SOMETHING A LITTLE DIFFERENT...

BAIT-UP FEEDER

Known by some as ‘boshers’, these big cage feeders are for getting lots of bait into the peg rapidly. They’re essential for bream fishing, and at the start of a session I’ll make eight or 10 casts.

WHICH SIZE?

Heavy feeders are for casting long distances or gripping the bottom when fishing up to the steep slope of an island. For general fishing a 28g feeder is more than enough. Very light feeders of around 15g work well for very short chucks.

FEEDER CAPACITIES

Err on the side of large feeders to put a good hit of bait into the swim every cast. If that changes to a lake with F1s or skimmers as the target, scale it back a little to a medium size. In winter, small or mini feeders rule the roost.

ELASTICATED OR NOT?

Many fisheries do not allow elasticated feeders, but if allowed, I will go for elastic, as it gives me insurance against hook pulls. The Guru X-Safe system is completely safe – if you suffer a line break a fish cannot end up tethered. Guru Hybrid, Method and Commercial Cage feeders use stems through which the elastic runs, and the longer the stem, the more accurate your casting will be. Choose from black, which I use for big fish, and softer white, for bream, skimmers and F1s.

FEEDERLINKS

With the arrival of feederlinks we can now fish a very neat and tidy rig with no danger of tangling! In essence, a feederlink is a short piece of fluorocarbon coated in shrink tube to create a stiff ‘link’.

The feeder is attached at one end and the other slides on to the mainline. Add a short length of twisted line below the feeder and it’s the perfect anti-tangle rig, but a feederlink has still more advantages. I believe you also get better bite detection as the fish are not pulling against the weight of the feeder when they pick up the bait. You’re also not playing them against the weight of the feeder, which can cause the hook to pull. Instead, the feeder hangs independently and has no effect on things.