Feeder fishing

[Mick Sprat]

Ok, first off I'll give you some info on the lake where I fish, stillwater lake, about 6-8 ft deep, couple of small islands in the lake, sort of a figure 8 look to it, fish- bream, tench, perch, carp.

I have been fishing as close to the island as I can get, how often should I bring the feeder back and recharge it to go back out again. Do I need to build up a bed of bait before leaving it in for longer?

Any help would be appreciated.
Mick

 

[Budgie Burgess]

Mick all feeder fishing boils down too two basics - acurately casting to the same spot over and over again to build and keep topped up a bed of bait.When you first start cast out and wait just long enough for the feeder to empty before recasting again.Keep this up for the first half hour or so.All you are doing here is building up the bed of bait as opposed to catching fish.Once you have got some bait in the fish will then start moving over your bait and hopefully you will start getting bites.The crack of the feeder is that each time you have a bite you will be topping up the swim.

 

[Kiwi Carper]

OK here goes....

If you are fishing tight to islands use a reel with a clip (the fish cant run any further and by the time you tighten up you will have a couple of turns on the reel)

Hold rod at all times if decent size fish!!!!!!

99% of my fishing on Loch Lomond was on the feeder

First 20 - 30 mins didnt even use a hook bait, takes away temptation to leave in for a few seconds and struck fish spook fish that havent "got their heads down"

Cant emphasise enough accuracy if within 75 yds you should be landing feeder in a 12" circle every cast if you miss reel in immediately dont let bait out "near " your target just distracts fish!!!!

build up a rythm its trial and error some days on Lomond I didnt even look for bites just counted to 20 and strike 95% fish on....

I could go on and on but accuracy and the most sensitive rod you can get ur hands on....

kia ora

 

[Mick Sprat]

Thanks for that lads, will try it out this weekend.

 

[Tim Richardson]

I use braid for all my feeder fishing though some prefer to use mono. What I would never be without is a target board. Six hours staring at a quivver tip looking for the tiniest of bites can play havoc with the old eyes.

 

[Kiwi Carper]

Yup braid is the way to go!!!!!
Just be wary of cheaper rods with cheap ring liners the braid destroys them!!!!

Also distance and depth must be considered.
Always use a clip unless targetting huge fish, but dont cast so the line slams into the clip mid flight with practice you should be able to cast and have the line reach the clip just before the feeder settles on bottom!

Consider using springers instead of quivers as much more sensitive but really all comes down to type of water and species.

 

[jason fisher]

If you are bream fishing it can pay to move the feeder about a foot if you havent had a bite in a while, to do this just pull the rod back wards about a foot then replace on the rest and retighten. you will often find that the tip flies round straight away.
If you are fishing into darkness (and i would recommend this for at least the first hour if you are allowed), put 2 starlights on the tip around 6 inches apart. you will see bites much better.
After dark one light will tend to swim around in your vision. but using 2, the one closer to the tip will move relative to the one further up the rod. enterprise tackle and drennan both do good clip on isotope fittings. the drennan work out cheeper about 7 quid per rod.
if there is a slope up to the island try different depths.
If every one is fishing tight to the island and the fish are always being caught there the carp are not being caught at the bottom of the slope and so may be slightly less wary of a bait dropped in here say 2 to 3 yards short. have you checked the bottom to see if you are fishing on gravel, in silt or weed. if not i'm sure some one will tell you how in the carp fishing sections.
personally I always try to put a few balls of ground bait in if i can get them to the swim without using the feeder. Thats the first thing i do before even tackling the rods up. Then recast at most every five minutes for the first 4 or 5 casts.
the rest of the day.
the ammount I put in depends on 4 factors what species, how big are the fish, how warm is the water, how densely stocked is the lake i'm fishing.
good luck

 

[Kiwi Carper]

Be careful when introducing balled groundbait on deeper waters the drop zone can often be a long way from where it hits the water, I used to see people ball it in on Lomond fishing in 40ft of water, some days you were usin 75 gram feeders just to hold bottom,,,,,,they wondered why the bites dry up when they drop in half a dozen balls,,,,,cos they are landing on bottom about 30 ft from where they are fishing and taking the fish with em......

not really an issue on shallower water but something to be aware of.

 

[jason fisher]

if you're fishing in 40 feet of water the feeder will be no where near the point it lands at on the surface either, especially if you are clipped up

 

[Kiwi Carper]

Very true Jason, but you shouldnt be casting to the clip, it should hit the water almost vertically and shoul hit the clip almost as it hits the bottom, it takes a lot of practice but when you fish a water like Lomond for 12 years almost every other day you get the knack, though it pays to use a firmish groundabait to make sure there isnt a line of bait all over the place.........
on Lomond it was critical to clip up because of the vast shoals of roach you need to keep the baited area as tight as possible.

 

[jason fisher]

personally i never bother with a clip, i just feather it in, even in the dark.