Quest Baits Blog

try using lighter tackle and stay well back from the bank as canal carp can see you a mile of because the banks are always much higher then the water line on a canal

Hi Lewis,
A few years ago, i caught a fair number of carp from my local canal during the months of april and May. The most important thing we had to solve was location has the carp were very localised. You say you can see lots of carp so you already know where they are.

I caught on a couple of different methods. I would either wander up and down with one rod surface fishing or i would bottom fish in an area i was fairly sure i knew the carp were.

For the surface fishing i would use a 1 3/4lb tc rod coupled with 8 / 10lb line and 6 or 8lb hook length (this depends on the size of fish you are fishing for). I would take a sliced loaf and a few mixers and just wander up and down. Feed some bread and let it float down with the flow of the canal and then keep your eyes peeled for any surface activity. The only weight i would use was the kryston driftwood floating putty just in case i needed to fish to the far bank. Just take 1 rod and a landing net along with a bit of bait and you can wander for miles until you find some fish. This is also a great method for catching some nice canal chub.

For the bottom fishing you can use your standard carp set up. The only difference i made was to fish 2 back leads. I would cast in then on a tight line i would slide a 1/2 oz lead out to where i was fishing. Let the line sink and then drop an heavier (say 1oz) back lead off the rod top. This enables you to fish without having to reel in everytime a barge comes through your swim. Bait wise, i did catch a few on boilies but i found maize to be better. I would put a dozen catapults of hemp and half a dozen of small pellet along 2 or 3 of maize / sweetcorn over each rod. Then fish 2 or 3 grains of maize on the hair. Fish one rod on the far bank / shelf and then walk the other rod down the tow path and fish it right under the near bank.

I found that fishing from about 4pm and into dark was the best has generally the canal will start to become a bit quieter by then.

Hope this helps,
Pat Gillett

tried the canal in west london last summer, could see lots of big carp to 20+lb had the same problem with bait. they just swam up looked and swam off but would generally take all the freebies! going back soon with fishmeal boilies and bagged hempseed on lighter or low vis line……….

hello,im 15 years old and ive recently heard about about carp fishing in the canals and went and had a try at a few pegs along kene’s scrap yard down in kidderminster and i never had one take but if any of you could drop me a comment and let me know about the rigs or bait or what i should look for in a peg i would be very grateful.