New member and new fisher

[ejmcdonald]

Hi all i always liked the thought of fishing but was always one of them who talked about it im now 19 and have moved into a house that backs onto the basingstoke canal in woking and after finding out there was fish in the canal i hopped down to the local tackle shop and bought myself a rod and bits and pieces after spending 2 hours trying to put the rod together i went to the bottom of the garden and was eager to start. Float: check, Hook: check, weight: check, maggot: check woo ready to go 1st cast stuck in the tree i was under.... next 10 didnt go anywhere.... why bail arm closed doh undo bail arm cast.... other side of the canal in the top of a different tree this was not going to well (i had way to much weight on the end lol) ended up snapping line losing my two heavy weights and a float. i decided to spit shot it and caught my first fish a small chubb i was very pleased then the next night caught 5 more and my begginers luck carryed on for a few nights but now i cant seem to pull anything out and i don't know why

 

FYI i use a 3lb line with a size 18 hook and mix and match my bait through the day either sweetcorn maggots of bread

[Newt]

Welcome to Anglers' Net. I'll move this to the coarse section so more will see it and can offer some helpful suggestions.

[AddictedToScopex]

Hi EJ and welcome to AN.

 

You said you had caught using your currently selected method so rather than change method completely I would suggest simply refining what you are doing. On canals it can often pay to prebait certain spots. It may be a good idea to bait up in the morning and then fish it at night once the fish have had time to move onto the swim. If you fish the same spot a lot the fish will eventually learn to associate that area with food and will appear there more often.

 

You can try fining your tackle down to a 3lb mainline to a 1.5-2lb ultra fine hooklength to help encourage shy biting fish. Aswell as this it is important to get a nice presentation. Spade end hooks and a matchman hook tier can help this immeasurably. If you are unsure how to use a hook tier and the instructions don't help then just ask at your local tackle shop and they will most likely be glad to help. Especially if you bought the gear there .

 

Bait wise I wouldnt go sticking too many different baits in as they may become preoccupied with one bait. I would personally stick with either maggots or pinkies as anything that swims will eat them.

 

Try to get a good feeding pattern going also to help encourage competition between the fish. This can make them less wary of a bait with a hook in it as they just want to eat something before the others beat them to it.

 

I think a good idea would be to bait the swim regularly and instead of fishing right away just watch for signs of fish and try to observe their behaviour. You can learn a lot about a water this way.

 

Hope that helps. If there is anything specific you want to know just post it up and people will help out.

 

Rik