BAG YO

BA
YOUR
URSE
SELF
LF A B
BONUS
US!

t is the dream situation youre at the

draw of your latest canal match and
everyone is talking about the flier peg.
Every canal has one, often a peg with a
massive overhanging tree or bush, or even
a reed bed. The peg in question is well
known for its large bonus fish, be they
chub, carp or bream and you draw it!
Immediately there are plenty of anglers
still standing in the draw queue cursing
your luck, and all of a sudden the pressure
is on. What if you blow the peg? What
if the fish arent there? The last thing
you want to do is waste this golden
opportunity to win the match but plenty
of anglers have!
In fact, I think its fair to say that there
are probably more fliers wasted on canals
than any other type of venue, and it is
usually because the angler who draws the
peg hasnt got the correct gear for the job!
These fliers are nearly always snag pits
where heavy tackle is required to extract
the residents out of their watery home.
So, the peg you have drawn has a
massive tree overhanging the canal, there
are loads of fishy-looking spots against it,
but which should you target? And how
do you approach the swim? Well, the first
thing to think about is what species are
you fishing for.

BREAM

Bream are one of the most reliable bonus

fish. There seem to be plenty
p
y of
them in nearly every canal in
the country, and
nd as long as the
conditions are okay they can
normally be caught
ught in good
numbers.
There are a lott of different
types of pegs to look for
when bream are
re the
target and, even
en if
you have drawn
wn
a peg that looks
barren, if it has a
decent depth it is
still likely to hold
ld
a few bream.

74 ma
matc
tchfishinng Ma
tc
Mayy 1
11

Canal anglers up and down the country can wait

ages to draw the flier on their local cut, but how
do you get the best from it when you do? We sent
out Preston Innovations Ed Warren, to show us how
its done!
Typical areas that are good for bream
are where the canal is wider than the rest
of the length, in turning bays and marinas,
plus the usual feature pegs around bushes
and trees.
Bream can be caught all over the canal
but it is generally best to fish for them as
far away from your fishing position as
possible. The only thing to bear in mind
is that they do like to have a bit of water
over their heads anything over three feet
is ideal, so dont go too far across the canal
into inches of water. You might catch the
odd fish tight across but you are unlikely
to build a big weight.

CHUB

Chub are the classic canal bonus fish; some

days they can be frustratingly difficult
to catch, yet on others they seem almost
suicidal and will eat everything in your
peg! There are nearly always a few to be
found on feature pegs on canals.
You generally have to approach the peg
slightly differently for chub. They like to
live right among the snags and often
only a hook bait presented right in
the lions den will get you a bite.

Bream are one of the most

common bonus fish in
many canals.

A good ploy at the start of the session is

to just Kinder pot a small amount of bait
against the snags and try and snare an
early fish, as chub can often be caught in
the first 10 minutes of a match.
Feeding very carefully can be the best
approach but there are days when this
just doesnt work. Its on these days when
the fish have to almost be forced into
feeding. This means a constant trickle of
bait at least once a minute, not unlike how
anglers fish for carp shallow. This can get
the chub competing and can trigger them
into a feeding frenzy and make them
much easier to catch.
I would only try this method if all else
failed and I was in need of a bonus fish.
It can also work when you dont have
a feature to fish to, as the angler who is
brave enough to keep feeding positively
might just attract the attentions of any
chub patrolling the far bank.

CARP

In years gone past I wouldnt have even

mentioned carp in a feature like this. But
now carp seem to be in nearly every canal
in the country. I actually think they have
been in the waterways for a long time but
it is only with tackle advancements that
we now have a chance to land these fish.
I can remember stories of anglers losing
huge fish back in the days when we were
using No8 elastic! We all thought they
were big chub, but the likelihood is that
they were carp.
These canal carp have taken up
residence in all sorts of places. Any
pegs that are near bridges or pubs or
anywhere where people may chuck food

Take the strain! You

need strong gear
and powerful elastic
for big canal fish!

May 111 ma
Ma
matchfi
hfisshing 75

Ed relies on 17H
elastic through just
one section of pole.

BAG YO
BA
YOUR
URSE
SELF
LF A B
BONUS
US!

Half a worm was

Hal
ait..
ait
bbait.
hookk bait
st hoo
best
the be

Strong, durable and

ities of chopped
reliable tackle is a must for Small quant
s were all the
caster
and
worms
sh.
fi
targeting big canal
feed needed to catch the carp.
A Preston Durafloat 10 is
the perfect choice as its
nearly indestructable!

EDS RIG

and bottom it out and get the fish

away from the danger zone. If Im
expecting carp, as I am today, then I
use either Preston 17H Hollo or even
19H Hollo if its really snaggy. This
elastic is nice and strong but will still
cushion the strike and will come out
about a metre, which is enough to cushion
the hook-hold once the fish is away from
the snags. For most other situations a
13H through one section is ideal. This is
nice soft elastic that you can catch small
fish like roach with and still use relatively
small hooks but still has the power to
pull fish away from the snags should you
need to. I would use this setup for bream,
skimmers and perch. These three elastics

4x10 or 4x12
Durafloat 10

0.21mm
Preston
Power straight
through

Your line andd hoook chhoicess need too be balanced,

othherwise you will pull out off more fish than you land.
cover all of my bonus-fish fishing on the
canal. There are days when using a No6
or No8 would be okay but Id rather err
on the heavier side just in case I do hook a
big fish.

Bulk of
No9s

Rig
presented
3in to 4in
overdepth

Size 10 PR 355

Hooks need to have quite a thick wire gauge to

withstand the use of the heavy elastics. But they
cant be ridiculously thick as you might struggle to
get bites. The Preston PR 355 is a great compromise
hook that I have loads of confidence in. Its a very
strong hook but is still fine enough to get good bait
presentation. For this session Im mostly using large
hook baits so a size 10 is the perfect choice.
Tough, durable line is also hugely important when
venturing into snags. It needs to be very abrasion
resistant, as some lines will break as soon as they
touch a branch. Preston Power is the perfect choice,
in my opinion. It has been around for a long time and
Ive used it for years, so I dont have any confidence
issues with it when using it in the most demanding
situations. Today Im using 0.21mm straight through.
I try not to use hooklengths for fishing into snags as I

STRONG TACKLE

Rig components are something that need

to be looked at closely. Its all well and
good having powerful elastic but your
line and hook choices need to be balanced,
otherwise you will pull out of more fish
than you land.

feel it is an unnecessary weak point in my rig. This is

also well balanced when using 17H and 19H elastics.
When using the 13H rig I will use 0.15mm main line
with a hooklength of 0.11mm or 0.13mm; again, this is
a nicely balanced setup.
Floats also need to be tough and for me the Preston
Durafloat range fits the bill nicely. Today I have
chosen the Durafloat 10; this is a cracking little float
and one that I use an awful lot. It features a spring
eye, and the stem and bristle meet inside the balsa
body. This makes the floats very strong and they can
withstand a lot of hammer.
Just as important is the hollow bristle that is capable
of supporting big baits. Because my hook bait is often

May 111 ma
Ma
matchfi
hfisshing 77

BAG YOURSELF A BONUS!

half a lobworm or a full worm,
when the canal starts to tow
a thinner-bristled float would
drag under, whereas this type of
float wont. When fishing with
baits such as worms, a simple
bulk of shot is ideal and keeps
tangles to a minimum. I do
spread the shot out when fishing
casters, though.

BAITS

In my opinion the best baits for

targeting big canal fish are worms
and casters. There is a place for
pellets and other types of baits
but for a good all-round bait you
cant beat worms and casters.
If I knew that the length I was
going to be fishing held a lot
of big perch then I would fish
lobworms. Perch seem to respond
better to lobbies than any other
type of worms. For everything
else I stick to dendrabaenas.
One of the things that I see
anglers doing wrong is to chop
their worms too fine. Small fish
will quickly mop these little
particles up and there will be
nothing left to hold any bigger
fish, so anything between one and
three centimetres is perfect.
Casters are an important
addition to the feed as they
increase the amount of particles in
the peg and hold any bigger fish
for longer. They are also handy for
loose feeding over the top.
Hook baits should be matched
to hook size, so when Im using the
17H setup I like to match it to a size
10 and a full worm. When fishing
the 13H rig, however, I would use
a size 16 or 18 hook and single or
double caster.

THE SESSION

For todays session I have sat

on one of the best pegs on the
Trent & Mersey Canal. It is on the
Shugborough section of the canal
and there are loads of features along
this stretch, but there is one peg in
particular on a big red bush, and
thats where I am today.
This stretch is noted for its carp and
bream so Im going to target them with
worms and casters. The peg itself is an
absolute dream, about 13 metres across to
the bush and about three feet deep in front
of it. The boat track is only four feet deep
here so I think three feet is ample to catch
both target species.

78 ma
matc
tchfishing
tc
ng Ma
Mayy 1
11

Ed slips the net

under another
canal leviathan!

To kick the line off I chop up one

worm and add about 20 casters.
This seems like a tiny amount of
feed but Im unsure as to how
many bites I will get today, so I
dont want to go ruining the peg
before I even start fishing! The
only other feed I will introduce
for now is a few casters and a
tiny amount of chopped worms
through a Kinder pot.
My first put-in over this small
amount of feed results in a
quality, 14oz perch. A fish like
this would have probably eaten
a bit of feed so I am safe to add a
bit more, so I fill my Kinder pot
up and feed that. The next three
casts are a bit of a disaster as I
hook three big carp that all snap
me! My kit isnt wrong but Im a
little bit giddy and am actually
pulling a little bit too hard! In a
match it would be all too easy
to let this get to you, but its
important not to as fish losses
are just part of the game on pegs
like this.
What a session just a
Luckily my next cast sees the
to
day
a
from
few carp
fl
oat
shoot under and after a
remember! By following
brief but very one-sided battle a
Eds advice you wont waste
another canal flier.
12lb mirror lays in my landing
net result! This sort of fishing
is fantastic and really gets the
adrenaline flowing for the
next few minutes I cant even
bait my hook!
When I eventually settle
down I re-feed my peg with
one worm and some casters.
My next five casts see five big
carp in my keepnet before I
hook something even bigger.
After a very tense battle a
massive carp, the best part
of 18lb, is landed. This fish is
one of the best-looking carp
Ive ever caught and would
probably be enough to win a
match on its own.
After the high of catching
such a magnificent fish I try
upping the feed, as the carp
are clearly in a feeding mood.
This actually has the opposite
effect to what I thought
would happen as my peg has
now filled with nuisance 3lb
bream what a peg.
The only rigs that I have set up are on
Ive ended the session today with a
17H elastic and 0.21mm line. There are too
haul somewhere in the region of 80lb;
many carp in this stretch to take the risk
considering this is a narrow canal in early
with anything lighter and I know lots of
spring even Im hugely surprised with
anglers who have lost as many as 10 carp
the number of fish Ive caught. It just
in this peg!
goes to show what you can catch with the
I decide to fish three lines along the front
right tackle and bait and if you follow my
of the bush but only actually feed one at
simple advice you wont waste another
the start. This then gives me the option of
starting up new lines as the session goes on. bonus-fish flier again!