RINGER TO THE RESCUE
Steve talks us through his approach to commercial silvers
LOTS of anglers favour maggots and groundbait for skimmers in the cold, but there are times when pellets can be a better and more positive way of fishing, even under freezing conditions.
It’s not as simple as just pumping a few expanders though, in fact there are three ways that I fish with pellets for skimmers. The trick is to choose the right one for your water, rather than the weather.
Expanders over micros
The first and perhaps most common pellet attack in winter is to feed balls of wetted micro pellets and fish a 4mm or 6mm expander pellet over the top. I’ll normally kick the swim off with a ball the size of a golf ball. I then leave things to settle for at least 30 minutes, and ideally an hour, before I look in on it.
I will then top up to bites, in other words, if I catch a few skimmers and then it dies I’ll feed another ball. I’ll also vary the size of the ball depending on the response I’ve been getting and how many fish I feel are in front of me.
When I do top up, I prefer to let the swim settle for five minutes rather than go straight back in over the bait. The latter approach can lead to foul hookers and silly bites. It’s much better to let the swim and the skimmers settle down again. After all, if it’s gone quiet it will have done so for a reason, such as the fish backing away after a few have been caught, or not much bait left in the swim.
When it’s tough…
The second method again involves micros or 2mm wetted-down pellets, but this time it’s all about sprinkling them in via a Kinder pot. This can be deadly, particularly when the water is very cold.
I remember a match a few years back when I was fishing for skimmers, potting in hard balls of pellets and really struggling for a bite. In desperation I put a small pot on with a sprinkle lid and started to tap micros over the float every couple of minutes.
In no time at all I was getting indications on a 4mm expander and within 10 minutes it was quite literally a skimmer a drop!
I think this worked so well because the water was clear and the pellets falling through the water dragged fish into the swim and then down to the bottom. On the day I have just mentioned I was fishing in 11ft of water, so it was a deep swim and flat calm, with virtually no tow. I have since repeated this success in similar conditions.
If the lake was towing hard, though, I’d be reluctant to feed this way. Instead, I’d pot in little wet nuggets of pellets the size of my thumbnail to ensure they went down where I wanted them to. Any tow, if you aren’t careful, will take your bait all over the place, particularly when feeding a light bait such as 2mm pellets. Sprinkling micros works well when conditions are good, or you are fishing in water of 5ft or less.
“It’s important to feed and then let the skimmers settle down again”
Go positive!
Last but certainly not least is a much more positive approach, which is to loosefeed 4mm hard pellets via a catapult and again fish a 4mm or 6mm expander over the top.
This is a very aggressive way of fishing that’s very popular at venues such as Meadowlands, that hold a big head of skimmers and where big weights can be caught even in the cold.
In layman’s terms this involves regularly loosefeeding wetted-down 4mms to try to pull more and more skimmers into the swim. It’s an approach that can be used in any depth of water, as 4mm pellets sink fast enough for even a large tow not to be a problem.
What I would say is that to catch a big weight of skimmers when fishing this way, you normally need to prime the swim for at least 90 minutes, and ideally two hours. This way the skimmers are properly settled and feeding when you have that first look.
One other point regarding this way of fishing is that it tends to involve feeding up to three pints of wetted-down 4mms. It’s very much an ‘all or nothing’ method, so if you are in any doubt, I’d always recommend one of the first two methods as a safer bet.
Soft expander hookbaits
One last tip regarding pellet fishing for skimmers is that is there’s no better bait than a soft expander pellet for the hook.
I personally like Ringers Cool Water pellets as they are light in colour due to their lower fishmeal content and they stand out more in terms of visibility in cold clear water.
You might be tempted to fish a 4mm or 6mm hard pellet for speed, but having tried exactly that I am 100 per cent confident that skimmers show a definite preference for a soft hookbait, making expander pellets the perfect option.