Carp Hunting on a Bike! Dutch Canal Edition…

The Netherlands has thousands of miles of peaceful canals, with a huge variety of environments. 

 

With a mixture of rural canals, urban canals and even canals running through residential areas, there’s something for everyone. It’s an angler’s dream, because you can experience so much in a single trip – especially if you hop on a bike and spend a day mobile carp hunting! 

 

There’s something entirely liberating about carp hunting on a bike. It’s the polar opposite to most carp finishing, where you set up camp and spend hours (or even days) in the same spot. You can explore dozens of miles, fish lots of swims and enjoy a wide variety of environments. 

 

On the bike you’re forced to travel light, so it’s an essentials-only method of carp fishing. There’s no bivvy, no alarms, no complicated rigs. Just you and whatever kit and bait you can comfortably carry as you set on your way… 

 

 

You could argue that carp hunting on a bike is a more skilful form of carp fishing – you are forced to go back to your angling instincts, looking for likely carp hideouts. You have to get into the mindset of a hunter, looking for clues that might give away where the carp are hiding. Without alarms, complex rigs and kilo upon kilo of bait, it’s a more targeted approach to carp hunting. 

 

It’s a visceral, tactile approach and one that many carp anglers have lost touch with. Their skills have diminished. This is a perfect way to get them back. 

 

Fishing by bike in the summer, you’re looking for surface clues as to the whereabouts of fish - keeping your eyes peeled for those give away long, dark shadows underneath the surface. In the margins, you’re creeping quietly to the canal bank, scanning for movement in the reeds or the bubbles reaching the surface as the fish feed a few feet away. 

 

There’s no more exciting way to fish than this, hunting out fish to catch. If you’ve spent most of your carp fishing life tucked away in a bivvy, waiting for the alarm to sound, you’ll have wished you took to carp hunting on the bike a lot sooner! There’s no better feeling in carp angling than landing a fish you’ve patiently hunted. 

 

 

In many ways, carp hunting on a bike is reminiscent of childhood fishing adventures many of us went on. 

 

Those days when we were too young to drive, so we went on foot or by bike. We had no money to buy lots of kit, so we were forced to rely on the bare minimum. We were armed with baits we could dig up or find in the kitchen, so it was a case of worms, sweetcorn, bread and meat. 

 

It’ll take you back to the reason you started fishing in the first place. Once again you’ll experience the thrill of the chase, the feel of a bite and a big carp pulling away from you. 

 

With fish up to 40lbs in the Dutch canal system, you’re not fishing for tiddlers either – it’s a serious place to fish. You’ll be able to enjoy some great fishing, a bit of exercise and a nice change of scenery. What better way to spend a holiday than fishing, exploring and even making yourself a little healthier at the same time? 

 

Click here for more information on carp fishing in Holland.