Head to the towpath this winter – Matt Godfrey

If you’ve never fished a canal, now is the perfect time to give it a go. Guru’s ginger ninja and England international, Matt Godfrey, reveals his top advice for tackling these venues

LOCATING fish on canals is vital in the winter months, as many migrate to their cold-weather haunts. When the water drops clear and weed cover dies off fish naturally migrate into built-up areas to avoid cormorants and other predators. Areas of canals such as town centres, around bridges and houses, or places such as boatyards and marinas are real hotspots at this time of year. You’ll find these places on most canals all over the country, and they usually have great access and are easy venues to fish.

Play the joker

Love it or hate it, joker is a superb bait on canals. Often, people overcomplicate it or have reservations about fishing it, when in reality it’s cheap and simple to use. You only need to feed a small amount at the start of a session to give your swim a good kickoff. Moreover, you will often catch really well with other baits on the hook over the top of it – baits such as maggots and casters work great as hookbaits over joker. A match pack of bait that costs around £14 can be frozen, and will comfortably last you three sessions.

Finesse feelings

Fishing with light line and hooks is a massive edge on canals in winter. Again, the clear water means that fish can see your terminal tackle much easier. If anything, fishing with lighter tackle will help you catch bigger fish, especially when species such as roach, skimmers and bream are the target. The key to getting them out on light tackle is to fish balanced. By this, I mean using a soft, light elastic, matched to the lighter lines and hooks. My typical canal set-up for quality fish on the pole is 0.11mm N-Gauge mainline, to a 0.08mm hooklength of supple N-Gauge Pro to a size 18 or 20 Pole Special hook. Although it’s light, it fools the bigger fish and you can enjoy some great sport while landing big fish.

Light lessons

In co-ordination with the light lines and hooks, using light rigs is lethal on winter canals. Again, the lighter the rig you use, the bigger the fish you often catch! I believe this is simply because bigger, wiser fish watch feed falling, and the closer you can mimic your loosefeed, the more likely you are to catch the wary, clever fish. When targeting quality fish, casters are my go-

Joker is easier to fish than people often think. Casters work well over the top