Soon be time for roach

[Anderoo]

Good stuff John, best of luck, let us know how it goes. I might be able to get a couple of hours in tomorrow afternoon/evening and will report back if so. I will stay after dark again just to see. It's going to be nice and windy, so fingers crossed!

[Anderoo]

Mr Wintle/anyone else - a question. On my last short session I had a number of bites that failed to dislodge the feeder. Casting slightly up and across, rod pointing up, letting out a bow until the feeder just held. The flow was a perfect slow walking pace, depth about 10ft, and I got away with the smallest feeder I have - I don't know what weight it is, but one of the little tiny cage feeders. Hooklength about 18", feeder on a snaplock running on the line above.

 

So even though the feeder seemed to be carefully balanced, roach were still able to show bites of the tip that didn't dislodge it. These bites never developed, just a quick rattle, realise something is wrong, and gone.

 

The addition of a splitshot 3" behind the feeder helped, but only slightly.

 

Any ideas?

 

The only things I could think of were, 1. the feeder was actually too small, perhaps I should have used a slightly heavier one which I could probably have balanced to the same extent by having a smaller bow, and 2. the quivertip I was using was too soft and was absorbing too much of the pull, not allowing the feeder to dislodge properly (it was a 1oz glass tip).

 

I remember last season getting it all working perfectly, where every touch resulted in a (self)hooked fish, so I know how it ought to work. Since then I've got a new rod, and I think I need to learn how to use it properly. The heaviest tip it has is a 2oz glass - no carbon tips at all. (The old rod only had glass tips too, though.)

[gozzer]

Two things that have helped me in the past Andrew, depending on flow, and the nature of the bottom. One is to vary your hook length, going down to about 6 inch, or up to a couple of foot can help. The other is to put a shot on your hook length, usually a No1 or BB.

The idea is that when the fish moves the shot, the feeder will follow. Again you have to vary the distance from the hook, until you find the best position.

 

John.

[Anderoo]

Thanks John. The flow is steady and the bottom is clean and flat.

[Mark Wintle]

Mr Wintle/anyone else - a question. On my last short session I had a number of bites that failed to dislodge the feeder. Casting slightly up and across, rod pointing up, letting out a bow until the feeder just held. The flow was a perfect slow walking pace, depth about 10ft, and I got away with the smallest feeder I have - I don't know what weight it is, but one of the little tiny cage feeders. Hooklength about 18", feeder on a snaplock running on the line above.

 

So even though the feeder seemed to be carefully balanced, roach were still able to show bites of the tip that didn't dislodge it. These bites never developed, just a quick rattle, realise something is wrong, and gone.

 

The addition of a splitshot 3" behind the feeder helped, but only slightly.

 

Any ideas?

 

The only things I could think of were, 1. the feeder was actually too small, perhaps I should have used a slightly heavier one which I could probably have balanced to the same extent by having a smaller bow, and 2. the quivertip I was using was too soft and was absorbing too much of the pull, not allowing the feeder to dislodge properly (it was a 1oz glass tip).

 

I remember last season getting it all working perfectly, where every touch resulted in a (self)hooked fish, so I know how it ought to work. Since then I've got a new rod, and I think I need to learn how to use it properly. The heaviest tip it has is a 2oz glass - no carbon tips at all. (The old rod only had glass tips too, though.)

The Thames method isn't balanced feeder but moving feeder. We use incredibly light and small feeders (down to 2 grams!) and want the feeder to shift slowly through the swim. When the bait is bumping through the bites are unmistakable. You're right in that getting the right tip will help, as will the bow in the line and the thickness of the line. My rig includes a snap swivel to make changing feeders easy. The tips on the latest rods I am using are all carbon.

[Anderoo]

Cheers Mark. How regularly is your feeder moving? All the time, or moving slightly, settling for a bit, moving slightly again?

[Mark Wintle]

Cheers Mark. How regularly is your feeder moving? All the time, or moving slightly, settling for a bit, moving slightly again?

The vital bit is that it moves slowly. It will pause at times. The leaves don't help at the moment. At times there is too much flow and it moves too fast though surprising what you get even then. Obviously the different stretches vary in flow, type of bottom and depth apart from the conditions.

[Steve Walker]

Are we talking cage feeder and flake here, or blockend and maggot, or groundbait?

[Anderoo]

What do the bites look like?

 

With the balanced feeder last year I'd get a very distinctive 'donk', a big dropback, and a continuous rattle as the feeder trundled off downstream. Most of the roach were already hooked.

 

Edit - Steve, small cage feeder with mashed/liquidised bread.

Edited November 21, 2013 by Anderoo

[Mark Wintle]

The bites are rattles. If the feeder is 'resting' then the dropback then the rattle.