Canals are a superb place for an angler to begin
fishing, as they usually offer cheap day-ticket fishing,
are shallow close to the bank, and usually hold plenty of
bold-biting, small fish.
A beginner to the sport can go to his local canal with
a tub of maggots and a short rod, and catch a netful of
small gudgeon, roach and perch. this is great fun, but
there are also plenty of big fish, such as carp, bream and
 chub, to be caught in canals these days, and a greater
understanding of fish behaviour will give you a much
better chance of tempting these quality fish.
     The great thing about canals from the anglers point
of view is that they are all quite similar in construction.
Most have a deep boat-channel down the centre with a
shallower ledge on either side and a towpath on one bank.
     Most fish, apart from EELS, tend to prefer the shallow
water to the deep channel, probably because they do not
enjoy battling against the turbulence created every time a
boat passes along the canal. A lot of small fish tend to
gather on the near side of the canal but, not suprisingly,
the older, wiser, bigger fish move away from the busy
towpath side into quieter water. Having moved to the far
side, the fish then seek cover, away from people, predators,
 and the continual ebb-and-flow motion of the water, as
the canal locks are open and closed.
     The pleasure angler should fish from pegs oppostie
far-bank features, such as reeds, bushes or overhanging
branches. Unfortunately, fish tend tohug these feautres
very closely, so you often have to fish within inches of
the obstruction to get a bite, and
consistrntly casting a waggler float, or
leger lead, with repetitive accuracy is
next to impossible. That is why you
often see anglers using long fishing poles
on canals.
     By fishing with a very small amount
of line between the tip of the pole and
the float, the long-pole angler can push
his float and bait right up to the far bank
without having to cast. Of course, most
anglers do not posses a pole of 46 feet,
which is often needed for this method
of fishing, so it may be neccessary to
consider other fish-holding features.