Feeder Fishing Commercials – Part 3 - Tackle

I think we are very fortunate today in that there is a wealth of good tackle available to suit all budgets. Cheap does not necessarily mean unsuitable or poor quality. 

My main rod & reel combination for commercials cost £35 for the rod and £10 for the reel. You can, of course spend a lot more. The choice is up to the individual, their circumstances and preferences. My cheap gear does all I ask of it.

 

Spending more may not get you more fish but you will get pleasure and satisfaction from owning and using something top rate.  Only you can decide.

Rods

Any rod that is sold as a “carp feeder” or “commercial feeder” rod will do the job. Less of a gamble with higher priced offerings. What you don't need is a specimen carp rod designed for taming carp of 20-60lb. We are looking at match sized carp in most commercials and that to me means predominantly fish under ten pound. There will of course be commercial venues that have a bigger average stamp of fish. So your choice of rod may be dictated by your normal venues.

One debate is to do with rod length. All bar one of my carp feeder rods are 12 foot. The odd one out is 13 foot for longer casts on bigger waters. Many people prefer a shorter rod for smaller venues and thus shorter casting distances.  In part four I describe how I use my 12 foot rods to cast underhand when the feeder does not have to travel far. Like may things this is a very personal matter that will in part be dictated by budget. If you can afford to buy 10, 11, 12 & 13 foot rods for different situations great.

If your budget is limited then I would, of course, recommend a 12 foot rod as a good compromise.

Reels

I would always recommend a Baitrunner of Freespool type reel for this kind of fishing. You may not use the facility often, but it is better, in my opinion to have it available when needed.

A 40/4000 size reel will marry with a 10 or 12 foot rod. My 13 footer has a 60/6000 sized reel on it. This is purely to aid long casting should it be needed.

Again, let your budget be your guide. My reels cost £10. Yes they will not be as smooth and not last as long as something in the over £50 bracket. But I have, for the price of one expensive reel, been able to put reels on all my rods so they are instantly available for use. So don't let price put you off.

Tips

In my opinion, with this style of fishing, the strength of the quiver tip is immaterial. This is not silvers legering where you need a sight board to see minute movements, a carp will take the rod off the rest. So no mistaking the bite and by the time you lift up the rod the fish will be hooked.

I don't even know what strength tips are in my rods. When the bend from the bite reaches the middle section its time to pick up the rod!

Hooklengths & Mainline

One thing newcomers to fishing this type of feeder find confusing is that the hooklength is often stronger than the main line. That goes against everything you have been taught. But there is logic behind it.

Hooklength line will tend to be a high tech (pre-stretched) line while the main line will be traditional (unstretched) mono. The pre-stretched line while finer for the same breaking strain is somewhat brittle and thus can break when subjected to a shock loading as when a fish bolts when it first feels the hook or when it shakes its head close in. On the pole this is countered using elastic. On the feeder we use a stronger breaking strain hooklength and the stretch in the main line, the rod's action and probably a baitrunner facility and/or reel drag to cushion the initial bite and lunges under the rod tip.

For casting purposes we want a mainline with a balance between strength and thickness. The strength to withstand the casting shock and lunges of the fish, the thinner line to aid distance. Once the feeder has been cast there will be enough stretch in the line for it to withstand the initial shock of a bite. So while we may use, say 6lb main line the hooklength could be 7, 8 or even 10lb. Even when landing the fish there is enough combined give in the line, rod and reel so that even double figure fish present no problem on 6lb mainline.

 

You could opt for a shock leader of heavier BS but for commercial feeder fishing I see no point.  Feeders tend to be fairly light and distances relatively short.  You will not normally be punching a 100g (4oz) feeder 100 yards.  A 20g feeder will easily cast 35-40 yards.

I am guessing but I should think the most popular length for hooklengths will be 4 inches. Some go for two or three, others five. Fisheries may dictate the minimum hooklength and this rule should be looked out for and abided by.

Hooks

There is no need to go overboard on strength or size for “match” sized carp. Again the cushioning of the main line will allow the use of standard carp hooks as used on the pole. I have heard Steve Ringer say that he uses the maximum size allowed by the fishery without any reduction in bites. As feeder world champion I guess he knows a thing or two. I wouldn't disagree but I would say go with what you are comfortable with.

If fish over ten pound are expected on a regular basis then I would step up to a stronger hook.  Most carp patterns have an Extra Strong version.

Feeder Fishing Commercials - Part 2 Hookbaits, Pellets & Groundbait

Hookbaits

There are a number of baits that can be used with the feeders described in part 1. Both traditional and new, manufactured type baits can work equally well. The thing I find strange is that fish can display a preference on any given day. The Method and other feeders are intended to produce a pile of free offerings in which is located the baited hook. The intention, at least in part, being that the fish will pick up the hookbait unintentionally when sucking in some of the free offerings. Indeed some have reported using a bare hook and still catching fish proving this happens.

Yet I have had several days when a change of bait has brought about a noticeable change in fortunes. It therefore pays to carry a selection of baits.

The following is my selection. There may be others but this is enough choices for me.

Maggots

Normally fished in multiples and dead (AKA dead reds). A live bunch of maggots will break up the parcel of groundbait or pellets on or in the feeder. Hence dead ones are used. There are a few ways of killing maggots.

For a few hookbaits they can be rolled between the fingers or on your thigh ten to twenty times being sufficient to kill them. Another method is to put a number of them in a container of cold water then gradually add hot water until they are dead. Probably the most used method though will be freezing.

One problem some people find is that when defrosted frozen maggots can turn black. I think the reason for this is that it has taken too long for the maggots to freeze. To prevent this I freeze in small batches, enough for hookbait for a day's fishing. I have found the small plastic pots my local pizza shop puts its garlic mayo in to be an ideal size. Small batches will freeze quicker than a pint in one container or bag. The batches should be placed either on the fast freeze tray or directly on the coolant channels on the bottom of a shelf.

You can place defrosted maggots in water on your side tray to try and stop air getting to them and turning them black but I have never found the need with my method of freezing.

Three or four maggots on a 16 hook like the B911 works well for me.

Sweetcorn

Another traditional but effective bait. One grain is normally sufficient. I prefer tinned corn (any brand/price) as this seems to be firmer and thus more able to withstand being squeezed along with the pellets or groundbait. I freeze leftover corn for use another day but after home freezing it is always quite soft, I think for the same reason maggots can turn black. The defrosted corn I find better for fishing corn skin or as the whole grain on the pole.

I think how you hook the corn is important. It may be, it may not. But I am given a little bit of confidence doing what I think is “right”.

Most grains are flat to a degree, or at least you can find such in the tin. For the Banjo I hook through the narrow side so that the grain lies flat on the bottom of the feeder. Then with pellets squeezed over this it is not likely to burst the hook from the grain.

I also hook this way for The Method as I feel the hook is less likely to catch on the ribs of the feeder.

For the Pellet feeder I hook the grain the other way, through the flat side, as I feel the grain then sits in the depression in the pellets better.

Others will say it makes no difference how you hook the corn. I will not disagree with them. I just have my preferred method.

Meat

Mention meat and people immediately think luncheon meat however for the feeder I think polony. For those that don't know, polony is a type of sausage. Found in the chilled meat sector of your supermarket and always in my experience in a red plastic wrapper.

Why polony and not luncheon meat? Two reasons. First is that polony is much firmer and thus I think more able to withstand being compressed into or onto a feeder. Second is that I can slice polony and freeze the slices knowing it will defrost much the same as when it was frozen. I can then take just a few of slices which can be enough for a day's fishing. I find luncheon meat, when frozen and defrosted can tend to float.

Luncheon meat can work and I have used it when I have forgotten the polony.

You can cut the polony up into cubes or use meat punches to get hook sized pieces.

Boilies, Wafters, Bandums etc.

These baits are manufactured purely as bait, not something like meat & corn taken from the supermarket shelf. Boilies were developed by the carp angling fraternity and adopted by the general coarse and match angler because they catch fish.

For general coarse work boilies tend to be smaller than those used by specimen carp anglers, in the 8-10 mm range. The shape was then adapted from spherical to dumbbell or barrel shape to make them easier to use with a bait band, though I don't use a band as I explain below.

There are a vast array of flavours and colours and they can either sink or float. I cannot say anything other than if you want to use them carry a variety. I have used them to good effect and as always, on occasion the fish can display a preference for a certain flavour, colour and buoyancy.

I have used floating baits on a four inch hooklength so the bait is popped up that far above the feeder once released from it. You can also critically balance it with shot on the hooklength or a heavy hook so it sits just on the bottom or just off it but is easily sucked up by the fish. And of course the sinking versions act like other baits and sit on the bottom until taken up by a fish.

These baits are always fished on a hair rig. There are four basic ways of attaching them. First is to use a bait band around dumbbell shaped bait. The negative side of this method is that if the bait gets caught in the landing net mesh a thrashing fish can break the hair and you then need to fit a new hooklength.

You can use a bayonet made from the shank of an eyed hook to impale the bait. The bayonet is tied to the hair as you would a bait band before tying the hook. The bait will pull off if caught in the landing net.

You can pull a hair loop through the bait. Some people will use a boily stop to hold the hair in place. Again this can cause the hair to break with a thrashing fish in the net. I have never found the need to use a stop. I use a fine baiting needle to pull the hair through. The hole through the bait is small enough to grip the loop and knot.

Finally you could drill a wider hole through the bait and pull a bait band through. Drilling a hole though may split the bait.

Any method that pulls something through the bait without anchoring it will allow it to be pulled off without breaking the hair if caught in the landing net.

Hard Pellet

Really much the same as the boily and wafter except that most pellets will sink. An unpumped and thus buoyant expander pellet could be used but will quickly soften and come off the hook.

Most people will put the pellet in a bait band. While I will do this with 4 & 6 mm pellets I drill a hole in 8 mm & larger and pull a bait band through.

One trick with hard pellets is to soak them in vegetable oil before use. This is supposed to slow the breakdown of the pellet in the water. I have found that it can take several weeks for the pellets to fully absorb the oil. So this is is best done in batches and the oiled pellets stored in a leak proof container until there is no visible oil. The pellets don't need to be submerged in oil but given a good coating and then left. Invert the container every few days for the excess oil to reach all the pellets.

Groundbait

There are plenty of commercially made Method groundbaits. I cannot recommend one over another as I don't use them. I can only suggest you try different ones until you find one that works for you and that you find easy to mix to the right consistency, and gets results!

The groundbait should mould to the feeder well, stay on through the cast and on sinking. Once on the bottom it should break down or not as is your preference. I would recommend testing groundbait mixes by filling the feeder and dropping it from height into a bucket of water. Though getting bites when in use is also a good indicator the groundbait is doing what it should.

I make my own groundbait that seems to work. I describe how in this blog post.

https://neilofthenene.blogspot.com/2014/09/bits-bobs-groundbait.html

Feed Pellet Preparation

For me this is simple and done before leaving home in the morning. I just put micro pellets into a tub, put enough water in to just wet the top layer then lid on and leave. A shake of the tub once set up and the pellets are ready.

But I use Skrettings pellets. The very occasional time I have used other brands it has not been that simple. I can only advise you to experiment.

Some people follow the “Minute per mm” guide. So for a two mil micro pellet you soak the pellets for two minutes then drain the water off. 4 minutes for a 4 mil pellet.

One word though on the Skrettings. I did once get a batch of micros that were very light in colour, they are normally dark brown, these pellets went to mush if soaked for too long. So with those I adopted the two minute rule.