Home Made Swim Feeders

Mr Cholmondeley-Corker (PaSC)

Mr Cholmondeley-Corker (PaSC)

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Anyone make your own feeders?

I make my own cage feeders using B&Q gutter mesh (rigid).

It comes in a very long role about 6" wide.

It can be cut with scissors.

I cut a strip to size and then use two tiny plastic tie wraps to form a cylindrical shape.

Then add lead - either lead flash strip, dead cows or large strap on feeder leads for the river.

A loop of braid or trace then finishes it off.

How do you make yours?
 
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bennygesserit

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Mr Cholmondeley-Corker (PaSC) said:
Anyone make your own feeders?

I make my own cage feeders using B&Q gutter mesh (rigid).

It comes in a very long role about 6" wide.

It can be cut with scissors.

I cut a strip to size and then use two tiny plastic tie wraps to form a cylindrical shape.

Then add lead - either lead flash strip, dead cows or large strap on feeder leads for the river.

A loop of braid or trace then finishes it off.

How do you make yours?
Click to expand...

How much does that work out at ? Is that why you do it ?
 
Mr Cholmondeley-Corker (PaSC)

Mr Cholmondeley-Corker (PaSC)

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I got about 15 meters of the stuff for a fiver.

Main reason is fishing the Ribble - it can eat feeders in some swims.

Also - if the cage gets caught in a snag it will often collapse (or tear) and pull free - whereas a shop bought rigid one will not.
 
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peterjg

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Dear Mr Cholmondley-Corker: thank you for your brilliant idea - I shall copy. I use different green netting from garden centres but your idea for cage feeder material is a winner!

PS: I also make my own floats, lead weights, feeders, spods, carp rigs (how can anyone buy one from a shop?), bite alarms and remote sounder box, rod pod, water thermometer, storm rods, overwrap, back leads, helirigs, marker floats, etc, etc.
 
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steph mckenzie

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Peterjg,

Perhaps you could take some photo's and post some images on here for others to see, i bet some of them would be quite interested in what you make.
 
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steph mckenzie

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Doesn't the Pink colours and bright Orange colours put them off, why don't women wear camouflaged hair curlers (bloody inconvenient) :D

---------- Post added at 10:26 ---------- Previous post was at 10:15 ----------

Here's one that i really like, it looks simple enough and is very informative too.

This was posted by Scottt, and it was his first Post too.

Hi this is my first post on here, i've been lurking for a while and decided to sign up as i'm quite enjoying the posts on here.
Tonights lurking saw me come across this thread and because i had done an article a while ago on another site i thought i would share this with you.

I've had a bit of free time recently due to ill health and chatting on a forum someone mentioned very small feeders for winter fishing, so with nothing else to do and with winter approaching i sat down and had a go at making some simple small cage feeders, they worked out very well so i thought i would share the info with the rest of you.

What you'll need:

6mm x 6mm wire mesh (available at most garden centres)
Snips to cut the wire & lead
Some roofing lead (code 4 is ideal)
Metal file or bench grinder.
Plastic coating powder (the stuff the carp boys coat their leads in) opptional.
15lb line (Amnesia is ideal)
Size 10 swivels
Crimps (as used by sea anglers for their rigs)


Take your wire mesh and your snips and start cutting it into the length and width you want, i judge it by holes, for the small winter feeder cut a bit 3 holes wide and 9 hole in length.

1.jpg


Once cut then take your file or give it a short trip on a bench grinder to remove the tiny little stubbs you'll have on the edges where you have cut it, if you dont remove them you'll find your line keeps catching on them.


Next step is to find a short length of something round to bend your mesh around, i use anything from bits of balsa dowel to plastic piping, just what ever you have, it doesnt have to be the exact diameter as you'll be bending it again afterwards, once you have a basic round shape then bend then last section one each end so it looks like this.

2.jpg


Your just trying to create a flat spot at the bottom of the circle, its where the lead will be fixed, when you pull the 2 edges together it will help with the round shape, hard to explain but you'll get the point.

Next take some of your lead sheet and cut a length 10mm wide (using the snips you cut the mesh with) Code 4 roofing lead is about 1.8mm thick and is ideal but use thicker if you want a heavier feeder.
Then bend the ends up so it looks like this.

3.jpg


Before i get to the stage of fitting the lead i give the mesh a simple plastic coating, if you have used the powder for coating leads then you'll know what i mean. For the rest of you basically you heat the wire mesh up, then sprinkle powder over it, then the powder is then heated and flows into every nook covering the mesh with a strong plastic coating, the powder is available in many colours and textures so its very easy to replicate the pond bottom if you want, i just normally use either green or brown for my waters, the other option is just to paint the mesh, its your choice.

Next sit the feeder into the lead then bend the edges over so it grips the feeder, a final pinch with a set of pliers will hold it very firmly, this wont come off easy.

4.jpg


If you notice there is a slight gap either side of the lead weight and the wire, this is where i fasten the line that will hold the swivel.
I use 15lb Amnesia, simply because its a good line, it comes in black and i had a spool of it lying around.
I just thread a short length through either side of the mesh next to the lead then hold firmly in place using a crimp each side, not forgetting to thread a size 10 swivel on before crimping the other side.

Finished feeder with crimps in place, this one has been plastic coated with a green plastic.

5.jpg


The finished size is 20mm in length and 18mm dia, and according to the scales i have at work it weighs 10g.
I did try a few using twisted power gum instead of the crimped line but i seem to find feeders with twisted power gum seem to cause the main line to tangle around them far to often, this doesn't seem to happen with these links.

As always when i make things i get a bit carried away and made a few more in different sizes, its just a matter of making the width of the mesh a bit wider use 4, 5 or 6 holes wide, go up to 10, 11 or 12 holes for the length, I even made some square ones, these are fitted with 15mm wide lead strips and weigh just that little bit more for a bigger cast.

To give you some ideas of the sizes/weights (hole width x hole length)

Round shape 10mm lead strip
3 x 9 = 10g
4 x 11 = 12g
5 x 11 = 16g
6 x 11 = 18g

Square shape 15mm lead strip

4 x 12 = 16g
6 x 12 = 18g


Some painted some plastic coated.
Click the image to open in full size.

6.jpg


That's all there is to it, quite simple, no expensive tools to buy and an evening or 2's work will keep you in feeders for months, weights can be altered by simply using thicker lead or just a longer length, mine only go inside the feeder a little they could go in further increasing the amount of lead used.
Any questions just PM me or ask on here and i'll reply,

Scott.
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