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Well thanks for the replys folk. Still considering the idea but i can see i could spend from a few pounds to several hundred. One thing is certain - after being a narrowboat owner for 12 or so years i won't be one of the grumpy so and so's that never speak to passing boaters!

 

May see you on a towpath soon.

 

Dave

 

 

Don't forget a rod licence. OK you don't get checked regularly but if your are caught, it will be a hefty fine and IIRC criminal record.

 

Best secret of canal fishing. Fish either very early or very late. That's when the monsters are more likely to get caught.

 

63980118_zpsqgm6ip90.jpg

Edited by mark99
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  • 3 weeks later...

This is good advice as a place to start again - and it looks like you're gonna get quite a lot that's somewhat less than useful or supportive! biggrin.png

 

You're gonna need really fine tackle for general canal fishing (as opposed to carp or predator fishing) as the fish are small and shy. You'll be surprised how small good canal floats are, and how far you shot them down. When you see folks fishing with a big lump of orange sticking out of the water, they're the numpties; if you can see little other than a whisker (often only not sinking because of a wee bit of petroleum jelly on the bristle to hold it on the surface tension) that's someone doing it right. If you Google whip fishing, I'm sure you'll find most of what you need to know. The more interest you take, the better you'll get at it too.

 

Remember, 90% of fish are caught by 10% of anglers, so you'll be lucky to get properly good advice from the majority of anglers, let alone those who've never done it, or done it so badly that they packed in! Good luck smile.png

 

What you say is the generally held view. However, it's wrong. If you have a certain float the 'resistance' to move it down in the water is the same regardless of whether the float sticks out of the water half an inch or the merest dimple. Of course, if it's the merest dimple any movement of the float will take it under. A good thing? not at all. Once the float is under you have no idea what's going on. On the other hand, if the float is sticking up some distance and dips a little you can still see it. You can then use your experience to decide whether to strike, or perhaps see how things develop.

 

This is from an angler who has fished for 40 years and still does, at least 5 days a week.

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What you say is the generally held view. However, it's wrong.

 

This is from an angler who has fished for 40 years and still does, at least 5 days a week.

Well thanks for pointing that out so tactfully! :D

 

I was merely sharing some the the finer points of canal angling I was lucky enough to be taught during coaching from some of the country's top anglers when I fished in a Division 1 national team. The idea is indeed that the float disappears under the shyest of bites from small fish - the good angler knows what's going on after that, because he'll have a fish on. If you "see how things develop" (actually the much more "generally held view") you either miss the opportunity or you increase the likelihood of hooking the fish deep and needing a disgorger, which is neither desirable for the fish nor efficient for the angler.

 

Enjoy your regular fishing though, Gareth; I certainly don't think you need to do it the same way as me to have fun. Do the fish a favour though please, and consider whether you could improve your technique every time you reach for the disgorger, eh? ;)

 

 

Edited to add: you did notice I was adding further information to advice given to the OP to try fishing with a whip, didn't you, and that I'd specifically excluded carp and predator fishing? See, I'm still puzzled as to why you'd just drag up an aging thread to say I was 'wrong' so bluntly, rather than simply that my technique was different to yours.

Edited by Sea Dog
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...............................and make sure it's strong enough...................I see that two 20kg Catfish were recently found in the Southern GU at Soulbury during a CrT netting session, They were removed to a more suitable habitat.

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What you say is the generally held view. However, it's wrong. If you have a certain float the 'resistance' to move it down in the water is the same regardless of whether the float sticks out of the water half an inch or the merest dimple. Of course, if it's the merest dimple any movement of the float will take it under. A good thing? not at all. Once the float is under you have no idea what's going on. On the other hand, if the float is sticking up some distance and dips a little you can still see it. You can then use your experience to decide whether to strike, or perhaps see how things develop.

 

This is from an angler who has fished for 40 years and still does, at least 5 days a week.

Only 40 yrs?..............Bloody kids getting under yer feet all the time

  • Greenie 1
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I've got a whip where i use the two top sections.

Float rod all made up along with a spinning rod kept on the boat.

 

look on here the sell some reasonable quality rubbish. Ive got a few rods from them.

http://www.dragoncarpdirect.com

 

I've had on the whip some sizeable fish on the pole, 5lb bream a few weeks ago the plot only cost me £10 when i was in France, landing net and handle £30 from dragon carp, so under £50 you can get out and have some fun.

 

Whoops didn't mean to quote my post, just add a bit. ninja.gif

Edited by rustydiver
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Well thanks for pointing that out so tactfully! biggrin.png

 

I was merely sharing some the the finer points of canal angling I was lucky enough to be taught during coaching from some of the country's top anglers when I fished in a Division 1 national team. The idea is indeed that the float disappears under the shyest of bites from small fish - the good angler knows what's going on after that, because he'll have a fish on. If you "see how things develop" (actually the much more "generally held view") you either miss the opportunity or you increase the likelihood of hooking the fish deep and needing a disgorger, which is neither desirable for the fish nor efficient for the angler.

 

Enjoy your regular fishing though, Gareth; I certainly don't think you need to do it the same way as me to have fun. Do the fish a favour though please, and consider whether you could improve your technique every time you reach for the disgorger, eh? wink.png

 

 

Edited to add: you did notice I was adding further information to advice given to the OP to try fishing with a whip, didn't you, and that I'd specifically excluded carp and predator fishing? See, I'm still puzzled as to why you'd just drag up an aging thread to say I was 'wrong' so bluntly, rather than simply that my technique was different to yours.

 

You're right, sorry, I wasn't very tactful with my reply.

 

Let me try to put my point across more politely :)

 

If you have a float dotted right down it's either there or it's under. If a fish sucks the bait in then spits it out the float is still under, despite it rising up after the fish ejects the bait. Angler is none the wiser so strikes/ lifts, unnecessarily.

 

On the other hand if he has more float showing he will see this and can react accordingly. He still has the option of lifting into a fish following a slight downward movement, one that would sink a dotted down float.

 

It's worth remembering that the amount of resistance to a biting fish is the same, whether the float is dotted down or stuck up 3/4 of an inch or more. That's assuming that it's the same float of course.

 

Hope that's better.

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Hope that's better.

 

No problem :). You've explained your technique and why you think it works for you very nicely. I don't subscribe to the same theory and explained why, but that's what match angling is about: over time it sorts out the better anglers and the most effective tactics. Dull old world if we all thought the same though, eh?

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A folding chair is a must.

 

Then a telescopic rod, rod rest and landing net. Go Outdoors are a good source. I bought a kit on the internet, £25 for rod, reel and floats/hooks/weights. Still using it five years on.

 

Don't overspend and remember you need a licence.

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One great thing about fishing canals is that the species you're likely to catch vary quite a bit, in different lengths. The fishing in one bit can vary quite a lot from a stretch just a mile away, even if there are no locks in between.

 

My experience this summer over 30-40 miles of canal:

 

Below Bosley locks: Roach of 1.04, 1.04 and 1.06. The only roach I've caught over a pound. A few perch of varying sizes.

 

Congleton: Lots of small fish, all species apart from carp, pike and tench. A few rudd from here, I haven't caught them elsewhere in the canal.

 

Scholar Green: Similar to Congleton but lots more gudgeon. The roach tend to be bigger than at Congleton.

 

Rode Heath: Swarms of gudgeon that make fishing maggots or casters impossible. Large numbers of decent roach including a catch of 20 for 10 pounds in 2 hours on hemp and tares. No perch at all.

 

Middlewich: Lots of small examples of most species including eels, the first I've caught in years of fishing the canal.

 

Church Minshull: Good numbers of perch 1 to 2 pounds and possibly bigger as I was snapped twice on 3lb bottom. These could have been larger eels though, which start to show here. Some eels fight a bit like perch; some don't. Caught a 2lb perch at midnight on half a roach intended for eels, my first perch at night.

 

Barbridge: Similar to Church Minshull but probably more bigger perch. A few bream also. Eels, some of them quite big, become a bit of a nuisance.

 

That's it. So if you work out your local stretch it's worth trying elsewhere, there are always new things to discover!

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