hard and soft pellet options – do you want carp or bream?
Adam Wakelin reveals when to use them
When you’re talking pellets, you’re talking hard or soft, straight from the bag or pumped to turn them into a very different beast – but do you know which pellets to use, and why?
Fish will eat both, but using the right type on the hook for will go a long way towards success in a match, especially where carp and skimmers are concerned.
Experience has taught me that skimmers and bream much prefer a soft expander in colder weather, whereas those carp will seek out a hard pellet above all else. Waste time using a hard, banded pellet when carp aren’t about and you’ll miss out on the skimmers... but go soft and you’ll miss out on any bonus carp.
It all sounds easy on paper, simply changing baits and bagging up, but there will be indications during the match as to when to make this change.
As ever in fishing, it’s all down to letting the fish you are catching tell you when to switch.
Meadowlands Fishery is a prime example of a venue where carp and skimmers are equally important. They may seem insignificant compared to the carp, but those little skimmers can get you off to a flyer before the big fish rock up.
So, armed with bags of hard and expander pellets, this week I’m going to demonstrate why mixing it up with your pellet choices will always beat the bloke who sticks to one type all day long.
making the change
When do you switch pellets? Well, I always begin fishing expanders, as skimmers are often the first fish to show and catching 20lb of these can make a huge difference to your result.
Eventually, a carp will turn up but I don’t change yet, as this may just be a rogue. If I nobble a second carp soon after, that’s the cue that the bigger fish are about and feeding and I can expect to get a few more on a hard pellet.
If I catch just the one carp I’ll stay on expanders. Changing is never down to water clarity or temperature – it’s simply down to what’s in the peg!
picking pellets
The size of pellet will go a long way towards helping you catch the right fish at the right time so, for carp, my hard pellets are fishery-own 6mm baits. I will also have some 8mm pellets in case I’m drawn on a pile of carp or if small fish are a problem.
Where expanders are concerned, it’s the opposite, and I pick 4mm Ringer Baits Next Generation. These are pellets that small skimmers can easily take, but which carp won’t turn their noses up at either.
These expanders are pumped on the morning when I get to my peg – there’s no time-consuming overnight prep involved.
one rig does it all
I don’t know about you, but I’m not a fan of changing from a rig that I know is catching well to another. That original rig may have had some slight depth or shotting adjustments to get it just right, changes that my other rig won’t have had.
However, by using one rig for both hard and soft pellets there’s no worry! But how, I hear you ask, can you get a hard pellet on the hook
without using a hair-rig set-up? The answer is to hook the pellet band on to the hook. Thinking about it, we don’t hair-rig meat or corn on the pole, so why do it with pellets?
Slipping a Guru Micro Band on to the hook allows me to use a hard pellet and when I switch back to an expander, I simply slip the band off.
With the band being movable too, I can position the pellet up the shank or on the bend of the hook to help me hit bites better.
talking tackle
My favourite float for pellet
fishing is the 0.3g Mick Wilkinson Wako. This is ideal for the deeper Lambsdown Lake at Meadowlands, but the size you go for is depth-dependent.
On the much shallower Warren Pool next door, for example, I’d use a 0.1g float.
Shotting is made up of seven No10s as a spread bulk four inches apart in the bottom half of the rig, finished with two droppers a little further apart.
I firmly believe that fish watch the pellet fall and take it just as it settles, so a spread of shot is key.
Lines are 0.18mm main to an 0.14mm hooklink of Silstar Match Team and a size 14 Guru Super LWG hook, with White Hydro elastic.
Using balanced tackle is so important at this time of year, and although I may not catch as many skimmers with this set-up as I would if I scaled right back, I’d also have a real game getting the carp in!
Fish around the peg
Because the pellets I am loosefeeding will spread slightly, I’m given the option of having more water with bait in it to fish over. The fish will move about a bit, so sticking to the same ‘hole’ to drop into each time isn’t your best bet. If I’m not getting any bites, I’ll drop in a few feet to one side or even propel the rig past where I was fishing to see if any fish have backed off further into the lake. This can work particularly well for carp.