Feeding – Why, What, Where, When, How
I can't tell you how to feed. There are just too many variables. But I can explain some general principles, ideas and hints that may help.
For me there is one golden rule about feeding :-
Never feed without understanding what it is you are trying to achieve.
Always understand why you are feeding what you are feeding and when, where, how you are feeding it.
To explain that it may be easier to give a couple of examples of what I see as bad feeding technique and then go from there.
All of the following were witnessed on a local club lake, part of the Wellingborough Nene AC waters. “Millcotton” has been dug out as a commercial style snake/canal. 13M wide on average with forty pegs (plus five disabled stands in the car park) around an island. From above it looks like a compressed/stretched kidney shape. Stocking is with carp to the odd 10/11lb fish (average is 2-3lb but enough 4-8s to keep you interested) and plenty of silvers including some crucians to two pound.
My normally successful approach in a pleasure session is to fish at around 8 metres and feed micros or four mils regularly through a tosspot keeping everything tight. In pleasure sessions I'm too lazy to fish the 14m of pole required to target the far bank and will often fish that with a pellet feeder. The margins can also give good sport and produce the larger fish. Here I just trickle in some pellets and corn.
Anyway – Bad Feeding 1 – While fishing I heard that unmistakeable sound of someone a few pegs along feeding a handful of corn. As I looked over he fed another two or three handfuls around his float that was just off the end of his rod tip. He then lifted the float out and I could see he was fishing around 2-3 ft deep. Problem for me is that at that point the lake is five foot deep.
I can recall fishing corn at half depth on two occasions. Both were in the far bank margin and the fish had given me indications that they were intercepting my small amount of corn feed midwater. So while I see it as a legitimate if little used tactic the feeding I had witnessed didn't match the depth being fished. Three handfuls of corn would, to me, pin the fish to the deck so it would have been best to fish full depth or feed one or two grains regularly or even liquidised corn if you want to target midwater.
Bad Feeding 2 – Two lads turned up with chairs and “carp” gear and sat themselves a few pegs from me. Next thing I heard was a swoosh as one of them started to throw in a pre prepared seed mixture. I think it is done by Dynamite and comes in large “sweety” type jars with screw lids. This lad broadcast at least six handfulls of this mixture all over the far half of his swim and then proceeded to do the same to his mate's. Now, consider that he has probably just carpeted an area roughly twenty metres wide by six and a half across, that's 130 square metres.
This may be a legitimate tactic on some large carp lakes such as may only contain a half dozen specimen and named carp and you are prepared to wait 48 hours for a bite, not being a “carp” angler I can't be certain. But on Millcotton all I see it as doing is allowing the fish to possibly mop up 130 square metres of feed before finding your single hookbait. Consider that my bait is sitting in a fed area of probably no more than one square foot. To me no wonder that I caught and they blanked.
Bad Feeding 3 – Actually no feeding at all. A lad pitched up next to me one day (lake was virtually empty but he still decided to sit on the next peg – go figure!) and fished the pellet waggler. Again a legitimate tactic though one I see no need for on this lake. He fished for three hours without feeding one single thing, just cast the float around the swim. Yes he picked up two stray fish. But one of the basic requirements of pellet waggler fishing is feed, feed, feed. Maybe not loads and frequently but regularly. Others may know of occasions when they have seen the pellet waggler score without feeding, I can't recall any.
In each of the examples above each tactic was legitimate and all the feeding methods have their day. But on none of the occasions did the feeding match the tactic and hence, as I witnessed, very few fish were caught.
So what can I say that will help? First consider -
Why Feed?
The simple answer is “To attract fish into your swim and hold them there”. Correct but not the whole answer. Carpeting 130 square metres with bait will do that, but we are trying to catch the fish, not just feed them. That's what garden ponds are for. So the whole answer is that we are trying to get fish into a position where they are confident to take up our hookbait and in the right place to do so without delay.
Fish are wild animals and naturally have a survival instinct that means they will be wary of anything that appears odd. They understand their environment and know when something is alien and thus possibly dangerous. If we think that a fish cannot see our hooks and line then we are deluded. While a fish may not be able to understand what our terminal tackle is it is still an alien presence in their environment and thus something to be avoided. So we have to somehow overcome that natural caution and feeding helps.
One sure fire way of getting fish to ignore danger signs is to create competition. The need to eat can overcome the fear of something not looking right. This was demonstrated to me nearly fifty years ago. I started my fishing as a boy on holidays in Scotland fishing a small, crystal clear trout stream. One day I discovered the biggest trout I had seen under an overhanging tree. For days I would cast a worm to him, trundle it past, let it sit in front and even occasionally bouncing it off his nose. All he did was disdainfully move a couple of inches to one side. Then one day, with the worm sitting on the deck about two foot in front I saw an eel emerge from the leaf litter under the trout and head towards the worm. In about two seconds the trout shot forward, grabbed the worm and then exploded out of the water as I struck. He threw the hook and was gone never to be seen again.
That trout knew that there was something wrong with my worm (may have been the size six hook and hawser-like line) and would never have touched it. Until, that is, he was in danger of losing out to another fish. Competition for food will make a fish forget all caution. Our feeding must do that. We need to attract enough fish into the swim to create that competition. But we don't want to overfeed.
What to feed? (and how much)
Really two schools of thought here. Feed what you are fishing on the hook so the fish get used to that bait and will take the hookbait with confidence. Or fish something different on the hook to what you are feeding so it stands out and fish can target it.
I guess I do both. You can never tell on any given day what the fish will want so you have to experiment.
On a match in August 2013, my first having been in hospital recovering from a brain haemorrhage, I was incapable of holding much more than four sections of pole for too long so concentrated on the margins. This was Decoy's Horseshoe lake where I do well in the margins anyway. It was a frustrating first few hours as I was taking the odd fish but not big enough or frequently enough to challenge. I had been feeding pellet in the margin and then eventually tried introducing just 6 grains of corn. This almost instantly brought in much bigger fish and I was catching them quicker. I ended with 103lb for fourth only 18lb behind the winner.
I can't explain why fish can afford to be choosy and react better to one bait rather than another. But we don't need to know why this happens, just that it does. So if you are not catching you have to experiment with other baits both on the hook and importantly what you feed. By all means start with what you have confidence in and believe will work. If it doesn't then be prepared to change. Change baits, change amounts.
How much to feed at any one time is also a subject for experimentation. You can't just pitch up and feed as you did the last time you fished the venue. Conditions change, the fish have different moods so you need to be flexible. I carry a number of home made toss pots for the pole. There are several different sizes so I can regulate the amount I feed by changing the size of pot. Sometimes the fish want a carpet of bait over which to graze, other times this will drive them away and you need to feed sparingly but regularly. There are no guidelines for this. But you need to recognise the signs. If the fish back off and you get no bites for a while after feeding then you may need to cut back on your feed or feed less frequently but heavily and fish that out when the fish return before re-feeding another potfull. If you get almost instant bites at first and these tail off you may need to feed more regularly and/or heavier.
As a general rule fish will want more bait in the Summer than in the colder months. But I have known January/February days when I have started feeding sparingly yet by the end of the day am feeding a large potful regularly and have used three pints of pellet as the fish grew increasingly confident. And this will change day-to-day and fishery to fishery. So you have to feel your way into each session and adapt to the reactions of the fish.
Where do I feed?
Strangely probably not a feeding question at all but one about water knowledge, conditions and plumbing up. Most of the time we will know something of the water being fished and have an understanding of where the fish are likely to be found. It would seem logical to me to feed where the fish want to be rather than trying to force them somewhere else. You wouldn't expect dinner to be served in the bathroom. You may go and eat it there but you wouldn't be comfortable and may want to get out quickly.
You also need to consider how you want to fish and conditions. If for example you want to fish pellet at dead depth then you really need to find a flat area. But if the bottom is very silty then it may be worth finding a slope that will be clean and easier for the fish to find your bait.
One reason I fish the pole is I love the accuracy. So when feeding I find an immovable far bank marker or even reflection on the water and make sure I feed to the same spot every time. Though sometimes with species like bream it can pay to widen the area slightly, particularly with an initial groundbait bombardment as bream like to graze and can be in big shoals. But even if you feed tight to one spot the active fish will move your feed around, so no need for you to do it.
If there is a tow on the water you may find that you get bites “down tow” from where you feed. Don't try and follow this with your subsequent feeding as the fish will move as the tow takes the bait away. Always feed to the same spot and let the fish settle down tow.
When to feed?
This really is the 64 million dollar question. Re-feeding too early can put the fish off and also reduce the chances of the fish selecting your hookbait. Too late and the fish have drifted away meaning a blank spell until they return. You probably will not get this right immediately. It is only by experimenting on the day that you will get the right frequency. In essence what we are trying to do is replace the food at the same rate as it is being consumed by the fish. This will be different day to day and change during the day. It is the angler that senses these changes and reacts to them earliest that will do well. It is down to sensing the change in rhythm of bites and how this changes as you feed.
This is also why I like to feed two, three even four spots in my swim. That gives me the ability to feed each differently, different amounts, baits and rate and then judge how the fish are reacting. Over the day I may find one or two spots outdo the others and will gradually concentrate my efforts there.
Two broad guidelines though do exist. Little and often may bring the fish up in the water. Whether you want this is down to how you intend to catch on the day. Or you can feed a lot in one go and hopefully pin the fish down on the deck.
How do you feed?
By hand, catapult, pole pot, feeder? All are methods available to us and each has their purpose and day. Three examples from my own experience may help explain.
Match 1 – on the river Lee at Broxbourne's Crown stretch. Famous in those days (80s) for its chub. The far bank has houses with gardens down to the water's edge. Many have landing stages that make an ideal home for the chub. A wag & mag approach was the usual tactic with the float drifting along the edge of the staging or moored boat. On this day I drew a good peg and spent the first hour on the waggler catapulting maggots with no result. I then chucked a maggot feeder over and in the next hour had two gudgeon. Back on the waggler and suddenly I was taking chub. Won the match with 8/9 fish for around 24lb. Something about depositing a feeder full of maggots regularly brought those fish out to play. I still don't understand why.
Match 2 – Decoy's Cedar lake and I had a corner peg with an enticing margin just over topkit distance away. Easily fed by hand which is what I did for the first hour. That produced only four fish despite the signs of there being plenty in the swim. A switch to feeding through a tosspot changed things and I started to catch regularly. The difference was, I think, that the tosspot concentrated the feed on one spot and thus brought the fish to my hookbait. Feeding by hand allowed the bait to spread too far and so fish were all over the shop and not homing in on my bait. I ended second that day with 124lb.
Match 3 – Holly Farm, Moby lake. A small knock-up. Started feeding pellet and had loads of fizzing and few fish. A switch to dumping in a potful of corn stopped the fizz and brought fish to 10lb. I doubled the second place weight with around 55lb. Others were feeding corn but not catching. Difference was I was cupping in while they were throwing. I tend to think the large number of silvers in the lake were able to intercept the thrown corn as it was spread out while my potful being concentrated mostly reached the deck and so brought in the carp.
So how you feed can make a big difference
Finally
There are times when all logic and careful planning and execution just don't work. A few years ago I fished a two day match at Kilworth Sticks fishery, two matches over two lakes. One section on each lake and swapping to the other lake on day 2. Day one saw me take fifth on Curran's loop. Happy with that as I was up against some very good anglers. Day 2 on Buffalo loop and with an hour to go I was getting my backside kicked off the next peg and was probably last on the lake. Out of desperation I just dumped a big potful of corn & pellet under a bush on the island bank opposite (plan X). Within fifteen/twenty minutes I had landed two seven pound carp. I won the lake and gained fourth over the two days picking up a little coin and a new pellet waggler rod.
In conclusion I can only repeat what I started out saying. Always feed with a purpose in mind, never just aimlessly throw in bait. Watch for the signs from the fish as to what they want on the day. Experiment if things aren't working or you think they can be improved. Don't be afraid to do something different but always understand why you are doing it.
Listen to the fish, they haven't read any books and can be totally illogical as a result.
Feeding is an artform and there are very few artists. The rest of us have to work hard at getting it right. But get it right and the rewards are well worth the effort.
