Improve Your Coarse Fishing (UK)
Checklist for tip fishing joy – Alex Dockerty
Dynamite Baits’ Alex Dockerty reckons the ‘tip’ will outfish all other tactics right now. Here’s his essential guide to getting the most from the method
ONCE the cold weather hits, the feeder can bring a host of advantages over the waggler or pole. Perhaps the biggest of these is that it enables you to present the hookbait perfectly amid the loosefeed. This is not something you can do when using a catapult. There is the pole, of course, but then you’re limited to the range at which you are able to fish. Also, as the water clears, the fish are less willing to feed with a pole waving over their heads. This is why, for me, winter generally means feeder fishing. So, to help you get more out of your feeder work, here are my top five tips...
LOOK FOR DEEPER WATER
As with all fishing, regardless of the time of year, features play a major key in the success or failure of any session. Beeches Lake at Lindholme Lakes is a typical commercial pool offering shallows, deeper areas, overhanging trees and thick reedbeds to cast to. Every swim is different. And it is often those reeds that I will target first. Zones like this are natural holding areas for fish because they offer safety, sanctuary, warmth and a natural food supply. You do, however, need to be careful. The reeds I’m casting to have a depth of three to four feet. If the depth was two feet or less, this line would be too shallow for this time of year. A depth of 30in or more is ideal. If the features opposite you have less depth hard up to them, then try casting two or three feet short, as this can often produce a few fish. Other great areas to target are islands. Again, the depth rule stands if you are chucking up to the margins of these features. Aerators and snags are always worth a cast too. I then like to have a second or even a third line, which is usually into the open water, where it is deeper. Today, the reeds are at 12 o’clock, so I have two swims – one at 10 and one at two – into around five foot of water. This extra couple of feet is just enough to make a significant difference on the day, giving me the best of both worlds. This will be fished with the ‘straight’ lead, whereas the reeds are fished with a Method feeder.
COVER ALL BASES WITH YOUR RIGS
The Method is very under-used in the winter months as many people think it will overfeed the swim. I like to use a small Guru Hybrid feeder with sides, which enable me to dictate the number of pellets or groundbait I load on to it. This size feeder only has a payload of around a teaspoon’s worth of bait, so you’re feeding very little each cast. It is almost the same as you’d feed through a pot on a pole. As the temperatures drop, I will swap over to a Banjo feeder, as these can be loaded to carry even less bait if required. As the loosefeed and hookbait are together, it means that as long as I cast accurately, I get a brilliant presentation. For the bomb line, this is a simple freerunning 9g lead with a 12in hooklink. I use very small leads as they make minimal disturbance when they are cast in. In fact, it sounds very similar to the ‘plinking’ sound made by loosefed pellets when they hit the surface. The hooklink is 12in of 0.16mm (6lb 4oz) to a size 20 Guru MWG hook, tied with a bait band on the hair. This rig is used as a searching tool, as I loosefeed with a catapult. It is not as accurate as the Method, so once again I have the best of both worlds spread over three swims.
USE THE RIGHT SIZE PELLETS
As on many similar waters feeding is a case of pellets, pellets and more pellets! The bomb line is fed with 6mms. These would generally be Dynamite Baits’ XL pellets, but at Lindholme you have to use fishery-only items. I find 6mms are the right size to catapult a reasonable distance while retaining accuracy. A 4mm is a little too small, as they fly too wide when fed, whereas 8mms are too big at this time of year. If the main target was F1s, though, I would drop down to 4mm and fish a little closer in, to regain my feed accuracy. If I had the choice my go-to feed for the Method would be 1mm Dynamite Baits’ Swim Stim pellets. I have a lot of confidence in tiny pellets like these in winter. If I do get bitted out though, I will swap up to the new 2mms or even 3mms. At this time of year, I’m fishing for bites, so I prefer to start with smaller pellets so I can catch anything that swims. I fish all my loosefeed pellets straight out of the bag, although the pellets I use on the hook for the bomb set-up will be doused in a little XL Scopex liquid, just enough to coat them. Apart from the highly-pungent, classic all-year round flavour of Scopex, it slightly colours the hookbaits so they stand out over the loosefeed.
USE GROUNDBAIT TO BIND PELLETS
Although I’m not planning on using any today, groundbait usually plays a part when I’m fishing on lakes deeper than 8ft, because it binds to the Method feeder better in deeper water. I use the groundbait to help bind the pellets in this case, usually mixing it at a ratio of 70:30 pellets to groundbait. It also helps prevent the payload from breaking down too quickly, if the fishing is hard on the day. I would also use groundbait if bream or skimmers were the main target. In both instances, I will use Dynamite’s Black Swim Stim. On a venue that has a lot of F1s, I would change this to Green Swim Stim, but at this time of year, I will leave out the Marine Halibut that I’d add in the summer because it is too oily to work as effectively in colder water.
MATCHING THE HATCH
There are two ways to go here – either ‘match the hatch’ using a 6mm hard XL pellet on the hook or a Match Mini or Slow Sinking nugget if I want to go hi-viz. The good thing about using a harder hookbait is that it gives you the confidence to let the feeder fish for about 15-20 minutes at a time. Generally, I start by matching the hatch, but if bites are slow, I then go hi-viz. This can also be good if you are only getting smaller fish, as the change can often bring a larger specimen. The final hookbait I love to use in the winter is sweetcorn, again with a little Scopex added to boost its flavour, taste and colour signature. The only problem with corn on the feeder is that it can be attacked by nuisance fish. For fishing both lines, I set out to make between four and six casts an hour with the Method. The bomb I’ll cast every 5-10 minutes, while catapulting three to five pellets over the top every 10 minutes. The key to winter feeder work is to keep things simple, fish for a bite at a time, and let the fish come to you. Don’t try to force the swim as you will end up ruining things. By following these five simple rules, you should comfortably get bags of 20lb-30lb, not too shabby on a cold winter’s day.