Improve Your Coarse Fishing (UK)
Conquer the deeps with a feeder
There’s far more precision involved in successfully fishing a feeder in deep venues than chucking and chancing it, says Steve Whitfield, who explains the art
IF YOU plan to target a deep fishery on the float then you will have asked yourself a raft of questions before getting to the bank. How heavy does my float need to be? Are my elastics heavy enough to set the hook? Is the venue affected by underwater tow? All are valid questions, but dissecting your approach to the same degree is rare when the feeder is your weapon of choice. In fact, it wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say many anglers don’t bother with any preparation, believing that simply chucking out the feeder and placing the rod on the rests will give them the necessary presentation to catch fish. But analysing your feeder approach before having a crack at a deep venue is essential if you are going to make the most of your day on the bank, insists Steve Whitfield.
The Bag‘em Matchbaits and Cadence-backed regularly targets reservoirs where the depths can plunge beyond 40ft. “So many people cling to the notion that feeder fishing is simply a matter of casting out and waiting for the tip to go round. But if it was as simple as that, why are the most successful in the game always catching more fish than the rest?” he asked. “It’s because they pay attention to the detail of every element of their tackle, and when you are fishing in deep water that becomes even more important.”
Bite detection
The biggest shoals of fish in large reservoirs are often sat at a distance where a lengthy cast is required to reach them. This means that there is a lot of line off the reel, and attention needs to be paid to how you are going to spot bites. “If you are fishing around 50m out you have got quite a bit of line off the reel and you need to use braided mainline to help you spot every bite. “Most indications from roach and bream are very subtle, and if you used mono mainline you’d miss these because it stretches a little and the tip won’t budge,” he explained. “Braid, on the other hand, has no stretch at all and the tiniest bite will show up – when the tip trembles it’s time to strike.” Steve uses 0.10mm braid on the reel and then finishes the rig with a ready-tied mono Gamakatsu hooklength, 12in of 0.16mm to a size 14 or 16 LS-2210R hook.
Feeder choice
When your feeder hits the water you need to know what will happen to the bait inside it. That may sound odd, but the type of feeder you use will dictate how quickly the groundbait comes out of the feeder. “At the start of the session I want to build up a big bed of bait to attract fish and then hold them in the area once they’ve arrived. “Once you have got the attention of the shoal you can cut the amount of bait going in so that they have less loosefeed to graze on. This leads to them finding your hookbait quicker.” Steve’s starting feeder is a standard plastic cage with lots of holes in it, enabling the groundbait to rapidly escape. Once he has put a run of fish in the net, he will switch to a window feeder. The groundbait is packed in firmly and remains in the feeder for a long period. Upon striking, the groundbait will have taken on so much water that the movement will lead to it exploding out and adding another mouthful of bait to the swim. “The idea of a window feeder is that it only releases the loosefeed when you strike, topping the swim up while your rig is out of the water so that when you cast back in, there are fish waiting straight away.” Both are fished helicopter-style, and this helps prevent tangles when casting at distance.
Groundbait mix
Large, deep reservoirs are often home to shoals of bream and roach, both with different tastes. Hookbaits such as maggots, casters and worms will work equally well for both species but it is their choice of groundbait that divides them. “Bream and skimmers love fishmeal groundbaits while roach tend to stay away from anything containing large quantites. As a result, you need to fish two separate areas for the species so you can feed different groundbait mixes suited to what they want to eat. “Here at Ulley Reservoir many locals fish 40m out for roach and at 60m for bream. I use measuring sticks on the bank to clip up to these distances before I start fishing. “Both species will patrol these routes, as they are used to being fed there, so look at where other anglers fish on a venue and copy them.” Steve’s mix for bream and skimmers is Bag‘em Matchbaits XPD, with Lake, Canal and River Dark Blend his first port of call for roach. Chopped worm, casters and maggots are added to each as he goes along, mixing small batches at a time so that he can alter the mix to
“You need to use braided mainline to help you spot every bite”
what freebies the fish seem to want. “You might find one day that adding more worms than maggots and casters is best, with the complete opposite applying the next. This varies each day, so trial and error is important.”
Ulley delights
With over 35 acres for the fish in Sheffield’s Ulley Reservoir to roam, peg selection would be key when Steve got on the bank for IYCF. Picking an area where numerous doublefigure nets had been taken in matches, he started on the long line with a cage feeder for bream, and once it hit the water he counted how long it took to get to the deck. “I have around 40ft of water in front of me and it has taken a count of 15 to get to the bottom. You know when it has ‘landed’ as the tension on the tip suddenly vanishes. You then need to pick up the slack and have a little tension in the tip or those tiny bites will be missed, even on braid.” Using a medium taper tip in the rod enabled him to spot every knock while also avoiding being bounced around by the harsh winds and strong current. Recasting every 15 minutes for an hour got some bait down but the fish didn’t arrive. But a switch to doing the same in the roach zone soon produced redfins, with plenty of fish around the 4oz mark falling to maggot hookbaits before he changed to a Window feeder to reduce the amount of loosefeed. “I’m going to have another go on the bream line because there is every chance a big fish or two could have settled over the feed I introduced earlier.” True to form, the second chuck produced a tentative bite on a Window feeder and minutes later a big, dark slab of around 7lb was beaten. “Fish like this don’t give themselves up easily and had I not refined my feeder choice and thought about my rigs and bait I doubt I’d have been lucky enough to catch. Deep water feeder fishing requires a lot of thought, but put in a little homework and you’ll soon reap the rewards,” concluded Steve.