Slow-sinking rigs for canal success – Pemb Wrighting

The correct make-up and presentation of a pole rig, hookbait and loosefeed will attract bonus skimmers, says Pemb Wrighting

MANY canal anglers work on the assumption that it will only be a matter of time before a bonus fish shows up. Plucking out small silver fish every chuck, your mind is fully tuned into the idea that the next bite could be the first of several big skimmers that will make venturing outside in the depths of winter worthwhile. And on days when those bigger fish don’t play ball, you put it down to the fact that they aren’t feeding or never drifted into your swim. But Pemb Wrighting believes that you could be sat on a shedload of specimens that could stretch your elastic to the max but never know anything about it. “A lot of anglers are confident that they will get bites from skimmers if they go anywhere near their hookbait. That isn’t always the case though,” warned Pemb. “In the shallow and clear canals that I regularly target, these fish are extremely cagey. If you use the wrong style of rig you could be sat biteless for an age when there is a big shoal nearby. But present your hookbait in a manner that fools them and you can put a decent fish in the net every chuck, even in winter.”

Slow-sinking rigs

Skimmers are regarded as bottom feeders and as such many angler make up their rigs to suit. In order to get their hookbait quickly to the deck where the fish are supposedly sitting, a bulk of shot with a small dropper below is usually pinched on to the line. Throughout his years of travelling to venues such as the Basingstoke Canal, however, Pemb has discovered that doing things differently to the rest usually leads to more fish in the net. “Any natural food that enters the water is likely to sink slowly so anything that goes in and bombs to the bottom will look out of place and be ignored by cagey fish,” he explained. “To ensure my hookbait falls at a slow pace I string out a series of No.12 shot down the last third of the rig when using a 4x10 float in 3ft-4ft of water. It’s amazing the number of bites I get seconds before the float settles. I am convinced the fish watch the hookbait fall slowly and take it when it comes close.” Fishing a couple of inches off the deck also helps get more bites. This keeps the hookbait clear of any debris on the deck and helps it stand out as opposed to blending in with the loosefeed on the bottom.

Two top baits

Catching big fish on canals is often associated with a large bait bill but Pemb spends less than a fiver. A couple of loaves of bread and half a pint of casters is all that is taken to the peg. “I liquidise one loaf and the other is used for punch on the hook. My aim is to catch bigger fish but I am happy to attract and catch small roach and other silvers early on as their activity in the swim draws the attention of skimmers.” A 6mm punch is used to limit the number of tiny redfins and Pemb starts the session by feeding an orange-sized ball of bread laced with a few casters on each line and won’t add any more bait until bites completely dry up. “Putting in bait on top of a shoal of skimmers in clear, shallow water is a recipe for disaster. I’d rather have a quiet period and be sure that there are no fish left over my target zone before adding another similar ball.”

A 4x10 Colmic Jolly float is ideal for quality fish on canals Use a 6mm punch hookbait to avoid the attentions of small silver fish String No.10 shot down the bottom third of the rig, leaving larger gaps the closer you get to the hooklength

A 4x10 Colmic Jolly is Pemb’s favourite bread float on shallow canals

Keep your bread inside an easily-opened container to prevent it from drying out

A orange-sized ball of liquidised bread is enough to kickstart a session

Add a few casters to your loosefeed to increase the number of bonus fish that show up