The Final Frontier - A guide to fishing canals for carp
by Kieron Axten.

Part one.

Introduction

With the phenomenal boom in carp fishing in the last few decades, few waters in the UK are left un-fished for big carp. River and canal fishing is suffering a decline, as "put and take" lakes take over the match and pleasure scene. But specimen hunters ought now be taking great interest in our forgotten waterways for they hold some of the most rewarding fishing available.

Although I am no expert on canal fishing, I caught my first carp on the Trent and Mersey at Little Haywood over twenty years ago when I was just 10 years old. I often fished in vain in those days, but I would occasionally catch the odd one to around 8lb on bread or luncheon meat.

Since then my fishing has advanced and been wide and varied, but like most of us it has been lakes and pools that have dominated my fishing. That was until three seasons ago when I decided to join my nephew Tom, who seemed to be reliving my childhood on the local canals.

Kitted out with modern tackle and methods, he was frequently catching fish well into double figures. It soon became clear that catching a twenty-pound carp from the canal was a real possibility.

If you are thinking of embarking on a full-blown campaign of canal fishing or just a short session, I hope you find some of my findings and opinions useful in some way.

How do I locate carp in such vast amounts of water?

With no less than 2,200 miles to choose from, locating carp on canals may seem daunting but in fact it can be far easier than most lakes.

That is presuming they exist in any great numbers on your fancied stretch. Ask around in tackle shops and pubs if you're not sure and try and speak to a committee member who may even have information on the stocking history of their particular stretch. It is generally believed that stockings will remain to a great degree between locks.

By far the most useful aid in locating canal carp is the humble match angler. Keeping an eye on match results in papers and fishing magazines can be helpful with the mentioning of the odd carp. But more often than not carp are lost on light tackle during matches, and the only way to know this is by word of mouth.

I am lucky in that I work with quite a few Noddy anglers (no offence) and soon get to know who got broke, how many times and where! If you don't really know anyone to talk to, then walking the banks after a match might be a good idea.

One of the best fish finding methods on any water is to walk it as often as you can, keeping your eyes peeled for those tell tale swirls, moving shadows, fizzes, or twitching reed stems. A friend of mine walks his dog regularly down the canal and gives me accurate reports on carp activity on our local stretch. He will often throw some bread in and watch them feed. This is a good method in itself for locating carp, especially on warm summer evenings.

A lot of the stretches I have fished are quite sheltered from the wind so it's not really an issue, but some of the wider places such as turnarounds and wide bends can be treated the same as any water. Generally speaking fish the back of a cold wind and the end of a warm one.

What features should I look for?

Most canals are full of features such as overhanging trees, bushes, lily pads, weedsand reeds etc. so you may well be spoilt for choice. I have even found an island and a gravel bar before now. Some of the more unique features on these man made havens include concrete and wooden structures such as locks and bridges which can harbour crustaceans and other tasty morsels, and usualy offer the comfort of deeper water. Overflows from locks creating streams within the water, and even moored boats can also attract fish.

My nephew and I have found that sedge beds growing in the water are by far one of the best holding areas for canal carp. We are convinced that some carp permanently reside in and around the larger sedge beds, which offer almost ideal conditions for carp. They harbour lots of natural food (acting like filters for passing items), provide plentyof cover and are also ideal spawning areas.

I have found that any big overhanging bushes or trees such as Rhododendrons are very good holding areas too.

 

Are canal carp nomadic or residential?

This is a question to which the answer can only be generalised, but I am going to stick my neck out and say that canal carp are mostly residential.
"Woompf!" (As the chat room chops my head off!)

I have some evidence to support repeat captures and sightings of recognizable fish from certain swims. But as I have not seen many carp anglers to compare captures with, it is hard to build up a good picture. Here is a winter caught 17lber I also caught 3 months earlier from the same sedge bed.

So what does it mean to be a residential in fishing terms? It is really a question of the amount of territory covered by particular fish in their daily and seasonal habitual movements. For example, a resident carp may lurk in amongst the pads in the day and feed off the weed and snails on the lock gates at night, returning to the safety of the pads in the morning when the boats start moving.

A resident fish will have little reason to move far in search of food and security and will have regular places to lie up and to feed. Highly pressured waters are less likely to have resident carp, being chased from one area to another.

Waters with a uniform depth (such as the canal) will probably have less variation in water temperature, and fish will not have a great choice about finding a more suitable thermo cline.

A carp is still a carp no matter where it is and as we all know its natural instincts will take it to where its needs are best met. So in that respect any so called resident carp can at times be nomadic, perhaps when natural food or cover is dying off in the winter, or when matches and changes in angling pressure or boat traffic are driving fish in or out of certain areas. Another obvious reason for roving too far from their patch would normally be to spawn, but then how far is it to the nearest shallows on a canal?

So…. I am confident that because of the current lack of any real angling pressure and the abundance of natural cover and food, that most canal fish will have ample facilities for a healthy existence without the need to expand energy swimming for tens of miles. I seem to remember Bob James once referring to the intelligence of carp being similar to that of a chicken! If they are getting their natural needs met and not coming to any harm on a regular basis, then they will happily live in a farmyard without venturing very far.

This is one of the reasons I think locating canal carp is relatively easy, as a carpy swim will always be a carpy swim. You will often here people say,

"Oh there have always been carp down there!"

Look out for Part 2 of Kie's great article when he discusses bait, tackle and much more.......!