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How to fish deep canals

Ian Chadburn shows how to get the best from these daunting venues

by Angling Times |

Published on10th September 2021 at 9.23am

Deep venues can be very off-putting. The combination of 10ft-plus of water matched to any flow, plus strong winds that create tow, all seem to add up to it being a bit of a chore to catch well.

The truth, though, is very different. Yes, deep water has to be treated in a particular way, but the nuts and bolts of catching fish remain the same – you just need to be a bit bolder and more positive in your approach and be prepared for things to change.

Here's six tips to help you tackle them...

Groundbait extras

My bream groundbait holds casters, dead maggots, choppie and dead pinkies. For roach it’s squatts and pinkies.

Groundbait extras

When to top up

Gone quiet? Feeding one ball, not two, helps the fish to settle back down and you’ll get a far more immediate response.

When to top up

Big floats

I use a wire-stemmed 1g-2g pattern shotted with an olivette and four No10 droppers in two separate small bulks of two shot.

Big floats

Hooks and elastic

A size 18 N-20 is my pick, tied to 6ins of 0.10mm line. Elastic is a solid No5 Slip through two sections – strong, but soft enough not to bump fish.

Hooks and elastic

Keep changing depths

Fish coming off bottom? First thing, I’ll change my depth, either coming 3ins-4ins off bottom or laying an extra few inches of line on the deck.

Keep changing depths

Chopped worm

In 10 large balls of groundbait I’ll put in 250ml of chopped worm. This lets me try a small piece of worm on the hook later on for a big fish.

Chopped worm

Ian with a catch of deep-water canal roach and bream

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