when im pole fishing i always start off well but then my swim always goes dead how can i keep fish in my swim and how ca i keep them feeding

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sounds like your feeding too much! Try starting out with no loose feed. If you dont get bites feed a small amount. If you get a fish feed a little again. If you get another fish feed again.
Patience is the name of the game. Youve got to build the fishs confidence.
If you went for a £4.50 breakfast and got a 4course meal with wine youd think there was something wrong. Its the same with fish. Too much food and they know somethings wrong.

I agree with Monkeyboy about overfeeding.
How are you feeding. with a pole cup or by hand? Please remember that for the initial feeding (before you have set up) in the winter, don't use more than a half dozen maggots (if thats what you are using) and then 3 or 4 (no more!!!) every second or third cast.
The other thing to remember is that you are bringing the fish up in the water. If your swim suddenly goes dead try bringing the bait further up in the water.
Please note that the initial feeding only applies in the winter.

I met a chap along the river who was convinced that when it went dead it was the pike/perch moving in. I feel that this is a possible factor to take into consideration.

Wannus - I think that if that were the case, surely you would expect a bite from prey fish (if using maggot or worm, as I do)which I can honestly say are far too few, mathematically,
in all the times I have fished

Ian,

Particualarly, on colder days, you'll not go far wrong in remembering "little and often". Even if it's just three to six maggots every five minutes.

Also, while it's still cold, try using breadflake instead of maggots. Whizz up some bread in a food mixer until it resembles very fine crumbs. When you get to the bank, before you set up, mix your crumb with water so that it only just binds together (but still feels dry to the touch) and leave it to settle. Set your gear up and then go back to the crumb mix. The crumb will have absorbed all the water and you'll have to add a tad more to get it to bind again. If you can get hold of one, buy a spray bottle to add water to your mix (I think they're less than £1 from ASDA/HOMEBASE/GARDEN CENTRES etc...). This will allow you to get an even covering of water on the mix. Before you use the crumb, pass it through a riddle to get rid of any lumps, this will also add air to the mix and make the crumb mix nice and fluffy.

For hookbait, use cheap bread from NETTO or ASDA. Bread that is quite dense. Steam each slice over the steam from a kettle or in the veg steamer for a minute or so then roll it flat with a rolling pin. This will help it stay on the hook alot better and prevent it from fluffing up and falling off the hook.

Invest in a good set of bread punches (varying sizes) use as small a hook and as light a line as you feel you can comfortably get away with.

Shot your pole float with shot at regular intervals down the line to the hooklength (shirt button style). When the float hits the water you will be able to see it cock to the correct level in several stages. Take a coulple of times to get used to what time interval the stages are and how many before the float is fully cocked. This will help you see drop bites. If the float stops cocking at any of the stages then you have a bite.

If you have a regular size pole cup, leave it at home until it starts to get a bit warmer. Instead, get hold of an old 35mm film container and tape it to the end of your pole. If you want to, punch a few holes in the bottom for when you do use maggots. This will enable you to feed while the rig is in the water. You can use the film can to feed a couple of marble size balls of crumb mix (if you mix the crumb dry then it will explode in a fine cloud of extremely small crumbs as soon as it hits the water, this is less likely to fill the fish up quickly) or if you put 6 or so maggots in, they have to crawl through the holes in the bottom of the film can before plopping in the water. This way, there's only a few freebies going in in a steady stream rather than a load in one go.

Also remember that, because it is cold, alot of the fish will still be quite near to the bottom of the pond where the water is a degree or two warmer than near the surface. Let your rig settle right down and once it has settled, leave it there for a few minutes before re-shipping out.

Don't think that the breadflake method will only catch you tiddlers. Some large Roach and small carp will quite happily take a flake of bread early on in the year. One of the best baits for Tench early-on at my local pond is a lump of bread on a smallish hook.

Hope this has given you some ideas to work with and I hop it will improve your catch rate.

Tight Lines (or elastics as the case may be).

Chris.

A lot of the advice given here is good.But just remember the basic principle of what you are trying to achieve,

The real secret of keeping/attracting more fish in to your swim is to keep the fish competing for food.Nothing turns a fish on the feed more than others feeding! this is acheived by introducing the correct amount of feed at the correct interval.This is the true art of fishing and only experience will teach you.