Before I set off however, I had to do possibly the most important thing for the day & that was to prepare the pellets. I prefer 6mm Skretting trout pellets for this method & with a little careful attention its possible to create what i believe is the ideal feed. One kilo of dry trout pellets would be ample for today's session, if it was a match I would probably double that amount just in case. I start of by soaking them in cold water for thirty minutes after which I drain them thoroughly, then leave them for another hour to finally absorb the remaining moisture. What you end up with is a perfect soft pellet that sinks instantly, but retains its shape without going mushy, that can happen with coarse or expander pellets. By introducing them through the feeder you leave a lovely attractive bed of feed that carp in particular find irresistible.
Soaked & ready to go. The perfect feed for the pellet feeder.I sat myself down on peg 20 today as it has a nice attractive bed of Lillie's to fish towards. The carp will feed confidently here & it is an easy chuck. Generally i will start tight to them, going down the same hole each time, but I will come back, left & right a yard or so as the session progresses.
Peg 20 on the match lake.
My set up today consists of a ABU Garcia Suveran feeder rod fished at eleven foot six inches coupled with one of my trusty Daiwa Tierra reels, loaded with 4lb Maxima. This peg is snag free hence the relatively light mainline. However i wouldn't hesitate to step up to 8lb Daiwa sensor should the conditions dictate. I like to set the rod up so it sits against my box rather than have it across the legs, simply because it allows me more freedom of movement should it be needed, however, once the fish are having it, I will just place it on my legs as the bites will start to come instantly. Rig wise, i like to keep it dead simple & no nonsense. I modify a Drennan grip mesh with twizzled power gum, that makes it a little more forgiving from the constant casting. I thread the feeder onto the mainline so it is completely free running, followed by a buffer bead, then a Korum quick change bead. Attached to this is a pre tied hook length of .20 power plus to a size 12 Fox series 2 eyed barbless with a knot less knot. Finally sitting in a micro bait band on the hair is an 11mm Skretting coarse pellet. Its vital to have plenty of hook length pre tied as they will take most of the abuse throughout a session
Loaded & ready to fly!
Loading the feeder is simply a case of pushing the feeder through the soaked pellets. However don't be tempted to squeeze them in too tightly. This will ensure that they spill out from the feeder once it has hit the deck. As with the method, the carp will attack the feeder in order to get to the pellets, so ideally a short hook length can be best. However the rules here dictate a minimum twelve inch hook length. If bites start to slow then often it can pay to give the reel half a turn to bring the hook bait back into any feed. Or alternatively twitching the mainline can provoke an instant response. Loaded & ready to fly.Today's session took literally 2 casts before i was into fish. Bites are savage with this method as the idea is they hook themselves against the resistance of the rod tip. For this reason i use a 2oz tip. Finesse is defiantly not a pre requisite. You have to sit on your hands & ignore the inevitable, liners & knocks on the feeder & wait for the tip to fly around & keep on going. In addition to the pellets going through the feeder I like to catapult pellets over the top. I use the same 11mm as on the hair & these will attract any inquisitive fish close by.
A decent mirror!
Constantly casting & not leaving the rig in the water for any longer than a couple of minutes got me a fish a chuck today. A quiet spell would lead to a much better fish pushing 5lb hitting the net. I am convinced these bigger fish bully the smaller ones out for a while, that's why the swim seemingly goes quiet for a few minutes. later on i moved the feeder around slightly from left to right & continued to pick up fish for the full 5 hours. I soon lost count of how many fish I had but I estimate i was close to the ton.
Milemeads carp fight like stink!
So there we go, my way with the pellet feeder. Following the golden rules of pellet preparation, simple rigs & constant casting has given me one of my best catches today. Its not the be all & end all however, obviously on certain pegs different methods & techniques will outscore. But on the right peg it really is a devastatingly selective method.
Loaded & ready to fly!Loading the feeder is simply a case of pushing the feeder through the soaked pellets. However don't be tempted to squeeze them in too tightly. This will ensure that they spill out from the feeder once it has hit the deck. As with the method, the carp will attack the feeder in order to get to the pellets, so ideally a short hook length can be best. However the rules here dictate a minimum twelve inch hook length. If bites start to slow then often it can pay to give the reel half a turn to bring the hook bait back into any feed. Or alternatively twitching the mainline can provoke an instant response. Loaded & ready to fly.Today's session took literally 2 casts before i was into fish. Bites are savage with this method as the idea is they hook themselves against the resistance of the rod tip. For this reason i use a 2oz tip. Finesse is defiantly not a pre requisite. You have to sit on your hands & ignore the inevitable, liners & knocks on the feeder & wait for the tip to fly around & keep on going. In addition to the pellets going through the feeder I like to catapult pellets over the top. I use the same 11mm as on the hair & these will attract any inquisitive fish close by.
A decent mirror!Constantly casting & not leaving the rig in the water for any longer than a couple of minutes got me a fish a chuck today. A quiet spell would lead to a much better fish pushing 5lb hitting the net. I am convinced these bigger fish bully the smaller ones out for a while, that's why the swim seemingly goes quiet for a few minutes. later on i moved the feeder around slightly from left to right & continued to pick up fish for the full 5 hours. I soon lost count of how many fish I had but I estimate i was close to the ton.
Milemeads carp fight like stink!So there we go, my way with the pellet feeder. Following the golden rules of pellet preparation, simple rigs & constant casting has given me one of my best catches today. Its not the be all & end all however, obviously on certain pegs different methods & techniques will outscore. But on the right peg it really is a devastatingly selective method.
No comments:
Post a Comment