Breadpunch
I am writing this not because I am a brilliant punch angler but because someone asked me to. I think they were just interested in my way of doing it. I mainly fish the punch on the Wellingborough club stretch of the Leicester arm of the Grand Union Canal near Market Harborough. For some reason the fish in this stretch respond best to punch. I struggle to catch the skimmers but normally can have a good day with roach, unless its a match.
Many people will tell you that you HAVE to use this bread, THAT bread etc. I'm afraid I go for the cheap option - a Tesco Value loaf for feed and hookbait.
Preparation
Firstly the feed. I don't bother cutting off the crusts. By the time I have finished I can hardly see the crust crumbs so I can't see it making any difference. The crust can only be 1-2% of the entire loaf. I liquidise a loaf and pass it through a squatt riddle. This makes sure there are no large lumps to fill the fish. If the stamp of fish I was planning on catching were around the 6-12 ounce mark then I may be tempted to use a maggot riddle. But as most of the canal fish I catch on bread are in the 1-4 ounce bracket then I think the squatt riddle is OK. I know of some who go a bit further and use a flour sieve.
I find I need to liquidise and riddle the bread three times to get most of it through the riddle. So what I do is start by doing the whole loaf, four slices at a time and riddle off what I can. The lumps are put aside for a while to let the liquidiser cool, the fine stuff is bagged. I then repeat the process another twice, again leaving a while between the second and third stage. I find then that at least 90% of the loaf has gone through the riddle and been bagged. The remainder go to my pond fish, its cheap enough. The bagged bread is frozen unless I am using it next day.
For hookbait I do like to microwave and compress the slices. As all of my bread fishing is done over Winter I will prepare and freeze a whole loaf in October/November and that generally sees me through.
I cut the crusts off (they go in the feed) and microwave for ten seconds and then just compress the bread with my hand on a worksurface. The slice is then cut in two and bagged, two half slices to a bag. These are frozen and taken out for use on the morning. One bag being ample for a day.
Floats
My go-to float is the BGT Greenie. This is a slim, wire stemmed 0.4g float. A little heavy some may think but I prefer to have that bit of weight in case the canal tows a little. It also gets the bait down quickly. Shotted with a string of No.9s & 10s. Backshotted with a No.11 near the float and a 9 near the pole tip. To me backshotting is vital when targeting small roach. Get the line sunk and bites will be more confident and positive.
If the canal tows significantly then I will move to a BGT Blue. 0.5g in three foot of water or less, 0.75g in deeper swims. They will be shotted with a bulk of No.6 shot so I can hold back and still keep the bait on the deck. I will go up to 9 inches overdepth if necessary.
Line, Hook, Hooklength & Elastic
I try and make my canal rigs as simple as my commercial carp ones. Line is Reflo Power, 0.11 for the main rig line and 0.06 for the hooklength.
I use a four inch hooklength when punch fishing. This is just about the only time I will use one that short on the pole. The other exception being fishing commercial margin swims less than 12 inches deep. This means I can have a shot just five inches from the hook. I don't like shotting hooklengths as this slows you down when having to replace.
My hook of preference is the Sensas 3530, size 20. I like the long shank as this helps when hooking the bread out of the punch. I think I could probably get away with an 18 but as I have bought a few packs of the 20s I will use these up first.
Elastic is simple also, a solid No.4. I find this will cope well with the unexpected bonus as well as cushioning the smaller specimens.
Breadpunches
If you can't work it out from the photo check out my "Bits & Bobs" post on how I adapt my punches to make them easy to handle and unsinkable.
Feeding
Feed is taken to the bank in the bag the bread came in but I use two 1 litre ice cream tubs to keep my feed in on my side tray. Reason I do this is that they are free, have lids and the unused bread can be frozen for next outing. That may sound cheap but I have spent precious time liquidising and riddling the feed so why waste that time by throwing away unused bread? It also saves tying up a couple of bait boxes.
I put the feed into the tub and add water then mix like groundbait using a disgorger as a stirrer. The reason for having two is that I can make up two mixes with more or less water in. One will have only a little water so I can form a sinking groundbait-like ball. The other will make a sloppy mix. I normally start and top up with a ball of feed and while fishing use the sloppier mix. The slop will form a sinking cloud. By adjusting how sloppy it is possible to make the feed either explode on the surface or with a little less water it will sink a little before exploding. But being wet all the bread will sink.
Two ways of feeding - pot or by hand. To be really accurate I feed through a pot. But one of the best punch anglers I know advocates feeding by hand, even if that means throwing the slop across the canal. His reasoning is that roach, the normal target, are not grazers but darters and thus absolute accuracy is not essential. They will roam around the swim looking for food unlike skimmers that tend to graze an area. So by throwing you get the roach searching a wide area and attract yet more from further away into the vicinity of your hookbait.
Of course the big question is how much and when to feed. There are no rules for this. Like all feeding it has to be worked out on the day. I will normally try and kick a swim off with a ball from walnut to egg size. Size being determined by what I know of the venue. Also I will introduce a larger ball onto a line I intend fishing later. That initial ball will always be cupped in so I know precisely where it has gone. After that I will try and tailor my feeding to how the fish are reacting.
Fishing
Starting depth will always be just touching bottom. There are days when the fish want the bait overdepth or a couple of inches off. For this reason I usually set up two rigs for a swim. One that will stay at dead depth, the other I can experiment with.
My hookbait slices are kept in the bag and I will cut off a one inch section for immediate use. This is dumped when it dries or is used up. To slow down the drying process I keep it under a small piece of wood.
I start on a 5 mil punch and experiment with larger or smaller if needs dictate. It can be worth trying a much larger punch if you suspect skimmers or bigger roach are in the area.
On the canal I fish two lines, topkit + 1 and a far line in 2 1/2 to 3 foot of water. I have had two canal experts tell me that fish like to inhabit this sort of depth. Actually one said 3 the other 2 1/2. I have these two depths marked on my topkits with tape. I will set the float at the depth and then plumb up to work out where that is on the far side. The opposite way round to how you would normally plumb up. I may then adjust slightly between the two depths in order to get the pole at an accurate length.
After the initial feed I expect to catch fairly quickly. The near line can normally be fished for 1-2 hours before dying. Once that has happened it can be difficult to get the fish back feeding there. The only exception I have found to this is when fishing through ice. Then I expect to catch all day from just a couple of spots. On at least one occasion I have broken a hole to top five distance and eventually found the fish wanted to feed at top four.
Re-feeding has to be a matter of judgement and experimentation. You may need to top up with a solid ball or you can feed regularly (after every 1, 2, 3 fish) with the slop. I carry a variety of sized tosspots so I can regulate how much I feed using different pots.
I have found that you don't necessarily have to be right over your feed to catch. Obviously if there is some movement on the canal then you can let the float move away from where you have fed because some feed will drift away. I have caught up to ten foot from where I have fed. Also even when the canal is still I have found that on difficult days the fish can sit around three foot from the feed. So if you are struggling try placing the float three foot either side of your feed. It can lead to a bonus fish.
It can also pay to work the bait, lift and drop the float occasionally to induce bites.
If the canal starts to tow strongly like when a lock opens then switch to the heavy rig and hold still or let it inch through. This is a time I find I can pick up a bonus skimmer or large roach. Do not struggle with too light a float. It is amazing sometimes how heavy a float you can get away with if it is properly shotted. You must use a float capable of giving you the control you want.
And as always dot the float down as far as is comfortable for you. On the heavy rig you can afford to overshot slightly as you will be holding it back against the tow and that will force the float out of the water slightly.
Finally
I love fishing the punch. On one level its incredibly simple, on another it is complex because the fish are unpredictable. I recall a Winter league match a couple of years ago. I drew THE hot area from where the match had been won two weeks previous with around four pound. Started like a train and had 16 fish in the first hour so well on my way to my first pound. I finished the match with 19 fish. I was so disappointed that I went back and fished the swim three days later. I had 70 fish for over 7 pound. I know pleasure fishing is different but just half that weight on the Sunday would have seen me win the section and probably frame.
Then there are days when its just great to be out and conquering the elements.
Many people will tell you that you HAVE to use this bread, THAT bread etc. I'm afraid I go for the cheap option - a Tesco Value loaf for feed and hookbait.
Preparation
Firstly the feed. I don't bother cutting off the crusts. By the time I have finished I can hardly see the crust crumbs so I can't see it making any difference. The crust can only be 1-2% of the entire loaf. I liquidise a loaf and pass it through a squatt riddle. This makes sure there are no large lumps to fill the fish. If the stamp of fish I was planning on catching were around the 6-12 ounce mark then I may be tempted to use a maggot riddle. But as most of the canal fish I catch on bread are in the 1-4 ounce bracket then I think the squatt riddle is OK. I know of some who go a bit further and use a flour sieve.
I find I need to liquidise and riddle the bread three times to get most of it through the riddle. So what I do is start by doing the whole loaf, four slices at a time and riddle off what I can. The lumps are put aside for a while to let the liquidiser cool, the fine stuff is bagged. I then repeat the process another twice, again leaving a while between the second and third stage. I find then that at least 90% of the loaf has gone through the riddle and been bagged. The remainder go to my pond fish, its cheap enough. The bagged bread is frozen unless I am using it next day.
For hookbait I do like to microwave and compress the slices. As all of my bread fishing is done over Winter I will prepare and freeze a whole loaf in October/November and that generally sees me through.
I cut the crusts off (they go in the feed) and microwave for ten seconds and then just compress the bread with my hand on a worksurface. The slice is then cut in two and bagged, two half slices to a bag. These are frozen and taken out for use on the morning. One bag being ample for a day.
Floats
My go-to float is the BGT Greenie. This is a slim, wire stemmed 0.4g float. A little heavy some may think but I prefer to have that bit of weight in case the canal tows a little. It also gets the bait down quickly. Shotted with a string of No.9s & 10s. Backshotted with a No.11 near the float and a 9 near the pole tip. To me backshotting is vital when targeting small roach. Get the line sunk and bites will be more confident and positive.
BGT Greenie
If conditions are perfect and/or in swims under 3ft then I love to use the BGT Blood. For me this is the most perfect canal float I have ever used. It has a bristle that can be sunk with a No.13 shot/Stotz. Difficult to shot perfectly but get it absolutely spot on and its a joy. Easy to see the bread settle. Being only 0.2g is shot with a string of No.10s.
BGT Blood
BGT Blue
Like my commercial rigs I choose a simple set of lengths for each float. The Greenie is on a seven foot rig on a lilac winder, the Blood on four or seven foot, yellow & green winder respectively the Blue 0.5 on four foot and 0.75 on seven foot on pink winders. So you see selecting the right rig is simple and no need to label anything. If I want a far shelf big fish rig I just carry some of my commercial margin rigs (4 ft. 0.2g BGT1 float on 0.17 line).
I try and make my canal rigs as simple as my commercial carp ones. Line is Reflo Power, 0.11 for the main rig line and 0.06 for the hooklength.
I use a four inch hooklength when punch fishing. This is just about the only time I will use one that short on the pole. The other exception being fishing commercial margin swims less than 12 inches deep. This means I can have a shot just five inches from the hook. I don't like shotting hooklengths as this slows you down when having to replace.
My hook of preference is the Sensas 3530, size 20. I like the long shank as this helps when hooking the bread out of the punch. I think I could probably get away with an 18 but as I have bought a few packs of the 20s I will use these up first.
Sensas 3530
Elastic is simple also, a solid No.4. I find this will cope well with the unexpected bonus as well as cushioning the smaller specimens.
Breadpunches
If you can't work it out from the photo check out my "Bits & Bobs" post on how I adapt my punches to make them easy to handle and unsinkable.
I think they started life as Drennans
Feeding
Feed is taken to the bank in the bag the bread came in but I use two 1 litre ice cream tubs to keep my feed in on my side tray. Reason I do this is that they are free, have lids and the unused bread can be frozen for next outing. That may sound cheap but I have spent precious time liquidising and riddling the feed so why waste that time by throwing away unused bread? It also saves tying up a couple of bait boxes.
I put the feed into the tub and add water then mix like groundbait using a disgorger as a stirrer. The reason for having two is that I can make up two mixes with more or less water in. One will have only a little water so I can form a sinking groundbait-like ball. The other will make a sloppy mix. I normally start and top up with a ball of feed and while fishing use the sloppier mix. The slop will form a sinking cloud. By adjusting how sloppy it is possible to make the feed either explode on the surface or with a little less water it will sink a little before exploding. But being wet all the bread will sink.
Two ways of feeding - pot or by hand. To be really accurate I feed through a pot. But one of the best punch anglers I know advocates feeding by hand, even if that means throwing the slop across the canal. His reasoning is that roach, the normal target, are not grazers but darters and thus absolute accuracy is not essential. They will roam around the swim looking for food unlike skimmers that tend to graze an area. So by throwing you get the roach searching a wide area and attract yet more from further away into the vicinity of your hookbait.
Of course the big question is how much and when to feed. There are no rules for this. Like all feeding it has to be worked out on the day. I will normally try and kick a swim off with a ball from walnut to egg size. Size being determined by what I know of the venue. Also I will introduce a larger ball onto a line I intend fishing later. That initial ball will always be cupped in so I know precisely where it has gone. After that I will try and tailor my feeding to how the fish are reacting.
Fishing
Starting depth will always be just touching bottom. There are days when the fish want the bait overdepth or a couple of inches off. For this reason I usually set up two rigs for a swim. One that will stay at dead depth, the other I can experiment with.
My hookbait slices are kept in the bag and I will cut off a one inch section for immediate use. This is dumped when it dries or is used up. To slow down the drying process I keep it under a small piece of wood.
I start on a 5 mil punch and experiment with larger or smaller if needs dictate. It can be worth trying a much larger punch if you suspect skimmers or bigger roach are in the area.
On the canal I fish two lines, topkit + 1 and a far line in 2 1/2 to 3 foot of water. I have had two canal experts tell me that fish like to inhabit this sort of depth. Actually one said 3 the other 2 1/2. I have these two depths marked on my topkits with tape. I will set the float at the depth and then plumb up to work out where that is on the far side. The opposite way round to how you would normally plumb up. I may then adjust slightly between the two depths in order to get the pole at an accurate length.
After the initial feed I expect to catch fairly quickly. The near line can normally be fished for 1-2 hours before dying. Once that has happened it can be difficult to get the fish back feeding there. The only exception I have found to this is when fishing through ice. Then I expect to catch all day from just a couple of spots. On at least one occasion I have broken a hole to top five distance and eventually found the fish wanted to feed at top four.
Re-feeding has to be a matter of judgement and experimentation. You may need to top up with a solid ball or you can feed regularly (after every 1, 2, 3 fish) with the slop. I carry a variety of sized tosspots so I can regulate how much I feed using different pots.
I have found that you don't necessarily have to be right over your feed to catch. Obviously if there is some movement on the canal then you can let the float move away from where you have fed because some feed will drift away. I have caught up to ten foot from where I have fed. Also even when the canal is still I have found that on difficult days the fish can sit around three foot from the feed. So if you are struggling try placing the float three foot either side of your feed. It can lead to a bonus fish.
It can also pay to work the bait, lift and drop the float occasionally to induce bites.
If the canal starts to tow strongly like when a lock opens then switch to the heavy rig and hold still or let it inch through. This is a time I find I can pick up a bonus skimmer or large roach. Do not struggle with too light a float. It is amazing sometimes how heavy a float you can get away with if it is properly shotted. You must use a float capable of giving you the control you want.
And as always dot the float down as far as is comfortable for you. On the heavy rig you can afford to overshot slightly as you will be holding it back against the tow and that will force the float out of the water slightly.
Finally
I love fishing the punch. On one level its incredibly simple, on another it is complex because the fish are unpredictable. I recall a Winter league match a couple of years ago. I drew THE hot area from where the match had been won two weeks previous with around four pound. Started like a train and had 16 fish in the first hour so well on my way to my first pound. I finished the match with 19 fish. I was so disappointed that I went back and fished the swim three days later. I had 70 fish for over 7 pound. I know pleasure fishing is different but just half that weight on the Sunday would have seen me win the section and probably frame.
Then there are days when its just great to be out and conquering the elements.
Possibly extreme but a great day for the punch
And the result, around 50 fish for near three pound
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