Canal walleyes

[panfisher]

All of the warmer water fishes can be found in the canal. Even an occasional muskie. There are some very nice pike, as the waterway cuts through many natural swampy lowland watersheds which have ancient native pike populations, including White Swamp in Monroe county, Montezuma Swamp (and much of the Wayne county area) and the Mohawk River, just to name a couple of places. With all of the rivers and streams and waters which offer their fish to the canal, I would not be surprised if an occasional brown trout or two finds its way there. Plenty of carp, catfish.....well U get the idea. As far as targeting the various species, it is not like the usual flowage or "puddle". It is essentially a sort of thruway with plenty of rest stops and entrances/exits (and even a few attractions... ) along the way....for the fish and wildlife. No wonder interstate 90 and the east-west rail lines closely parallel it. Man made for utility, it is uniform and straightforward in nature. Excepting the intersected waterways and widened areas, it is a 15ft deep concrete/stone sluice way. Water levels are controlled by the locks for navigation. Generally flat on the bottom with sides that slope up about 35-45 degrees or so on each side. Where the canal goes through towns and cities, and at the locks, and in areas where certain other waterways bisect, there are flat concrete 90 degree walls. The great majority of the way is tightly bordered by overhanging trees and shrubs of varying types. There are docks along plenty of the shoreline from homesteads and cottages along either side. Some are nice, some are rickety. All are good fish attractors. Also there are many areas where brooks and small creeks flow into it. Some of these points are underwater level tubes. Some are concrete above ground sluices. These are particularly attractive to 'eyes and smallies which hang around them for their cooler flows. The flat walls are great places for laregemouths and sunnies. And there are many areas along the way that have cattail and other tall emergent grasses, as well as pads and other emergents. Also, the many wooden posts with nav markers along the way, plus concrete walled bridge abutments offer further target points. Water is easily flowing from east to west all of the time, with further currents mixing from incoming flows. There is, really, so much structure, natural and directly man made.....what self respecting warmer water type fish would not enjoy it.....   ? The biggest drawback, if u might call it that, is that it is not expansive in its scope as far as your eye is concerned. Being an average of about maybe 75ft in width (it varies; precise facts are online), it is not the kind of place where you can fan out into as far as the eye can see. There is plenty of that around at other waters. One might even get a little claustrophobic if they were not "finding the places". But in a nice small boat the fishing can be good and exploring for them fruitful and fun. Oh, I forgot to mention the various other canals and old aqueducts that connect, with their added structure. It is really a different and unique opportunity that just adds to the great variety of fishing opportunities at this piece of earth called New York....