Why Bother With Canal Pike Fishing?
(including video below)
Canal pike fishing delivers a jolt of adrenalin in what can be pretty "unloved" venues. Canals are sometimes seen as not really worth fishing - compared to commercial stillwaters for instance. But just try to square that with the pure shock of a savage, big pike attack for a second...
As well as covering one or two basics, we've brought YouTubers Tom and Sean on board from Snagged Bro to show us behind the scenes of urban piking in the centre of Birmingham.
Urban and Rural Canal Piking
Before I let the Snagged Bro boys loose on you, I want to flag up that canal pike fishing can span a wide range of landscapes. Our canal system in the UK criss-crosses rolling countryside as well as looming urban developments.
Small & pretty canal pike caught in rural surroundings
With that said, as far as the pike are concerned, all they know is the bricks, steel and concrete of those navigation channels. The fish (and other plants & animals) are reclaiming an entirely man-made environment as part of the natural world.
This highlights some of the fascinating attractions to fishing on canals...
Most of the time the fish populations there have earned their own foothold by colonising and breeding naturally. Apart from stocking of fish to provide sport after a pollution incident - they are often wild, self-sustaining fisheries.
Take your pick
Depending on your access to transport (and relevant fishing club tickets), you can choose between the open countryside or atmospheric Georgian architecture in many UK cities. Those choices are all part of the experience - and there's a certain risk to entering some of the more "underworld", urban locations where canals flow.
Because these are engineered watercourses (and so their physical structure is consistent throughout their length), your tackle and tactics choices are pretty much identical between urban and rural stretches.
Canal Pike Fishing Tactics
All your normal pike fishing tactics will work on canals - whether dead-baiting, livebaiting or lures.
The fishing is often more similar to tacking rivers for pike - compared to targeting them in stillwaters.
In other words, it can be more productive to remain more mobile on canals (instead of setting out a long-term static "stake out") so that you can search out the fish.
Just because of the relatively narrow nature of most public towpaths - it pays to cut down the amount of gear you carry (which obviously helps massively with mobility too).
If you ever fancied tackling barracuda on the fly in saltwater - you might like to try out your big-gun fly gear on a canal and save some air-fare. Just watch out for pedestrians and other snags on your back-cast!
Check out this fly-caught beast to predator angler and pike-fly guru Martin Smith (MSCustomflies):
In fact, for my own personal preferences, I'd usually pick either lure fishing or fly fishing for canal pike fishing. The mobility and simplicity really matches well with the environment - and it's nice to cover lots of ground.
Now let me introduce Sean and Tom - your hosts for a behind the scenes tour of Birmingham's canal pike haunts...
Tom is one half of the intrepid Birmingham YouTube Duo "Snagged Bro" and was responsible for the pair first taking the plunge to target urban canal pike...
Sean met Tom when they were both around 5 or 6 years old. Sean's dad was the pair's initial fishing mentor and you can see a great conversation & the full story in our "In Conversation with Snagged Bro" Episode.
Tom picks up the story...
Snagged Bro take us Canal Pike Fishing (Video At the End!)
Myself and my good friend, Sean, fish together mostly in urban locations. There's something special about catching a 'prehistoric' fish in such a modern environment. It is always a pleasure to see people's faces and reactions after seeing these pike come out:
I didnt know there were fish in there...
'wow thats massive, you caught that out of the canal?'
Now, I know canal pike are not as impressive as river pike, but a double from an urban canal is priceless!
Conditions & Factors Influencing Success with Pike
Lure fishing for pike is tricky at the best of times, especially in the winter when the temperature starts to drop and the water starts to freeze! I found myself blanking consistently and losing all faith in my spots for canal pike fishing.
Pike don't like angling attention - and if they are being fished for regularly, they wise up to your lures. We were in great need of a new spot that wasn't heavily pressured, so with no confidence in our usual spots we headed to new ground on the black country canal system and with a drop in temperature forecast we were in for a real opportunity to catch some predators.
Legit Urban Canal Graffiti Backdrop for a Baitcasting rig!
Contrasting Rigs & Fishing as a Team
Sean was on the light rod, fishing for perch, and I was on the baitcaster fishing for pike. We made sure we had everything covered, hitting it from all angles. I was using the Berkley snap jigs for the first time and was really impressed with the gliding action that this jig head provides, coupled with the Berkley Powerbait shad hollow belly 15cm in white.
Snap Jig and Shad: Locked & Loaded
I had that exciting new venue/new bait feeling where anything is possible. In the first hour there was not a sign or hint of any fish. In the back of my head I'm thinking 'great another blank' 'another day wasted' all that negativity and doubt flooding my thoughts but as we all do, we carried on and persisted!
We came to a long, narrow bridge (just enough room for one narrowboat). I said to Sean, 'I'll leave that for you!', as it looked really perchy. He insisted that I walk my lure through as I was passing it and I'm glad he did as I had a hit under the bridge but I didnt hook it, questioning myself, was it a fish or a snag?
I cast again straight away. Another hit. This time I was in! My first canal pike fishing success in about two months... it was a decent jack and I was chuffed that I'd found a new stretch containing pike and also caught on a new bait.
The pressure was off and now I could enjoy the rest of the time we had on the bank. We saw another bridge and after the success of the first one we decided to fish it. There were so many baitfish under the bridge that I could see them flashing, I could feel them hitting my line and lure. I know there is a Pike near by and any minute I'll have a bite!
The pike came up from the shoal of baitfish and smashed my snap jig. This was an angry fish, thrashing everywhere, attracting the attention of locals. After a good fight it was in the net. I'm over the moon, two pike from a new venue, my job is done, well that's what i thought...
We were coming towards the end of our session so we decided to take a close up picture of my rod and reel in the same narrow section where I had caught the first pike. But, before I knew it, I had another strike (I wasn't even trying to catch!). I couldn't believe it. I knew it was big when I saw it break the water.
Knowing it was a double, my heart was racing, praying it didn't come off. My heart in my throat with every head shake, after a short fight it was in the net. My first double-figure fish from a canal in two years. What an old warrior it was too, full of scars and cuts!
After the release I had that rare moment that most anglers have when everything goes right, when you're amazed at what has happened in the session and can't take that cheesy grin off your face.
Because we had the GoPros on - You can follow along as a fly on the wall for this exact adventure in our episode here:
These urban canals are not to be overlooked as they can produce some of the best Pike fishing sport you'll ever have! You don't need a lot of gear; just a rod, reel, net, mat, some lures and unhooking tools and you're good to go!
Snagged Bro's top tips:
Three Commandments for Canal Pike Fishing:
Our Thanks to Tom for Writing This Trip & Tips Report - as well as big thanks to Sean - let us know in the comments what you thought and be sure to give Snagged Bro a subscription to their channel.
PLUS - let us know if you'd like to see canal pike fishing on the fly in future content...
Paul