01/06/2026
JPs Sam Fairey – Bait & Wait Pays Off
Finally getting around to posting this one, so here’s the short version…
Annual Europe trip on the publics, and this year it was a return to Belgium, targeting the canals. Plenty of pins dropped and 9 nights to make it count.
Day one was spent walking, watching, and baiting multiple spots to revisit later in the trip. The first two nights were on a small stretch near a couple of lakes I’d looked at before… the tench absolutely bullied me. The next two nights were on a section of the ancient canal I’ve walked many times over the years and always wanted to fish – rewarded with a small, dark common.
On the move again, we stopped off at a private marina for a couple of hours on the way to another pre-baited venue. Within 20 minutes the rod hooped over and a stunning 30lb+ common was in the net.
Fishing the large shipping canals has always been a bit of a dream, so for the final 5 nights that’s where we focused. Several spots had been primed from day one. Hard going, but the results came: 41, 40, 37, and 37 – proper clean, powerful canal carp.
A bait-and-wait mission, but absolutely worth every step.
Tackle:
Size 4 Advanced Wide Gapes, as always, on a simple blowback rig.
Top angling, Sam. That’s how it’s done.
