a weight called a plummet this is a fairly heavy weight with an eye or loop at one end and a piece of cork or soft plastic type of material at the other end- thread your hook through the hole and Gently push the tip (sharp part) into the soft material. To cast this out use an underhand cast (let the weight swing rather like a pendulum with the weight right down near the reel, best if you look how to do this up on utube and/or google as my description of how to do it might not be clear enough, and it is always easier to copy something once you have seen it..

 

perhaps your hook is not sharp enough

try this link http://www.anglersnet.co.uk/forums/Sharpen...s-t3250717.html

perhaps you have too much float showing

I would use a canal dart type of float or a waggler with not much float showing above the water (often called dotting down)

If you are missing bites put the last and smallest shot about 4" (100mm) to 6" (150mm) from your hook as this will make your setup much more sensitive to any happenings at the hook end.

I would use a single white maggot on a number 18 hook with the hook going through the area between what looks like two eyes at the blunt end of the maggot.

[rob4310]

Hey guys,

 

I am new to fishing (been fishing for roughly 8 weeks now) and I have been fishing my local canal - the leeds to liverpool canal at feniscowles, blackburn. I have been going with my mate, we have been baiting the swim with groundbait, maggots, worms, sweetcorn, bread, dog biscuits and luncheon meat, and we use worm, maggot, sweetcorn, bread and dog biscuit as our choice of hook bait.

 

Thanks for any help/tips/tactics provided.

 

Danny

 

Hi, I have fished the Liverpool end of the canal when I was a kid and now fish the canals around Birmingham. These are a few things that help me catch.

 

Firstly, I use a float rod and smallish reel with 4lb main line. An insert waggler. (float with thinner tip than the main body). The size depends on the wind and tow of the canal. A longer, heavier float is a bit more stable in the wind. This is attached to the line at the bottom only. I use a couple of float rubbers so you can move the float and change it if the conditions change. The majority of the weights ( shot) is directly under the float with some smaller (no8) about halfway down and 1 no8 about 6 inches from the hook just above the hook link.

A hooklink is a short piece of line ( usually lighter than the main line (i use 3 lb)) about 4 to 5 inches long with a figure of 8 loop at one end and a hook on the other. I use a 20 to 14 hook depending on what bait I'm using. The hook link is attached to the main line by tying another figure of 8 loop at the end of the main line. Then push the mainline loop through the hooklink loop and then pass the hook through the mainline loop. (Lots of pictures of this on the internet if you do a search)

 

This enable you to change the size of your hook easily and if you you snag your line you are more likely to break the line at the hook link rather than lose all your float etc. Also if a fish snaps your line it is only swimming about with a short piece of line and the hook which is safer for the fish.

The float should only show half an inch of the tip. So add no 8 shot to "dot it down" this will make it nice and sensative.

 

I would start by fishing a couple of inches over depth. So use a plummet to find the depth. This is simply to attach a heavier plummet on your hook and gently swing out to where you plan to fish. Adjust the float so it sits just under the surface then move the float up by a couple of inches. If the tow or wind drags the float along try increasing the depth slightly ( inch or two at a time) till it remains still. If its really bad you might have to increase the depth till the bottom shot is also on the bottom. this will help anchor the bait and keep the float from drifting out of your swim.

 

Once your fishing keep the loose bait to a minimum. I start with a couple of maggots every couple of mins , a chopped worm or two or two small balls of gound bait or liquidized bread ( large grape size) and see how that goes. if I don't get any bites I add same again after about 15 mins. I do this to get some smell in the water to attract the fish. It can take an hour or so to get things going so some times you have to be patient.

 

I don't mind if I start catching small fish because they can attact the bigger ones. Tench, roach and bream can go for bread and sweetcorn and this will also discourage the little perch. Remember to feed little and often. Also to be gentle when playing bigger fish as your using small hooks. Also try to fish close to weed or overhanging trees. Fishing near to a "feature" has always been more productive. even if this is quite close in. Some of my better catches have been just level with the tip of the rod. As long as you keep quiet.

 

Hope this is a help

 

 

Regards

 

Rob

[davedave]

Sounds like you want a carp?

 

Try bigger baits, triple sweetcorn, boilies, 18mm pellets, bread, large chunks of meat, artficials, two or three worms.

 

If you are getting fish under a pound the only way to stop this is with a bigger bait.

[crazycarphunter]

Hey guys, a quick update...

 

First off, thanks for all the tips and advice, I will be pitting them to good use next week.

 

Right, being Friday I decided to knock off work early and make the most of the dry weather. I got home and got out some dog biscuits, red sweetcorn, bread, maggots, castors, worms and a few spices and mixed a very smelly groundbait. I then got the tackle out and made 2 short hook lengths, one with a size 18 hook the other a size 14, I used a swivel on the end of each line to attach to my mainline.

 

I usually fish within a 100 metre stretch of the canal, so when I got there I scouted the area and decided on a stretch under a over hanging tree with lillies at the far bank. I threw in a handful of my groundbait whilst I finished setting up and within minutes I had a bite. I was using a long waggler with 2 shots close by, my hook length with swivel (which acted as an extra shot) a size 18 hook with a worm. I had 7 bites in 30 minutes but never had the chance to land a fish...the hook was brand new and got stuck in my finger a few times whilst tying the knots so I don't know why it wasn't hooking the fish.

 

I then moved further down to my main spot, its around 5 feet deep in the middle, lots of weed running along the far bank, fewer weeds on the near bank. There's small patches of weed right at the bottom in the middle and the features here are a barge which has been parked there since b4 Xmas, a bridge, an overhanging ledge and loads of trees behind me.

 

Here again I got bites but no joy in landing any, a duck was swimming round in circles like it was lost, we later saw a huge pike and think maybe this is why we didn't get many bites, maybe why the duck was looking lonely (it usually has 5 or 6 ducklings with it, today there was none).

 

I am going to take all your tips on board and let you know how I get on.

 

Thanks guys, much appreciated. Please keep them coming lol

 

Danny