Canal

[Paul Boyle]

Hello all

Ive been having a go this closed season on one of out many canals in and around Birmingham.Had two nice chub this morning the 1st about 2 lb and the second was a really nice fish about 4/5lb .On the way back to the car crossing a foot bridge i noticed to two very large carp around the 20 lb mark could be bigger.
Has any of you ever fished the canals for carp ? would love to give them a go but however i haven't a clue how to go about it..
Any help would be welcome..

Paul

 

[Paul Hiom]

Paul,

I have few mates who fish the canals for carp and the hardest part is locating fish as they do move up and down the sections quite frequently. Also, some of the silt or soft mud on bottom of the canal can be quite deep in areas, so rigs that do not bury the hookbait are worth considering in these situations, although some will say that carp will still smell the bait through the silt.

Paul

 

[David Hall]

silt paul
now there is silt and there is silt, the orrible deep black crud is a no go zone, just to be sure, use a silt rig and/or pop up.
also, a must, is back leads under the tip and flying,both at the same time.

 

[Paul Boyle]

Thanks guys

The silt on the bottom is light brown in colour but it doe's not look to thick at all,but however when the barges start about 7am the silt gets churned up and i found a lot of debris (plastic bags ect..)does also.

I found a silt rig here Dave http://www.course-fishing.freeuk.com/siltrig.html
and i think i can work this out.The water im fishing is about 3 1/2 mile long with a lock at each end so the carp will be hard i think to locate as Paul says.

Pre baiting is a waste of time as the barges will soon get rid of it.Ill just have to see how thinks work out over the next few weeks.
Ill keep you updated.

Thanks again

Paul

 

[Paul Hiom]

I dont think ive ever found any of that dark stuff in the canal Dave, but then again i might have been fishing in it and wondering why i was blanking The kennet and avon seems relatively clear of it fortunately.

 

[David Hall]

there are parts in the grand union that is 5 ft deep and it stinks.. more so on hot days.
the rig looks fine, not sure how safe it is though, looks like a normal helicopter to me to be honest.
give nights a go if safe to do so, that's if you can find a bit.

 

[Paul Hiom]

I fell in the Shropshire Union whilst on a barge holiday about 15 years ago (pre kids) and emerged looking like a mud monster, stinking to high heaven dripping in that black stuff. Mind you, it was a sunny day and i had been drinking most of the afternoon, so it's all a bit of a blur. We had a few carp on that trip and often saw them cruising along quite close to the barges. I hope you get a few Paul.

 

[Clive Shipman]

I fish the Kennet and Avon last week at Foxhangers near Cane Hill locks Devizes. Fished one rod for carp (fishing a boillie on a choddy) no joy but took great delight catching about 25lb of silvers mainly skimmers and roach. Best fish of the day was a 2.5 bream and a roach of about 1 1/4lb and perch to 1lb all on a home made waggler superb.

 

[Jason Bean]

Been fishing for canal carp for a few years now.....tip, once you have found them...dont fish the far bank, fish the near shelf.

towpath shelf is the deeper area normally that they like to explore and when the canal is quiet in the morning and evenings that's where you will find them, even though they will not be so visible in these areas...they are there.

And if you go on this silt thing the chaps are on about the near shelf tends to be naturally more rugged.

Cheers
Jason

 

[Andy Millichamp]

I had a brief and unsuccessful go at the carp in my local stretch last spring. I started prebaiting ... but hadn't the commitment to keep going. The advice I was given at the time was to do the baiting in the evening after the boats have stopped, it'll still be there in the morning if the carp haven't hoovered it up by then. Obviously you'd then need to fish it in the evening, morning or overnight. And, as previously said, target the towpath side, especially if you can find reedbeds or overhanging bushes.

 

[Paul Boyle]

Success :

4lb common taken on lob worm(freelined in the margins) .
Its very hard to track carp and single them out from other species as i found i could do with chub and perch one thing however is that they move into the towpath side on warm evenings at dusk to feed.Still a lot of work to do though but it seems all species like worms including zander.

Ive had some really nice chub biggest being around the 5lb mark all taken in the mornings ,they seem to start feeding around 5.30am and switch of about 6 am,prefeeding the swims with chopped worm before fishing helps as the swim will spook very quickly.
The Perch have been kind to biggest being around 1 1/2 lb .

Paul