Fishing Shallow Water Canals For Bream In Winter

By Aaron Flakemore

Introduction

As the colder winter months set in and the water temperature drops, the bream can make themselves relatively scarce. It is during this time of the year that us fisho’s prefer to stay inside and keep warm. However, for the adventurous, there is hope. Indeed, if you know where to look, bream fishing during the winter months can produce equivalent, if not better, results as in summer.

This article discusses how it is during this time of the year when bream can be found in great numbers hunting the shallows of canals, and how they can be caught.

Location

Canals are man-made waterways constructed to allow the passage of boats or ships inland or to convey water for irrigation. Shallow water canals have properties comparable to large open flats, in that they display a parallel water depth over the whole area, interspersed with a series of channels, gutters and sandbanks. As the water starts to fall back in, the bream will congregate in these little channels waiting to ambush the small baitfish, prawns, and crabs to make their way in.

The photo above shows a canal on low tide.

The photo above showing the same location as the previous photo, but on an incoming tide.

The Gear

For this type of fishing, a good quality 7ft, 1-3kg or 2-4kg line class rod matched with a 2500 sized spin reel is ideal. The reel should be spooled with 4lb-8lb braid connected to a light leader of fluorocarbon in the 2lb to 4LB line class range.

In the shallow canal’s soft plastic baits in sizes 2” to 2.5” are the preferred option. Popular are Z-Man Grubz in in Motor Oil, Watermelon Red and Violet Sparkle colours.

When rigging soft plastics for this type of fishing, the motto is “The lighter the better”. Overall, a 1/20 jig head is ideal. Hidden weight systems (HWS) in a 1/28 is are also very good, particulalry for skimming soft plastics into hard to reach and crammed spots and for suspending a bit, rather than dropping faster.

Technique

The best time to fish is when bream actively feed, such as early morning and late afternoon. In terms of tides water movement is key, with 1 hour up to peak-high tide or 1 hour after peak-high on the run-out being particularly productive. Overall conditions are ideal when the previously mentioned times and tides coincide (e.g. early morning from 1 hour up to peak-tide). It should be noted, however, that dead-low tide can also be productive, as bream will often school up and remain within the canal system, preferring to rest in the deeper channels.

When fishing these canals, you need to remember that not only is the water shallow but also clear. This means fish can see you! And they spook easily! Therefore, it is best to stay out of the water and keep your movements along the shore as measured as possible. Sometimes the bream are so skittish that you may even need to crouch and cast.

Often bream will be holed-up, waiting for small baitfish and other food sources to pass by. Therefore, the best way to find them is to cover ground. A good method is to make 3-5 casts in a location, casting a few times straight ahead as close to the other side of the shore as possible, then cast on a 45° angle back toward where you’ve just been, then cast on a 45° angle toward where you’ll move to next. Once you’ve made a few casts in these directions move along the shore a few metres and repeat the process. Try to utilise the wind to your advantage, by casting with it to your back to greatly improve your casting distance.

As previously said, soft plastics are the preferred baits for this type of fishing. When retrieving soft plastics, a good idea is to vary the presentation technique to see what the bream are hitting. There are four retrieves you can mix up with:

1. Standard hop/whip directly up off bottom and slow flutter to bottom.
2. Sideways twitch (dragging along the bottom)
3. The "burn n drop’- cast, rapid retrieve for a few metres then drop to the bottom.
4. Slow roll with twitches.

 Use each technique and mix it up throughout the session to find the preferred method on the day.

Large bream, such as that pictured above can be found in shallow water canals during the cold winter months

 

Final Word

Fishing for bream in shallow water canals during winter is great fun and can produce good results.
It is hoped that the information presented here has sparked your interest in giving fishing for bream in shallow water canals during the colder winter months a try. Hopefully the tips and information will help you to get onto a few big ones.