Cheap and cheerful, bread is always a winner on cold canals – and catching on it isn’t as complicated as some would have you believe, according to World Youth Champion Josh Duffy
THERE can’t be many baits available to anglers that are as quick to catch fish on as breadpunch in winter. It’s got an almost magical charm that silverfish in canals can’t resist, and 99 times out of 100, I can guarantee that the float will go under on the very first cast!
Why this is I couldn’t really say, but I’m not bothered about the science behind the effectiveness of punch. All I know is that I need to get on it as the cold weather begins to grip the Yorkshire canals that I fish.
Yet for a lot of anglers, breadpunch can be a bit of a turn off. Some struggle to keep it on the hook when shipping the pole out, some get fed up with missing bites and having to come back in to bait up, while others aren’t exactly sure of the correct feeding strategy.
There’s nothing complicated about it though, and if anything, I would say punch is one of the simplest baits of all to fish with. Certainly, it’s a very ‘clean’ way of catching, by which I mean that the bites and feeding are positive, and every fish ends up being hooked in the top lip.
Pick your spot
Shipping bread out to 13m on the pole each time is hard work, so I’d always look to catch on it as close in as possible. Most canals have a deep central channel that is typically 7m to 9m out from the bank, and this is where you should be looking.
I’ll feed and fish bread straight in front of me and then have a second line, for pinkies and groundbait or chopped worms, for example, on the same line but well down the peg at an angle. This way, there’s little danger of splitting up the shoal of fish, while also giving yourself another area to catch from throughout the day.
What to feed
There are two options here – punch crumb from the tackle shop or liquidised bread that you prepare at home. Everyone has their favourite, mine being punch crumb, namely the Target Fish Spiced Bread Punch Crumb.
The stuff smells amazing – almost like a Christmas cake! Punch crumb is naturally heavy when mixed and will sink fast, which is handy in deeper water. However, it will also give off a bit of a cloud as it sinks, which I think helps to pull fish into the swim over a longer period. I don’t think that the lovely scent it has does any harm either!
Some anglers add aquarium gravel when fishing in deep water to make sure the feed sinks like a stone, but I go down a different route. I place a small handful of hemp in with the loosefeed balls, with the oils adding another layer of attraction. Feeding a little hemp also gives you the option to try it as a ho
