Combatting tow and flow?

[Ducktape Corkfeet]

My local canal has a bit of a flow in it, due to a couple of leaky locks. How would I go about combatting this problem when fishing the waggler?

[Brian Carragher]

First question would be ,why do you need to combat flow and tow?

 

If the lock gates have been leaking for a long time then the fish will have adjusted to the flow of the canal and will be expecting any feed to be coming from a certain direction.

 

Try fishing deeper nearer the bottom where the flow will be less but you may have to hold the float back a little to compensate for the difference in bottom and top water movement or try fishing overdepth by up to a foot,vary the over depth until you get it just right, the fish feeding and the right amount of slow travel on your float.

 

If you fish overdepth you don't have to hold the float back as the drag on your terminal tackle slows down the speed that your float travels but you will get false bites where the hook catchs some underwater debris or weed so you will have to build up a mental map of the canal bed and not strike when you know youre in an area where the hook will foul up. Its also a great method for mentally mapping the bottom whilst still fishing.

 

Sometimes the fish will want the bait at the speed of the flow so fish just off bottom and slightly hold back. Other times the fish will want it at a really slow or dead still pace and thats where the ability to fish overdepth pays off. Give it a go, you wont waste your efforts and it will pay off in the long run