KICKING OFF YOUR SWIM
AS FAR as feeding goes, provided I’m not starting my session on the long pole line I always like to kick things off with just over a third of a 250ml pole pot of corn and pellets in a ratio of two parts corn to one part pellets.
However, if I’m planning to fish this line from the start of my match I’ll be a bit more cautious with my feeding approach and will just go straight out with a Kinder pot on and fish.
I see no point in putting a larger volume of bait on the bottom unless it’s to feed the swim while I’m not fishing it.
Once I do go on the long pole line I like to start by using a medium pot and two-thirds fill it with neat corn.
This amount will vary, depending on the number of bites, but taking into account the head of silver fish in Warren Pool I’m happy to feed in a positive manner to begin with.
In an ideal world I will then feed to bites, so I’ll feed, catch a fish and then feed again.
However, it’s rare that things go this smoothly. Take today, for example. I’ve had a quick run of skimmers with a few carp mixed in, then the swim died.
When this happened, to bring the fish back again all I did was add a cap of wetted-down micro pellets to the corn in the pot.
Pellets are a great way of pulling the skimmers back into the swim, and I have always believed once you get fish feeding, carp will come in to investigate.
I don’t like to feed too many pellets, though, particularly 2mms. If carp come into the peg, chances are they’ll be wafted all over the place, being so light.
When that happens line bites and foul hookers will become a problem, but for sparking a dead swim back into life 2mm pellets can make a huge difference.