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10 Tips - Fishing Canal Systems
By Justin Willmer
After spending many years fishing the Gold Coast canals and canal systems closer to home, there are patterns that form in terms of productive structure, tides, water conditions and effective techniques. Large numbers of bream move into the canals through the warmer months, and they can be great fun to target, along with the quality by-catch, that includes flathead, mangrove jack, trevally, tailor, sweetlip, snapper and more.
In this article my aim is to break down the key structure that we target when fishing canal systems, along with the gear and techniques that we use to consistently get the bites. Let’s kick things off by breaking down some of the structure that has been most productive for us when fishing canal systems. Although the article will focus on bream, quality by-catch can often be found in the same areas, and I will touch on gearing up and targeting these other species as well as bream.
Pontoons
The most obvious structure encountered in many canal systems is pontoons and there are literally thousands of them on the Gold Coast. At times any of these pontoons could hold fish, however there are some features that attract more fish. Firstly though, where do I cast when I approach a pontoon. As you approach a pontoon the first thing to look for is visible or feeding fish as this may dictate where you make your first cast. You may also want to keep your distance so as not to spook the fish. Casting to fish that are crunching, slurping, or lurking around a pontoon can often result in instant attention and an immediate hook up.
If there are no visible fish, the first thing that I will look for is shady areas, including the area under walkway to the pontoon, corners of pontoons and the poles that the pontoon is attached to. For some reason, bream love the back corners of the pontoon, and this is where some of my best fish have come from. I will often make and angled cast to the walkway shade, that will see the lure come back past the back corner of the pontoon, covering two areas in one cast.
Shade is just one of the reasons why some pontoons produce better than others. A pontoon that has a boat tied to it, attachment section to dock a PWC, gaps between sections of the pontoon and other additions that increase the surface area and the number of pockets for fish to hide in, is likely to hold more fish. Other variables that can impact the fish holding qualities of a pontoon include the amount of growth (potential food and food holding structure) on the pontoon, the water flow, and the amount of water under the pontoon. By fishing different areas of pontoons at different stages of the tide, you can soon work out the amount of water required for the fish to actively feed there. The fish may still be there at other stages of the tide, however there may not be enough water for them to feel comfortable enough to feed.
When fishing pontoons it’s worth casting to the wall behind, under the walkway, the corners, parallel the edges, and even drift a lure through underneath with the water movement. This sounds like a lot of time on one pontoon, however after a few pontoons you will soon crack a pattern and work out where the fish are holding and feeding on the day. If there are two of you on the boat this will allow you to cast to different areas and crack a pattern quicker. I will generally fish lightly weighted 2” – 3” soft plastics on 1-3kg and 2-4kg spin rods, with 1000-2500 size reels loaded with 8-10lb braid and leader of 6-10lb. This gear can be upsized if you are specifically targeting species such as mangrove jack.
Vegetation
Vegetation in canal systems? You may not find vegetation in all canal systems, however where I have found it, it has almost always produced fish. This could be the odd mangrove tree, a small cluster of mangroves or vegetation that is growing on the bank and hanging into the water. In a desert of canals, this may represent an oasis of different structure, an effective ambush point or an area that holds food. Whatever it is that makes this structure effective, it’s worth a cast or two.
Flotsam
Again, not something you will always find in canal systems, but worth keeping in mind if you do come across a mat of floating debris. Wind and current can sometimes carry timber, weed, branches, rubbish, and other items and concentrate them in one area. This creates shelter for bait and fish, along with ambush points for predatory species. On one such occasion we were fishing a shootout series, matched against one other boat. As we drove into the end of one canal I spotted a floating mat of palm tree fronds, timber, weed and rubbish. Within a dozen casts around this structure, we had our five fish in the live well and took out that round of the shootout.
Bridges
Classic structure, bridges provide current breaks, ambush points, shade and other features that attract both bait and fish. Working the pylons from top to bottom, casting to eddies and checking the sounder for secondary structure created during the bridge building process can all produce fish. Remember to keep an eye out for other manmade structure, such as jetties, boat ramps, stormwater pipes, large pipes between canals and walls that separate canals, all of which offer quality structure, while also impacting water flow.
Boats
Boats may be tied up as part of your pontoon structure, however they may simply be anchored or moored separately. Boat hulls again create shade, ambush points and current breaks. We have had good success fishing the mooring if it offers visible structure on the sounder, the anchor line, drifting the lure down the side and under the boat, as well as focussing on the eddies created at the back of the boat and around the prop. You may find the shady side of the boats more productive on the day, however it’s again all about cracking a pattern.
Rock Walls
Canal systems often have a maze of rock or concrete walls, which can make it confusing in terms of where to start. I will normally incorporate fishing rock walls as part of fishing the other structure found in canal systems. A few casts to the wall while fishing pontoons will soon tell you if the fish are holding on the walls and if they are you may pull more fish from the walls than the pontoons. Some examples of where we have keyed in on the walls is fishing the walls at the entrance to canals where a pressure point is created where the tide is pushing in, the walls at the back end of the canals, where there is reduced flow and the outside wall of a canal system, where at times it may be rougher water and windblown, which can in fact fire up the bite.
As with pontoons we will often fish the top of the water column to the bottom until we find where the fish are holding. Fish may hold at any depth on the wall and again it’s about working the lure down the wall until you work out where they are at that point in the day and tide. We have had days when they are feeding high on the wall in amongst the rocks, possibly chasing crabs and prawns, while other times they are feeding at the base of the rock wall, possibly foraging in the bottom.
Sandy Edges
Some of the canals that we fish, especially on the Gold Coast, have sandy bottoms and sand under the pontoons and on the edges. This lighter coloured bottom can often make spotting fish easier as they hold up around the walls or cruise the edges on the lower stages of the tide. When the water is shallow in these canals it can be tough fishing, with many anglers favouring the run-in tide. The key on the lower stages is long casts along the edges and into the ends of the canals, a stealthy approach, and lightly weighted soft plastics.
Don’t be afraid to cast right up on the sand and work that plastic in slowly and subtly. Pay close attention to how the fish react to your presentation and retrieve, as this will allow you to change things up until you get them to bite. These sandy environments can also produce plenty of flathead, to the point that allowing your bream presentation to reach the bottom under a pontoon often leads to that signature flathead clunk. Flathead love canal systems with plenty of bait, water movement and shade under the pontoons.
Cracking a Pattern
Several times already I have mentioned cracking a pattern and that can be the difference between a few fish and cricket scores. It’s a great skill of consistent tournament anglers to read the conditions, break down the available structure and tweak their retrieves and presentations to get the bite, time and again across a myriad of different environments. When fishing canals it’s about systematically breaking down the environment until you find where the fish are on the day and on that stage of the tide. As you work into the canal system, hit the wall at the entrance and work through the pontoon shady pockets, corners, shade under the walkway, stormwater drains, vegetation, flotsam, boats, bridges, and sandy edges.
If you start to catch fish on one structure type, presentation or retrieve technique, then you can focus on this further and concentrate on those areas. If there’s two or more of you in the boat, it’s often a mistake to all tie on the same lure that worked last time and start doing the same thing. By mixing it up you may discover more effective techniques, crack a by-catch species or crack the pattern for the session. I generally have three combos set up in the kayak and at least half a dozen in the boat, allowing me to rotate through presentations and techniques until I hopefully crack a pattern.
Casting Accuracy
One tip that I would give you if you haven’t done a lot of canal or tight structure fishing is to get out a few buckets, ladders, pieces of timber and other structure to create your own structure casting station in the backyard. Instead of spending time retrieving your lures from pontoon carpet, ropes, boats, jetties, and other structure, as well as short casting and bouncing lures away from pockets, you’ll be hooked up before you can even say ‘that cast deserves a fish’.
Don’t just practise making one style of cast either as structure and boat angle may dictate a forehand, backhand, underhand, overhand, or random flick cast to get that lure into the pocket. The more versatile and accurate you become with your casting, the more fish you will catch and adding a skip cast will probably increase that catch rate further. It’s worth getting out there to practise when the wind is blowing also, so that you can work on punching casts into the pockets when the wind creates less-than-ideal conditions. Casting weights are available from tackle stores, or you can just grab an old jighead and plastic and snip the point off to reduce snagging.
Gearing Up
A common saying is ‘go light to get the bite’ and this can often be the go when gearing up for canal bream as they can be pressured environments, with shallower water and often clear water conditions. Rod selection, I prefer a light and responsive, 7’, 1-3kg or 2-4kg spin rod, such as a TT Red Belly or Black Mamba, paired with a light 1000-2500 spin reel with a smooth drag, such as an Okuma ITX or Ceymar HD. Most of my reels for this style of fishing are spooled with 6lb-10lb Platypus Pulse X8 or Bionic X9 Braid and leader wise I run 6-10lb in Platypus Stealth FC Fluorocarbon and Hard Armour Supple.
To get started in the canals it’s hard to go past soft plastics, my go-to being ZMan 2.5” GrubZ, ST GrubZ, Slim SwimZ and PrawnZ, along with the 2.75” TRD BugZ. Colour wise, it’s worth having a light natural colour for clear water and bright days, a darker silhouette colour for dirty water and then a bright colour to change things up. If you’re just starting out than ZMan’s Motor Oil colour is a tested and proven favourite, along with the rest of the Oil family of plastics (Midnight Oil, Dirty Oil and Blood Oil), with their UV reactive characteristics.
Keep the jigheads light if you want to hold the plastic up high around the pontoons and step up the weight as you wish to fish deeper structure, such as the base of rock walls. A size 2 or 1 hook is a popular starting point for jigheads, suiting the above plastics, with popular weights starting at 1/20oz and 1/16oz. If you wanted to have a comprehensive kit of jigheads, you could start with a size one hook in 1/20oz, 1/16oz, 1/12oz, 1/8oz, 1/6oz and 1/4oz, which would cover all bases from shallow to deep, including high current areas. For pontoon and structure fishing my two go-to starting jigheads would be a TT HWS (Hidden Weight System) 1/20oz #1 and a TT HeadlockZ Finesse jighead in a 1/16oz #1.
If you wish to focus on the mix of larger by-catch species that inhabit the canals, then it’s worth stepping up the gear to 3-6kg and 4-8kg rods, 2500-3000 size reels, 10-20lb braid and 10-20lb leaders. Go-to plastics include ZMan 3” MinnowZ, 3” Slim SwimZ, 4” DieZel MinnowZ and 4” SwimmerZ, with 2/0, 3/0 ad 4/0 jigheads ranging in weight from 1/8oz to 1/2oz, to cover shallow canals to deep canal entries with high flow.
Species such as mangrove jack and trevally often prefer a quicker retrieve parallel to structure such as pontoons, rock walls and bridge pylons, while the flathead, mulloway and reef species hold deeper and prefer a slower presentation with plenty of hops and pauses.
Hopefully that gives you a few tips for fishing the canals if you haven’t fished them before and if you have hopefully there’s something there that puts a few more fish in the boat or kayak. Canal systems offer anglers plenty of structure to fish, which generally attracts plenty of bait and in turn predatory species. There is also often an easy launch point nearby and they are a great option for escaping the wind when conditions are less than ideal. Time to jump on Google Earth and check out the canal systems available in your local area.
See you on the water…
Cheers, Justin