CHANGE FEEDERS TO CHANGE YOUR MATCH FORTUNES
From Method to cage, it’s a carp a chuck
IT’S funny that when we feeder fish we don’t tend to change the way we present the bait as we do when using the pole.
We’re almost on auto pilot, casting a Method feeder every time when changing over to a pellet or cage feeder would bring better results. If I were pole fishing and felt that I needed to use a lighter or heavier float then I’d have one set up and ready to go. Why shouldn’t you do the same when fishing the tip?
The truth is that it’s a bit of a bind to change over feeders, often involving tackling up again and finding your casting range, so it’s little wonder we tend to keep plugging away. Yet the rewards for changing over can be quite remarkable.
I’ve recently started fishing matches at Todber Manor Fishery in Dorset and the feeder fishing is brilliant, casting a little Method to the islands on Hill View Lake. In these matches I’ve had a nagging thought that making a change and trying something different during the match would produce better. But in a match situation I’ve never taken that gamble.
However, in a feature scenario I could chop and change and just
couldn’t wait to get cracking with a bit of feeder experimentation. This only involves changing the type of feeder and the way that the hookbait is presented – no magical feeds or baits are required here!
My stock approach is to plop a little Method feeder up to the island, but today would be all about something different using the new ICS range from Preston Innovations. With this brilliant system I can change the feeder I’m using in seconds without tackling down.
This allows me to change instantly from a pellet to a cage feeder to see how much of a difference it will make.
WHERE TO CHUCK
Faced with an island, it’s tempting to land the feeder right up against the mud bank but this
is wrong for two reasons. First, I like to leave myself some water closer to the island to cast into later in the day if the fish show signs of backing off. Go straight across and you’ll be left with nowhere else to go. Second, if the water is too shallow I just don’t think that the carp will feed here from the word go.
I like to find around 2ft of water, which is only a count of one as the feeder sinks. You’ll know if it’s shallower than this because the feeder will hit bottom almost as soon as it’s hit the water. Even if this 2ft depth is a few metres off the island I’m not worried because it’s about finding the depth, not getting as close to the island as I can.
I’ll also clip up to make sure I’m in the right spot each time.
THE SESSION
Kicking off on a 30g pellet feeder, action is instant with bites coming roughly within a minute after casting. This is fine, but if the same thing happened to me in a match could I catch quicker
by changing to a cage with the bait hanging out?
The fish were there and getting stuck in so now I needed to find how put a banded pellet in front of them even quicker.
The cage was the answer, still with a 4ins hooklink, but outside the feeder so that when the cage landed and began to empty, the pellet was already waiting for those carp! First chuck produced a big carp before I’d even got the rod on the rest and it was the same on the next seven chucks with a bite in less than 20 seconds. Had I struck gold by making the change? Keep an eye on the match results pages to see – I can’t wait to give it a go in a competitive situation.