Fishing the Grantham Canal by Chris Toon

All though the Bottesford 1/2 mile is a tad weedy at the moment there are clear areas that can be fished and with the right tactics it can be a real cracking day. There has been a bloom of small micro Rudd on the canal so baits like maggots can result in a lot of small fish leaving the angler disappointed on what can be a better day with other baits. Having fished the stretch a lot this year I’ve found that you need to fish very positive.

Pole rigs need to be bulk down i.e. all the shot on the knot close to the hook. At least a 0.50g pole float on 0.10mm line and the hook length needs to be 3inch length of 0.9mm flourocarbon. This will show up bites immediately and elastic choice is a Preston slip No 5. My three baits are Worm, Micro Pellets and Hemp. I've been using the Dynamite F1 sweet micros you only need to soak 1/4 of a cup as you are not pilling them in. The hemp I cook myself, I buy a sack from Gable Stock, Long Bennington and it last me all year.

I feed heavy with hemp close to 3 pints as you can never over feed this bait and lastly a 1/4 kg of worm. In a small bait tub put a good handful of hemp and a golf ball size of the soaked micros, then about 10  neat worms. Chop the worms up in the tub as all the juice from the worms will soak into the micros.

Feed this in the swim with a small cad pot, don’t put a big pole cup full in as you will kill the swim. A small piece of worm on a Guru 16 Pole special hook tied to 0.9mm fluorocarbon, just a bit bigger than a maggot. You need to bomb your rig down onto the deck or you will get pestered by small nuisance fish. The first hour my be slow with small micro fish but eventually the better stamp will move in.

I will also put a big fish line in on the far side with just neat worm and hemp, I will use a 0.17mm line to an 0.15mm 3inch hook length The pole float choice is a small round body float of 0.3g as I will put a big worm on here. A third rig for my hemp on 0.10mm main line again a short 3 inch hook length of 0.8mm fluorocarbon is also set up. The float I use is a 0.2g Siwi Hemp the rig is strung out styles No9 to a Guru 20-18 Super fine pole hook.

The methods will start to change when the weather cools, but a lot of the small skimmers have been coming out as of late. Below shows a good net of Perch skimmers & Hemp Roach and a small Tench all caught on the methods above.

Canal update by Chris Toon - Oct 2021

Dragging has taken place on all the pegs at twin bridges to clear extensive weed.

Small Tench & rudd are still coming out pinging caster into the rushes on the far side. Also small amounts of black Ground Bait to cloud the swim up attracts these species.

Pegs 29-35 Have been cleared on the 1/2mile away from the current work taking place on the slipway opposite pegs 13-15. 

Small Perch are a sure bet on fluoro pinkie and black ground bait. However feeding hemp over to the far side has produced good stamp roach alternating on pinkie and hemp on the hook.

           A nice mixed net of silver fish

Rob Perkins with his 10lb 6oz winning catch

on the Friday Sweepstake Match 28th Jun 24