Early morning canal fishing?

[MotherHen]

I went on a 12 mile cycle this morning down my local stretch of the grand union on the Northampton Arm section which is owned partly by T&DAA and Northampton Nene A.C and was amazed at how many fish I could see rolling. I did see one huge swirl which I can only assume was a very large carp or pike and this made me really want to give it a go in the morning! This was probably about 5-6am but never really had any experience early morning fishing and even less on canals! I'm thinking of taking a small 10ft stalking rod and a bag of end tackle but no idea how to fish it! It would be easier for me if I didn't have to take a trip down to the tackle shop before hand so bread / corn / pellets (which I have already) could be taken easily. How should I select a swim? Should I stay there or keep on the move? What baits / methods would work best?

 

All help is appreciated, thanks.

[MotherHen]

Any advice I'm given I will try and put to practice and I will post reports of my mornings with pics by the way.

[leeroy28]

hi there,

 

on part of my syndicate there is a strech of cannel i have fished it with bread flake on a size 8 with just enough weight to hold bottom with a small shot near the hook to sink the bread and have had some cracking chub to 6lb.

 

i have always kept on the move to try and locate the fish rather than a sit and wait aproach wich seems to work really well for me.

 

as for any fishing early morning is prime time dawn and dusk both the best times for me

 

hope this helps and good luck.

[ayjay]

Why not consider it a voyage of discovery rather than painting by numbers.

 

You've pretty much answered your own questions anyway, or at least well enough for an opening gambit:- "stalking rod" "big swirl" "bread"

[John S]

What Leeroy and Ayjay said

 

You can pretty much treat canals as very long thin ponds, especially if it's no longer used by boats. Try to fish near a feature if you can (overhanging tree, reeds, water lillies etc). With many canals, you will find that the depth stays fairly constant along the width, so once you have plumbed the depth it should be about right no matter where you then fish. Otherwise, just do what you would do on a typical pond or lake, and always be prepared to move about - if there's no fish in your swim, you ain't gonna catch

 

At a local canal I usually float fish slightly overdepth with maggots, though a popped-up boilie or pellets may be on the menu if you're looking for carp.

[MotherHen]

Thanks for all the replies May go tomorrow depending on the weather! Will probably take a loaf of bread and a tin of sweetcorn with a rod on my back and just see what comes up! I'll let you all know how it goes if I do go.

[Alan Stubbs]

Early morning is usually the best time for silvers on canals, IMO. Low light conditions encourage adventure amongst smaller fish.

[davedave]

Dawn and dusk are the best times for fishing. Saying this, most people (including me most the time) ignore this basic rule. I can never get out of bed early enough and have to be back by tea time so it never really works, but if you can do it you can get some cracking results! Good luck

[terry t shirt]

Motherhen most of my canal fishing is done early morning you'll rarely find me on the canal in this area gone 9am.

Any method is good. If you going to stalk i suggest taking some chub mixer (floating dog Food) fire freebies 4/5 at features as you go watch for the fish to start taking them and offer a piece of freelined crust and hold on. Some of the carp in this area would put some of these specimen lakes to shame. So make sure you have a big landing net. Another good time for this method is an hour before dark into darkness.

[MotherHen]

Motherhen most of my canal fishing is done early morning you'll rarely find me on the canal in this area gone 9am.

Any method is good. If you going to stalk i suggest taking some chub mixer (floating dog Food) fire freebies 4/5 at features as you go watch for the fish to start taking them and offer a piece of freelined crust and hold on. Some of the carp in this area would put some of these specimen lakes to shame. So make sure you have a big landing net. Another good time for this method is an hour before dark into darkness.

 

Thanks for the response(s), terry I see you're from northamptonshire too, care to share whereabouts? PM me if you wish I don't have any chum mixer at the moment as I've done literally no surface fishing this year due to the weather mainly! I'm taking a loaf of bread with me and so I'll just see what comes up, I'd be happy with a few chub but never caught a canal carp so would be great if I did get one. My alarm's set for 5 and I'll be on my way a few minutes after and should be fishing by 5:30 latest. Going on my bike again so I can quickly change spots, only downside is I look like a right poacher! Anyway thanks for the tips, I'll let you know how I get on.