The triple pellet trick – Matt Bingham

Doubling or even tripling the number of pellets on your hook can dramatically improve catches, says Matt Bingham

WHEN a single hookbait fails to produce the goods, the obvious alternative is to add more baits to the hook to double or triple its attraction. Maggots, casters and corn are regularly used in twos and threes on the hook and there is no question they can be the solution to getting among the bigger fish. But for some unknown reason pellets are never given the same treatment. A single expander will catch lots of fish, but when the going gets tough it is rare to see anyone adding a couple more to the hook. Instead, they turn to a completely different bait rather than stick to the tried and tested, albeit with a tweak. I say nobody uses multiple pellets as a hookbait but that isn’t strictly true. Matt Bingham has caught hundreds of fish using the approach and is adamant that anglers are missing out. “The fish in commercials have seen almost every trick in the book. This is something different that is never used and has the ability to fool wary F1s and carp when all else fails,” explained Matt. “Everyone knows that switching to more maggots or grains of corn on the hook can make a massive difference. I’d say that doing the same with pellets is even more deadly.”

Pellet pulling power

When you consider that tons of pellets are fed into commercial fishery lakes every month, it’s no wonder fish regard them as the number one food source. They are likely to get you bites from the off but, as with any bait or tactic, you often need to make amendments as the hours pass to keep the bites coming at the same pace. When the fish smell a rat and back off, it is time for Matt to triple up. “I always start the session on a single expander pellet, as I should catch a few fish before they start to wise up. “Although the number of bites will reduce, the chances are there will still be lots of fish in the area. They’ve just worked out what to avoid when feeding over a bed of bait.” Using the right type of pellets and a suitable hook size is also very important if you want this tactic to work. When fishing for F1s at his favourite venue, Tunnel Barn Farm in Shrewley, Warwickshire, he will use three Spotted Fin 3mm expanders on a size 16 hook. “It is important that you don’t cover the point of the hook or you will miss lots of bites because it won’t be able to penetrate the mouth of a fish properly. “I slide one expander halfway up the shank, the second on the back of the bend and the final one at the front of the bend. This leaves the point showing.”

Focus on feeding

“Although you may have now found a hookbait that is attracting more bites, all your good work can be undone if you feed the swim incorrectly. “What, how much and when you feed will have a huge impact on the number of fish that go in the net, and I have four different approaches of baiting up to suit what is happening on the day.”

1. LOOSE PELLETS “I start by introducing a small cup of loose micro pellets after every fish. I will keep doing this if I am getting regular bites and not foul-hooking fish. 2. THE 50/50 “If the number of fish in the swim reduces, I halve the number of micro pellets and add a small nugget of Spotted Fin Milled Expanders groundbait. This cuts the food content and gives the fish less choice of what to eat when they come back.”

3. GROUNDBAIT NUGGET“If 50/50 hasn’t worked it is time to cut out the pellets altogether and add a slightly bigger nugget of groundbait. This will have lots of attraction but the only food in the peg will be your hookbait, forcing any fish that turn up to eat it.”

4. PELLET BALLS “Foul-hooking can be a nightmare when too many fish come into your swim. When this happens, fish will rise up in the water – even in the margins – to intercept food first, and this causes line bites. In order to get all your bait to the bottom, create a ball of dampened micro pellets so it sinks to the deck and takes the fish with it.”

“Fish wise up to the same hookbaits. Keep changing as the day goes on”

Tunnel Barn tactics

New Pool at Tunnel Barn Farm holds F1s ranging from a few ounces to 5lb. It is these bigger fish that seem to go ‘missing’ at times but Matt believes this is purely because they are cautious of clumsy rigs. Plumbing up down the margins, he found just under 2ft of water and lowered in his rig and single expander pellet hookbait before trickling a few micros over the top. Around 10 minutes later the float dipped and a 1lb fish was banked. That happened 10 times, then the action died. The feed was cut back and a double expander hookbait came into play. The fish hadn’t disappeared and bites resumed almost instantly. “It just goes to show the fish wise up to the same hookbaits and loosefeed. It’s important to keep changing as the day goes on,” said Matt. Another lull led to a switch to three on the hook and the elastic was out again shortly afterwards – although this time around 6ft of blue Preston Innovations 9H was visible. “This is a much better stamp,” predicted Matt as a 4lb chunk added to the net. Switching how he fed and how many pellets were on the hook kept fish coming but it was clear that the bigger ones all fell to either double or triple expanders, proof that this small change can have a big effect on your overall results.