FAULT FIXER
How to feed in winter
HOW MUCH TO FEED
THIS is an area where Peter felt he needed the most help. Although he begins by feeding lightly, this goes out of the window if he isn’t catching. When this happens, he feeds more bait more often, which is the worst thing you can do.
Keep feeding disciplined and have patience. Introducing around 30 or 40 micros every drop in is the right amount.
ACCURATE PLUMBING UP
FOR F1s, you want the hookbait to be just touching bottom so that every time a fish picks up the pellet, it registers a movement on the float tip. Time spent plumbing up is crucial and my starting point is to plumb up so that the float bristle is standing proud of the water. Give or take a fraction of a centimetre, the bait will then be just resting on the lakebed.
THINK ABOUT YOUR POT SIZE
FEEDING with a small pot on the pole is a must when you’re only introducing small amounts of pellets. The temptation when using a big pot is to fill it up each time and, as a result, overfeed the fish. Using the smallest pot you can stops this.
The key in winter is feeding for one fish at a time as opposed to trying to build a swim up over time and to catch steadily.
ALWAYS USE EXPANDERS
PELLETS are perfect for F1s and carp, but Peter needs to ditch the hard pellets and use an expander pellet instead.
An expander is softer and lighter than a normal pellet. This means that a fish will keep hold of the pellet for longer as opposed to spitting it back out. We talked about preparing expanders with a pellet pump and to use 4mm pellets in winter.