“Feeding carp will home in on a bigger hookbait that bit quicker”
The right groundbait
With groundbait, it’s important to use a mix that is relatively heavy, with a high food content. Mix it on the wet side so that all the particles have plenty of time to absorb the water and stay on the bottom. You definitely don’t want a dry mix with particles floating off all over the place.
Feeding regimes
Timing is all-important, and normally I won’t feed my edge until 20-30 minutes before I want to go on it. Feeding it from the off just wastes bait. It makes more sense to feed the edge at the time when the carp are actually looking to move in here. Normally in a match this will be with 90 minutes to two hours to go.
How I feed my swim depends on what bait I am fishing with. Where groundbait is concerned I prefer to dump pot, so to kick the swim off I will feed five or six big pots of groundbait and corn/dead maggots all in one go. I’ll then top up as and when I need to, letting the fish tell me. I might catch five or six off the initial feed before it dies. The next move is to top up with two more big pots of bait to try and pull the fish back in again.
It’s always important to feed some particles with groundbait, otherwise the carp have a habit of becoming preoccupied with the groundbait alone. That makes them very hard, if not impossible, to catch.
With particles, on the other hand, I prefer to feed fish by fish, so I will initially introduce two-thirds of a big pot to kick the swim off, then feed with a big pole-mounted pot, normally after every bite. In other words, I’m resetting the trap.
Heavy floats
If you do have a deep margin you need to think about float choice. Light floats in the edges are a big no-no. Once you get any number of fish feeding in the swim, light rigs get wafted about all over the place.
I like to use an MW Margin Diamond (although any float with a sensible body will do) in anything from 0.3g to 0.5g, depending on what depth I have in front of me. A heavier float is very stable and allows me to present my hookbait right on top of the loose offerings.
What goes on the hook
Finally, let’s look at hookbait choice. When edge fishing, matching the hatch is vital.
If I’m feeding a mixture of groundbait and dead maggots then I’ll fish bunches of maggots on the hook.
A little tip here – when targeting 6lb-10lb carp, eight or 10 maggots on a size 12 Guru XS Spade hook takes some beating. Feeding carp home in on a bigger hookbait that bit quicker.
The same principle applies for particles. If I’m feeding pellets and corn I will fish corn on the hook, normally one or two grains. If I’m feeding hard 8mm pellets I’ll fish a banded 8mm! After all, if the carp are feeding on the loose offerings it’s only common sense to have the same on the hook.