First Principles
For the majority of Dublin anglers, the Grand and Royal canals are the closest mixed coarse venues available. Every weekend the capital’s enthusiasts can be found dotted along the well known stretches after anything from roach to pike. In most areas the canals are easily accessed by car and this lends to their attraction. They are not expensive to fish and don’t demand exclusive baits; a pint of maggots, a tin of corn, some bread and worms will see you through most sessions with bait to spare.
I began my coarse fishing on the canals, they being my closest venue. I tried to read up on the methods but found most articles dominated by match angling pole techniques primarily designed towards small, frequently caught fish. I was more interested in general pleasure angling and found precious little in the modern magazines to cater for this. Some of the older match angling books, before the advent of pole fishing, were valuable and started me off on the right tracks. The rest I picked up in the usual haphazard way through often fishless experience, and a lot of talking to and watching other anglers, particularly matchmen. I now regard canals as offering the best of both worlds, sometimes easy angling but more often demanding and calling for a range of skills.
Easy angling is a relative term but a number of factors qualify canals for this title. Most important of these is that because of the shallow water, the fish can often be seen. Locating fish is arguably the main challenge in coarse angling and canal species regularly shortcut this quest. Fish topping or heavily coloured stretches indicate the presence of shoals and feeding fish. My experience has been that it is better to spend two hours looking for fish and three hours fishing once you’ve found them, than five hours sitting down and hoping for the fish to find you.
As the venues are seldom wider than 20m, there is rarely a situation where you cannot reach the fish to present a bait. In certain stretches the fish are captive between lock gates. If there is little boat activity, as on the Royal Canal, these fish are effectively resident. You know they are there to be caught, unless they have been removed by unscrupulous anglers.
The demanding side of canal angling is also a result of their shallow nature. If you can see the fish, they can likewise see you. The shoals, conditioned to the realities of shallow, clear water, spook very easily. Delicate tackle is required both to tempt the wary fish and not cause an explosion every time it lands. Control over a hooked fish can be critical if the rest of the shoal is not to be scattered or put down.
One of the nicest aspects of canal fishing is that it is mainly fishing with a float. I am talking about fishing with rod and line, not a pole. I know that a pole offers several advantages on this type of water, bit I don’t own one or wish to. I recently watched a match angler in Sallins practicing his speed fishing for small roach on the pole, and it was an impressive display of tackle control and fluidity, but I still cannot regard it as real angling, no more than I would the use of a hand-line! I stress this is an entirely personal view. 
The basic tackle required to fish the canals is a match rod, a reel holding 2.5 – 4lb line (heavier if deliberately targeting tench in weedy areas) a selection of shot and hooks. I use three types of waggler, depending on conditions and the species expected or showing. These are standard straight peacocks, insert wagglers and canal greys. A catapult for loose-feeding is essential as this will be your main feeding tool. I like to carry a spare just in case. Polaroid’s are very useful for fish and feature spotting. They also dull down the surface glare on sunny days.
I tend to fish my main line straight through to the hook. Hi-tech, low diameter hook lengths are fine for small shoal-fish and undoubtedly encourage more bites, but a tench or big hybrid hooked over a short distance will snap one with ease. I want to be able to land any decent fish I hook and dislike the idea of leaving a fish trailing broken tackle from its mouth.
For general fishing, hook sizes will range from 16 to 8 depending on bait and species. I find myself using a 14 to start off with but most often use a 12 or 10 as I like worm baits, a couple of corn grains or multiple maggots. The match angler might prefer a smaller version but I deliberately try to avoid the smaller fish.
The first consideration is always the distance to be cast. Our canals in a lot of places are exposed and strong winds will dictate the amount of weight required to reach the swims. A range carrying from 2bb to 5bb covers most sessions but I always carry a couple taking 2 to 4 AA, particularly for use in basins or wides. Make sure to take floats with different coloured tips. You will be fishing in areas of shadows or reflection and light conditions are apt to change suddenly, making the float-top almost invisible. Use the lightest float you can in order the cover the swim but don’t be afraid of stepping up if you are struggling to reach the targeted area. Too much punching effort while casting will result in soft baits flying off and direction going askew. The gear will also tend to land like a brick. If you can, and it can be a difficult trick to master over short distances, lightly feather the line just before the tackle lands. This has the effect of laying the end tackle in a straight line and muffling the landing. It is a neat exercise but not essential.
Using light line, especially if inexperienced, tangles can reach nightmare proportions. The principal way to eliminate tangles is to set up the float correctly. For waggler work, the majority of the shotting has to be around the base of the float. My usual set up would be two small shot, probably No. 4 or 6, down the line and the rest locking the float. Place the first dropper 10ins above the hook and the second 12ins above that. Set up like this and cast in a controlled fashion and you will rarely tangle.
With float gear prepared, we are now ready to tackle the canal. In Part 2 I will look at practical angling on these exciting waterways.
