The Traditional Fisherman's Forum

i will have a ticket on this canal this year, i was told that the stocks had been decimated by the EE's but while on my rounds i pass this canal and have seen huge shoals of bream, roach and rudd.

Also i met a guy fishing on a different stretch whilst on a recce and he had a lovely net of mixed species including tench.

Seen quite a few carp and koi in the close season as well so the doom mungers have got it wrong i guess.

oh yes and there is gudgeon

regards

bjp

Hi Bjp,

...at one time, I used to live in Woking and a great deal of my free-time was spent cycling the towpath with just a small bag over my shoulder, a landing net and a "freelining" set-up rod. Some very enjoyable Summers were spent along there, flicking crusts to the Carp in the lily pads. Many, many fish fell to a bit of my bread in that time, lot's of which went into the high "teens". Fantastic fishing on one the the loveliest of "reclaimed canals" I have ever fished.

I also fished the canal into my teens, mostly the Winchfield/Dogmersfield stretch aswell as the Fleet stretch. You can have great fun spinning for pike in the winter months, although I never had much luck - theres a few big old girls in there though. I once lost a large double on the lure, my pb from there is still a jack of sevenish pounds. I once caught a fantastic perch whilst spinning in January, a right slab of a fish it was

An abundance of silver fish present too, aswell as shoals of bream which roam in the summer months - I used to find them in the flash near the carpark on the Odiham stretch. One morning I remember watching a pair of tench feeding for ages in the shallows of the same swim. I have seen a few carp whilst roaming around, the best of which was a fish in its twentys.. It was feeding on the surface too! The carp are very mobile and don't stick around for too long.

The fish are certainly there, a highly underrated water - if you can put up with ramblers let us know how you get on Bjp!

EEs?
I've only fished there a couple of times - will have to go more next season - but I think stocks are pretty good, at least in its western reaches. Steer clear of Woking area - some of it has been dry for several years.

Bluedun wrote:EEs?
I've only fished there a couple of times - will have to go more next season - but I think stocks are pretty good, at least in its western reaches. Steer clear of Woking area - some of it has been dry for several years.

Hi Bluedun,


....still dry? After all this time.....?

This originally came about because some of the gates were by-passing and letting some sections practically run away during the long dry Summers (remember them?) so the Basingstoke Canal Society stopped all boat passage through those stretches. Then there were reports of several gates being forced open (I can't imagine how exactly, unless it was due to the lack of pressure caused by the low water levels?) which led directly to the loss of the remaining water in those stretches. The Basingstoke Canal Society finally chained many gates closed in the system to try and preserve what was left.
I hate to think what the "dry" stretches are like now after all this time. A crying shame after all the work that was put into it to reinstate it in the first place!

Dear Folks,

I regularly fish the Basingstoke canal and offer the following which I hope seems helpful.

Starting at its current source beside Odiham Castle you meet gin clear water and some canny small carp and roach. Whilst the fish don't run big they are a wonderful challenge precisely because of the need for perfect bait presentation. Bread works well courtesy of the duck feeders. I caught a really good roach here using my cane floatrover rod, which can read about in Waterlog if any of you read that magazine 'Roach the Wisconsin Way' (Bob Price). There is the added benefit at dusk of seeing one of the biggest flights of two species of bat which exit from the bridge-quite magical.

Down to the Water Witch pub in Odiham itself and the tench become very good indeed. Because parking eastwards along the canal isn't easy here, requiring longer walks the bank is peaceful and fishing often good. Bream and some sizeable Rudd also feature-beautiful Rudd, pristine Rudd! Huge dragonflies too-this canal is pristine.

As you get down towards Church Crookham the Perch can be good-few and far between but bigger than you would expect in a canal.

On to Fleet and then Mytchett and its mixed fishing with some beautiful roach and tench. Boating and canoeing is a feature here so you need to be polite and patient, but the strolling public often love to chat when they see a lovely old cane rod. This is your chance to sell the creed!

The Deepcut flight of locks were damaged and sections were dry here for a while, but the locks have now been restored beautifully and here you can watch the foxes which seem to live on the local ranges. Some lovely Rudd feature here too and its a delight to fish. Surely the Basingstoke Canal is one of the prettiest canals available!

Brookwood and on towards Woking and the canal is carpeted with lily pads in many places- it screams Crabtree Tench.

Enjoy!

what a lovely write up sir

Well said Robbi, a lovely description by Blueavocet of what fishing his well loved water is all about.

Tight lines
Dave

you have all wetted my appetite, can you fish any places on day ticket. i havnt fished a canal for years so i would like to give it a go

the whole canal is on a day ticket and can be bought on the bank check out their website not always up to date but better than nothing

http://www.basingstokecanalaa.co.uk/

check out the local tackle shops and permit outlet page

regards

bjp