That Britain’s canals contain some huge specimen fish is no longer a secret. Nevertheless, the sheer quantity and quality of untapped carp fishing remains an eye-opening phenomenon. Should this be such a surprise? Stock fish released by angling clubs in past decades are thriving, as are accidental and not-so-accidental escapees. They find rich feeding grounds and plenty of space. And as a hardy, long-lived species, these carp can become fish of spectacular size and beauty.
My interest in canal carping first started on the Exeter Ship Canal. Club records documented commons and mirrors stocked in its waters a little after World War Two. Some fifty years later in the 1990s, these fish had thrived for decades undetected. As a boy I would witness fish that rendered me incapable of rational thought: huge, barrel-shouldered carp with mouths that could swallow your fist. One of these survivors came out at over 40lb, a canal record at the time.
Such circumstances might seem exceptional, but the seeds have already been sown for the next generation of monsters on our canals. Perhaps a majority of Cuts now hold fish to over 20lb. If in any doubt, a customary glance at the reference section should provide all the evidence required. Canals such as the Grand Union have a terrific head of fish, while countless other waters also hold fish from Bude to Glasgow. And yet this is the tip of the iceberg. So much water is unfished and those who are catching big carp rarely share their locations.
Tackle up Tough!
Where large carp exist on many canals, the biggest challenge is landing the fish. In the words of Midlands canal fanatic Tony Keeling: ‘You’ll hook ’em, but that’s about as far as you’ll get!’ These fish are not as tackle shy as those constantly bothered by bivvy anglers on stocked waters however, so why fish light? A sensible minimum would be 15lb line where fish run big, although where permitted, 30lb braid is far stronger and better at cutting through weed.
With miles of water to roam, canal carp can present challenging fishing. It can be a time-consuming, soul-searching business. You will undoubtedly experience failures as well as successes. In a sense it is the challenge and mystery that is the essence of the exercise. You might have little track record to work with: canal carpers tend to be secretive. You might have to set up in tight swims well away from the obvious access points. But what a feeling to connect with a solid, beautifully-conditioned fish that might never have been caught before.
A sight to make any carp angler drool: a whole gang of fish loiter in a boatyard.
There are admittedly other canals where stretches have been flooded with ‘match sized’ carp too, and I will cover these later in the chapter. Whether this is desirable is open to debate, as carp are greedy fish that can have an adverse effect on both water quality and the other species that share the same habitat. To my mind the perfect model for angling clubs is to trickle stock with fewer fish, giving them plenty of space to grow on without affecting the canal.
Carping Clues
While success on some carp waters can be all about smart rigs and clever tactics, canal fishing is refreshingly simple by comparison. The fish seldom see a fraction of the pressure you find on day ticket lakes. Nine times out of ten, the biggest obstacle to success is finding your quarry in the first place.
SPAWNING SITES
Each year, carp congregate in certain areas to breed and this can see spectacular numbers of fish. Different strains breed at different times too, and these sites can be good places to fish, as rival carp often move in to mop up eggs. Just ask the current canal match record holder Paul Turner, who drew the perfect peg to cash in with over 100lbs of mostly double-figure carp!
Spawning carp are vulnerable, however. Fluctuating weather can see spawn-bound carp die. When spawning sites can be little more than a foot deep, they are also at risk from boats speeding through. Certainly, carp seem to survive longer on deeper canals or waters that are quieter and offer plenty of sanctuary.
The first step is often a walk with polarising glasses. You’re looking for any signs of life, whether that means basking fish or areas the fish are likely to settle. I cannot stress how important it is to pick the right area to fish. Nobody gets it right all the time, but you could wait a week without a bite in the wrong swim.
Canal carp have very definite patrol routes. There will be areas they move through and others where they feed, so don’t assume that by spotting a couple of fish you’ve found the best area to set up. Just observe: where are they moving towards? Do the fish pause to feed or investigate, or are they merely travellers? With practice and careful observation you can often tell within a few seconds if any individual carp is catchable or not.
While canal carp can be nomadic, it’s also fair to say that they tend to frequent the same areas time and again. Wide areas such as turning bays and boat yards are often a key area. Indeed, boats seem to possess a magnetic attraction for carp. On some canals they are prolific around moored craft and can be seen in plain view, where they become so at home that boat owners feed them like pets. The regular headache for many canal anglers is that these are also ‘no fishing’ zones.
More ‘natural’ spots can also be great areas. Carp like the shade and sanctuary offered by tree cover, bushes, reeds and lilies. Bends are another classic spot, as are inflows, outflows and passing points where the canal widens or narrows. In the absence of finding an area where carp settle, you can guarantee that moving fish will pass through these areas.
On many canals you might be the only angler a carp ever sees.
A word of warning. No matter how fishy a spot looks, you can spend a lot of fruitless hours by being inflexible. Far better to try several spots over a period of hours, days and weeks rather than stick it out in one area. On prolific canals, you might try each spot for about an hour at most. Even on the toughest canal, if I have not had a run in two nights in any one location, I would usually try elsewhere.
An increasing number of canals have their local ‘hot spots’, but the best fishing is not always readily accessible. Perhaps it’s a sad indictment of modern carp angling, but if you can find any promising area more than 400 yards from a car park, or without obvious room for a bivvy, it’s unlikely anybody is fishing it. Unless you’re a lazy angler, this is to your advantage.
In general terms, the long, open canals with big expanses of water can be the most testing for fish location. And perhaps easiest of all are those canals where lock systems present separate, enclosed ‘pounds’, each with its resident head of carp essentially restricted to one area.
CRAYFISH TROUBLE!
While there is no perfect solution when it comes to avoiding bream and crayfish, certain steps can definitely help. Trying bigger baits, tough particles and longer hairs on your rigs are ways to make your offering more ‘selective’. Tiger nuts, in particular, are an excellent carp bait that both crayfish and bream find harder to deal with. Where crayfish are present in numbers, there is little you can do other than check and recast your bait regularly. Using special bait skins to toughen boilies or even plastic and rubber baits are another option, although even a plastic bait can only withstand so much punishment from the signal crayfish menace!
Shredded bait: the infamous crays strike again!
Simple Beginnings
The slightly better news as far as canal carping goes is that you can put your confidence in very simple rigs and presentations. In the warmer months, an excellent way to start fishing is with a free-lined bait in likely areas. Bread and dog biscuits are two cheap, effective offerings and it is simplicity itself to roam the banks with a single rod looking for cruising carp. Even if you see nothing in a good-looking spot, it is worth introducing a few biscuits or pieces of floating bread to see if any fish will come up. It is well worth seeing if you can get the carp taking confidently before casting out – and this can be the difference between getting one chance and possibly catching several fish.
On ship canals especially, carping can be a waiting game.
On the typical narrow canals, you will easily be able to hit the far bank with a single piece of bread crust. A light specimen or barbel rod is ideal, as are the shorter ‘Stalker’ style carp rods and I would fish a low diameter 10lb line direct to a size 6-8 hook for this operation. Around boats especially, the fish can be bold takers that require prompt action on the strike to keep them from tangling with snags and obstructions.
Two common problems are ducks and ‘no fishing’ zones. The latter can be frustrating, but confrontations with boat owners should be avoided at all costs on these shared waters.
One way to deal with the issue is to fish just outside prohibited areas: quite often, with regular loose feeding, it is possible to draw carp into legitimate water. My angling friend Dan Sales is a master at this art, as well as a smooth negotiator when it comes to boat owners!
Ducks and other waterfowl are another common problem, and perhaps this problem is exacerbated by the fact that carp love to frequent areas where ducks are regularly fed. One solution is to take plenty of bait and effectively feed two areas, one for the carp and a separate area to keep water birds well clear of your bait.
Another dodge is to anchor or ‘zig rig’ a buoyant bait a few inches beneath the surface where the ducks won’t find it so easily but your offering is still available to a cruising carp. A good chunk of crust is perfect for this approach, although where hordes of roach demolish bread, a pop-up boilie is usually the answer.
A tight swim on the Grand Union; note the short rods and minimal amount of gear.
Above all, do be vigilant when it comes to birds, boats and people. An amenable, considerate angler is a friend to all but the most bloody-minded of canal users; an unreasonable one sets a poor example for all of us.
Tails Up
Bottom fishing might be the first choice method of many carp anglers, but on the canals legering represents a very different challenge. Boats, bream and crayfish can scupper the most perfectly presented rig, while the average towpath certainly wasn’t designed with the typical carp angler in mind.
Some canals do have areas where long-stay angling is possible, but a better starting point is usually to travel light with just one, or at most two, rods. This way the angler can stay mobile and avoid bother with cyclists, boaters and other canal users.
End tackle can be kept extremely simple, such as a straightforward bolt rig set-up. My usual bait preference is for a pop-up boilie, simply because this keeps the bait out of silt and debris and renders it supremely easy for a passing carp to find. The fish are seldom heavily pressured, so a potent smelling, obvious bait such as a bright pop-up is ideal. In many cases, back leads are also essential to keep your main line pinned to the bottom and clear of passing boats, canoes and water birds.
As with fishing floating baits, bottom fishing is all about location. Bottom browsing carp are not as easy to locate as surface cruisers, but do sometimes give themselves away by bubbling, stirring up the bottom or rolling. They particularly love tight spots such as far bank snags, so accurate, underarm casting is the order of the day.
When it comes to feeding, caution should be exercised on canals. Many waters have a good head of bream and the introduction of bait en masse can see your swim invaded by these slimy residents. Hence a safer option is to introduce just a handful of bait and a small pva bag of goodies along with your hookbait; this represents a nice accurate solution.
Pre-baiting is another way to draw in and settle carp in an area, but it must be done with caution. A big bed of small particles such as hemp and maize is certainly harder for bream or crays to obliterate. I combine this with a few large boilies or, better still, big tiger nuts. Introduced every few days in a handful of areas, you are likely to interest resident carp even if nuisance species also take their share.
Match Tactics
With the huge popularity of ‘commercial’ carping, it’s perhaps inevitable that angling clubs seek to stock canals with smaller carp to boost both pleasure and match fishing results. Furthermore, I have no desire to present canal carping as a narrow field: as well as the specimen approach, the species lends itself well to modern match fishing techniques.
Taking aim on the towpath.
Carp rigs needn’t be fussy. Popped-up baits avoid debris and are easy for carp to inhale.
Pole fishing is an excellent way to get amongst hard fighting fish where stock levels are high. Presenting rigs to far bank features is exciting stuff, but should also come with a warning: typical canals are more snaggy and cramped than the average commercial. This aspect, along with the very real prospect of a double figure fish snaffling the bait, calls for tough tackle and strong arm playing. Heavy elastics are ideal, and I much prefer modern hollow types. I would also opt to avoid lighter hook links and go for at least 6-8lb line fished direct. Strong, smash-proof floats which can be rigged directly through the body are ideal for the job.
A battling fish is brought to the net after snatching a pop-up boilie.
Baits for this style of fishing are similar to commercial fisheries. Corn and pellets are a great choice in the warmer months, while worm and casters work year round. A common tactic is to feed fairly generously, but let the fish get their heads down confidently for an hour or two before dropping in for a bite. Carp can crop up anywhere, but will venture into shallower water than the likes of bream wherever you find cover.
On wider sections of canal, other methods also come into play. The waggler can work, but perhaps the deadliest match-style method of all for bays and turning basins is the method feeder. This is certainly true for wider venues such as the Bude Canal near me.
Is carp-hauling from a canal strictly cricket? Traditionalists might shake their heads. But admittedly, it can be a lot of fun and also switch more weekend anglers away from the usual muddy pools and give them a taste of canal fishing.
The Long Game
Perhaps the most challenging but exciting canal carping of all is on those waters where the head of fish is smaller but there are some uncaught giants present. In these circumstances, the ‘bait and wait’ approach can come into its own. Such has been my own experience on the Exeter Ship Canal where fellow fishing nut Norbert Darby and I spent large chunks of one summer surviving on little more than cider and blind optimism.
At one point the mathematics themselves became quite terrifying: kilos of bait, days of fishing, the occasional bream and just one moment of brief delirium when Norbert’s rod went into meltdown and a fish stripped twenty yards of line before smashing up 15lb fluorocarbon. A few lessons were learned. One was to stick with tiger nuts on this particular water; another was to avoid barbless hooks at all costs in the weed. We also tried using leads attached to weak links, aimed to detach on the strike. This helped prevent carp burying themselves in the weed.
I lost a lot of sleep that summer. Part of it was the fear that I’d be dozing when the key moment arrived; the rats and stranger towpath users might also have had something to do with it. It’s certainly good policy to fish in company in any urban areas and also be wary about leaving your car in spots frequented by local oiks.
Perhaps I escaped lightly. One morning Norbert woke up riddled with midge bites from his neck to his nether regions. Eventually though, after two location changes, we made inroads. And in fact the more we suffered, the more determined we became to put a carp in the net.
Dan Sales displays a mint-condition mirror carp: uncaught fish like this await the determined angler on countless canals.
The ‘hot’ time for a take seemed to be just as dawn broke and our moment of truth came one cool morning in July. Having fallen out with his girlfriend at the time, Norbert came down to the canal and slept on the floor of my bivvy with just a coat for a blanket. At around six in the morning I nearly tripped over him as one of my alarms went beserk and something substantial ripped off down the canal. It was a long ten minutes getting that fish in. One moment she was in open water, the next totally bedded in near bank weeds. In my panic, the reel tangled and I had to virtually handline the final few yards, praying that somewhere in the weed was the carp we’d waited so long to catch. The fish went 15lb and was as beautiful as any mirror carp I’d ever caught. In an instant, all the insomnia and midge bites were forgotten.
If you can spot the fish, success can be as simple as a free-lined chunk of bread crust.
This is the joy of canal carping. It only takes a single bite for despondency to turn into delight. That heave on the end of the line could be a 10-pounder or a 30-pounder and either way, it’s likely to be a beautiful fish you’ll never forget.
A hat-trick of chub wrestled from cover on the pole. These splendid fish fell to chopped worm and caster.