FEEDING YOUR SWIM
To kick the swim off i pot in around a third of a large 300ml Guru pole pot of meat and micro pellets, then loosefeed meat over the top with a catapult.
i could use a small kinder pot to feed meat over my rig, but i feel a catapult gives a better spread of bait and therefore more pulling power.
Remember, you can’t catch a big weight by keeping everything too tight. it’s better to feed with a catty and pick fish off from all over the swim. To start i’ll feed 10-12 cubes of meat every 90 seconds, but i will vary the amount and how often i feed to take into account how the swim is responding.
Today it’s taken 10 minutes to get a bite before the swim has just got better and better, so i’ve upped the feed accordingly.
What has also become apparent is that the heavier i feed, the more carp i am pulling into the swim, so by varying my feed to a degree i can actually determine what species i catch.
if i cut back the feed, i tend to catch more skimmers, which i can obviously land more quickly, but they weigh less than the carp and big F1s that are attracted if i feed heavily.
one trick i’ve found works well if bites start to die off is to put a little pot on the end of the pole and trickle a few micro pellets in – these are great for attracting fish into the swim.
That doesn’t mean i’ll stop loosefeeding meat, though, as i find it best to feed both meat and micros to try to kick the peg back into life again.
“By varying my feed to a degree I can actually determine what species I catch”
to a size 16 Guru F1 Pellet, a lightweight yet strong pattern that I find perfect for catching handsized skimmers one minute and an 8lb carp the next.
To get that all-important slow fall to the hookbait, my shotting pattern is a strung bulk of No11s with the bottom shot 6ins from the hook and the rest of the droppers spaced at 1.5ins intervals above.
The great thing about this shotting pattern is that I can easily adapt it to suit the conditions.
For example, if it becomes apparent that the fish aren’t coming off bottom then I can easily tighten the shot up towards the hook to get the hookbait down that bit quicker.
LAND EVERYTHING!
Elastic choice is important too. You’re looking to create a balanced set-up which allows you to land everything. Too heavy an elastic and you’ll pull out of the skimmers, too soft and you’ll stand little chance of landing a big carp when one comes along.
It’s for these reasons that in shallow water, when trying to catch everything, I don’t feel there is a better elastic than Blue Hydro used with a puller kit.
It’s soft enough for skimmers while at the same time it has enough power to land a doublefigure carp if I take my time.
VARY YOUR HOOKBAITS
I’m a big fan of fishing the same thing that I’m feeding, so I always start on a 6mm cube of meat.
However, if I start to miss bites I’ll try half-a-cube.
Sometimes, with skimmers and F1s in particular, half-a-cube on the hook can make a huge difference when it comes to hitting bites consistently.
Equally, if I feel there is a carp in the peg and I can’t catch it, then I will put on two cubes. This will often result in a quick response.
Carp can cause you problems when they’re in the swim, because they can unsettle the skimmers and slow your catch rate – which is exactly what’s been happening today at Barston.
So, if you are catching skimmers steadily and things suddenly go quiet it can be well worth trying a bigger hookbait, just to see if a carp has moved in.