Squatt fishing is one of those methods that anglers either love or hate, but if you want to be an all-round match angler nowadays its well worth knowing the basics of it! The Squatt is not just a bait for catching bits on canals; it makes a great feed bait in groundbait, and doesn’t wriggle into the silt on the bottom, unlike maggots and pinkies.
Large bream weights have been caught by putting squats in the feed, and even the specimen boys have been known to put a bed of them down for targeting large wary carp.
The Squatt is a tiny maggot, smaller than a pinkie, which forms the larvae of the house fly. They can be purchased from most tackle shops and will come in sand. Some anglers riddle the sand off the squatts and keep them in peat, as this keeps the bait in better condition.
Also, try not to let squatts ‘dry out’, as they will very quickly float, so keep giving them a spray with an atomizer, especially on warm days.
Squatt fishing has been a method widely used on canals and natural still waters throughout the country for many years and has been the key to many big canal team match wins too. It’s bait that works well in conjunction with a sweet groundbait, such as VDE Special, Supermatch and Super cup, or Sensas Canal, Lake or Gardons. The traditional way to fish a squatt match is to cup/ball 4 or 5 balls in to start with, and then loosefeed squatts over the top. This is a method that can really get the roach queuing up on some days, and anglers can get through up to 2 pints in some sessions.
Hemp also works well when fed in conjunction with squatts, and the better stamp fish can be caught on hemp later in the day over the squatt lines. Alternative hook baits can still be used, maggots, pinkies, casters etc to pick out better fish too. The squatt is fantastic ‘get out of jail’ bait when fishing is really rock hard. They can be drip fed through a small pot tight across the far bank of canals and catch you that all important fish when you really need it. They have saved many top canal anglers in big team matches.
As mentioned earlier, squatts can also play a part when targeting big fish, both in the match and specimen world. Some of the regular Irish anglers take squatts over to put in their groundbait as a feed bait for the bream and skimmers to home in on, and on hard fished carp waters, the Bivvy boys have been know to spod in a bed of squatts to catch the difficult fish!
Rigs
The traditional rig that still works nowadays is a light, strung out rig with small shots. A slim float works really well for this sort of rig, and favourite patterns include the Colmic Jolly, Preston Classic 4, and Tubertini Stix. Small number 12 or 13 dropper shot will allow a really slow natural fall through the loosefeed. Some people try to achieve this perfect presentation by using styles. Its important to lay the rig in properly too, flat, and hold on to it tight to create a slow fall.
However, on some venues, lakes and deeper canals, a more positive bulked rig can be used. This style rig works well being lowered in, to get the bait down quickly to the fish. An ollivette can be used, with two or three umber 10 dropper shots. Float choice can vary, but popular patterns are the Jean Francois, Preston Classic 6, and PB15’s.
Mainlines for squatt fishing can vary. When using a strung out rig, a light 0.08 to 0.10 line is best, as it will be soft and supple and give good presentation, whereas on the bulked rig it isn’t as important, as the rig is being lowered in, so an 0.10 or 0.12 lines can be used. Hooklengths are very important, as with all roach fishing. 0.06 to 0.08 are the most common used for squatt fishing, as you are normally targeting small roach and skimmers. Hook wise, the B511 is a lengendary squatt hook, along with the mustad wide gape canal seed in sizes 18-24. A soft number elastic, 2-4, will complete this canal style set up. A catapult is an important item when squatt fishing, so make sure yours is up to scratch, to keep a steady stream of loosefeed going in.
All in all, there’s more to squatts than just ‘them little white things that daft faffy anglers use’. On their day they can be a bag up roach bait on canals, a get out of jail bait to catch you that all important Tommy rough, or that key feed ingredient in your bream mix to catch a big weight. So get out there and give the little white men a try!
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hi there i took my son fishing last week for the 1st time.he had a great time he got some small roach and so bigger roach in the canal in chester.what i would like to know for him is what is the best bait to use, he just use’s normal white and red maggots in total he got about 12 small fish in about 2 hrs.what can i do to make him catch more.i bought him a 5 mt pole on ebay which was a very good price.any help please….
My best perch of over 1 pound was on cheese paste, a size 12 hook and stick float. You don’t catch so many small fish but it singles out the big ones.
hi allan im joe and i would like to suggest to u and ur son to use chopped worm soft pellets and casters i tried it on chester canal and it helped me get some decent roach and a 17lb carp and other big fish carp,tench,cub etc etc
hi allan the best advice i can give you is practice , fishing is all about learning and technique is just as important as bait selection everyone can tell you to try this and that but it all depends on the day time of the day the weather and fish feeding patterns this all fall under the term watercraft which is an art that is learnt over the years of fishing learning to watch the water for signs that fish are present and understanding that fish feed at different depths in different temperatures. but one thing to remember is to loose feed little but often if the water is clear and you can see the bottom then use a dark grounbait otherwise use a lighter groundbait sensas make a lot of nice groundbait selection designed for canals. as for catching 12 fish in two hours thats not bad there will be days you sit there for 5 or 6 hours and not catch anything . unless your fishing in contests then go along and enjoy the day just being surrounded by nature and tranquility don’t be afraid to try unusual baits like baked beans,black pudding,cat meat etc.and make sure you have abread punch as this is a good way of fishing for the roach , its all about you out smarting the fish afterall if it was all about dropping in a line and pulling out a fish every ten seconds then the sport would be called catching not fishing hope this helps and tight lines
Hi im a person that like’s fishing but i do have difficulty to see to do the line’s and that have you any idear’s to help me please.
do you fish rod and reel or do you use a pole if you use a pole then ready made pole rigs are available from all tackle shops that attach to the stonfo connector on the elastic ,but i have known people use pole rigs when rod and reel fishing especially when fishing relatively close in when the fish are shy biting all they do is attach it the same way as a hook to nylon if you are fishing rod and reel try using self cocking floats middy make a no-shot float which just needs a couple of line stops to hold in place drennan also make a similar float again use a hook to nylon at the business end if you do wish to attach drop shots then dinsmore make an auto-shot tool which is quite easy to get the hang of and allows you to attach a small shot to the line without having to fiddle about with it with your fingers. there are other alternatives you can aquire olivettes which you thread the line through and lock with a carbon pin and are quite large compared to shot or you can use styls which are a long weight that you attach using styl pliers a lot of elderley anglers find these easier to use than shot especially if you have difficuly seeing i hope this helps and tight lines
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