Improve Your Coarse Fishing (UK)
Connor Barlow
A sprinkle is all you need
FEEDING little and often is vital in spring and Connor Barlow reveals the tool you need to do it accurately.
There’s no doubt that small yet regular top- ups of bait are the safest strategy to get lots of bites, with large quantities of feed dumped in one hit often a recipe for disaster.
But the definition of the phrase is open to interpretation. Many anglers believe they are being advised to add more bait every 10 minutes, but Connor Barlow will have fed at least five times in that time frame!
The Guru and Mainline Match- backed star will top- up his swim hundreds of times every session when pole fishing, however, he puts checks and balances in place to make sure it is done with considerable ease and maximum effect.
“Feeding with accuracy is the best the way to concentrate fish around your hookbait and a pole cup is without doubt the most effective item to achieve that,” explains Connor.
“There are pitfalls to using this style when you need to feed so frequently – the main one being constant shipping in and out.
“Thankfully there are ways to drastically reduce this while keeping the peg primed.”
Saving time
Many anglers that fish the long pole will have every intention of feeding little and often but their resolution will soon be tested.
Shipping in and out can become a chore and the time between feeds will gradually increase as the day goes on. This will likely have an adverse effect on the number of fish caught.
Connor reckons such backbreaking work can be avoided by using a certain type of pole pot on the end of your top kit.
“My favourite is a medium Guru pot with a sprinkle lid,” he reveals.
“Once filled this can be used to feed just a small quantity of the contents at a time.
“It is simply a matter of turning the cup over, tapping in a few morsels and then returning it to the upright position.
“As a rule of thumb, I feed every two minutes. With this type of pot I can get around five feeds in before needing to ship in and refill the pot.
“I only drop in 1020 bits of bait – just enough to attract one fish at a time.”
The two- minute top- up rule applies if he doesn’t get a bite but if the float does dip and he strikes at nothing, he instantly puts in a fraction more bait.
“The fish that was present will have scattered the pile of bait. It’s essential to put down another small bed next to the hookbait,” states Connor.
Two top baits
There’s no need to line your sidetray with an array of options when carp and F1s are on the cards in spring.
In fact, Connor is fully reliant on the pulling power of just maggots and pellets.
It’s often a case of trial and error as to which will be most effective on the day and the way the fish are feeding will usually dictate which is the
standout performer.
“If the quality fish are on the deck then 4mm pellets are best because they sink quickly and are much tougher for smaller silver fish sat off the deck to intercept,” he says.
“When you have F1s and carp scattered throughout the water column and silvers are less of a problem, maggots come up trumps.
“They sink really slowly and give fish at all depths the chance to get their fill.”
Rigs for each bait differ slightly, with their properties mirroring how the food choice behaves in the water.
“When fishing maggots I use a light carbon stem float. In depths up to 3ft I use a 4x10 and any deeper I go fo a 4x12.
“Combine it with a strung- out shotting pattern and you get a really slow fall of the bait.
“Much of the time you will get a bite just as the hookbait hits the deck. I’m convinced this is because fish have watched it fall at a natural pace and don’t sense any danger.”
A 4x12 float with a wire stem is used for pellets as this cocks quicker and is more suitable when you want to quickly get the hookbait to the bottom.
“Each time I feed a few pellets, I lift the rig so the float is just out of the water. When I think the loosefeed is roughly a foot from the deck, I lower the rig back in.
“This enables the hookbait to blend in with the loosefeed in the last part of the fall, confusing the fish as to which has the hook in it.”
Work your lines
There’s rarely a time when Connor will dump in lots of bait at once.
Many anglers start their session by adding a big hit of free offerings but it is much better to deploy the little- and- often approach from the word go.
“There’s likely to be lots of fish nearby from the start and if you put in too much bait, you’re effectively giving them a free meal and making them much harder to catch,” he says.
“I usually start my session fishing towards an island or the far bank as the fish will push here due of the inevitable commotion caused when setting up.
“I spend at least an hour here and make sure I don’t let up from my policy of feeding every two minutes as a minimum.
“The margins get the same treatment when I am fishing them. I put in a small pot of bait to make sure there is some food present when the edge is being rested, otherwise the fish would move elsewhere once they’ve hoovered up the loosefeed.”
Don’t get lazy when intending to feed little and often and the fish will respond in the perfect fashion.