My first day out fishing with feeder

[Twist]

Good evening all. Had my first time feeder fishing yesterday with quiver tip. At Goldsworth park lake in Woking. Unfortunatly I caught 0 fish and only had two decent bites the rest were very little nudges. I know somedays you will catch nothing but I feel like as it was my first time I would like to describe what I did and get any hints tips pointers from you guys on here that could improve my prospects

 

Set up with my new 12ft feeder rod and reel with 6LB line. My hooklength was about 8 inches and I had a block end feeder. Basically what I did for a practice setup recenty picture here:

 

 

I did have a bigger feeder on.

 

For bait I had some basic groundbait I bought from the local tackle shop its named Silver X (I did not add anything to this basic groundbait maybe I shoulf off?) and I also had mixed maggots. I mixed the groundbait up in a bowl with some maggots and then a chucked a couple of balls out to where I was planning to fish for the day. I then filled my feeder up and cast out to the spot, I waited a few minutes then brang it back in everything was still intact and groundbait had gone. I did this about five more times to make sure there was a good amount of groundbait out there. Then I filled up the feeder again with the mix of groundbait and maggots and put one red and one white maggot on the end of my hook and cast out perfectly to the spot and put the rod down on the rests and waited patiently for about 15 minutes then I brang it in and repeat this throughout most of the day. Now during the day doing this the quiver had a few quick nudges to it but it did not seem enough to strike? Maybe I am wrong as I am new to this? But also during the day twice the quiver tip bent round loads! and twice I must of missed the bite as I striked and no luck

 

I still had an enjoyable day and I think I learnt a fair bit but like I say above is there anything in this description I am doing wrong or anything that can make things better

 

Thanks for taking your time to read this everyone

[Dick Dastardly]

What fish were you targetting/expecting to catch and what BS was your hook link as it looks quite heavy in the photo?

[Twist]

What fish were you targetting/expecting to catch and what BS was your hook link as it looks quite heavy in the photo?

 

Hi Budgie, I was targetting Roach, Bream possibly small Carp. What is BS?

[Newt]

BS or B/S = breaking strain of your line.

[Rusty]

I don't think you're too far off with the setup, for general coarse fishing I've always found a feeder to be a pretty safe bet. My suggestion would be to use a lighter/thinner hooklength (say 4lb) and a size 14 or 16 hook, the one in the picture looks quite big.

 

If you're able to throw the groundbait to where you're fishing try filling the feeder with just maggots. The feeder in the picture isn't designed for use with non wriggly groundbait on still water (I stand to be corrected on that one).

[Guest tigger]

As Rusty has said your feeder is good for maggots alone but if you want to use grounbait or a groundbait/maggot mix then you need an open end feeder. For 6lb line yours looks pretty thick, what make is it. Also I'd use a smaller duller bead or a ledger clip so you can just swap your feeder for a different one or a lead.

[Twist]

Thank for your help everyone. Just been told I should not of used that feeder for still water should be used in rivers! I just used the same line as what was on my reel for my hooklength which was 8LB I think.

[Twist]

As Rusty has said your feeder is good for maggots alone but if you want to use grounbait or a groundbait/maggot mix then you need an open end feeder. For 6lb line yours looks pretty thick, what make is it. Also I'd use a smaller duller bead or a ledger clip so you can just swap your feeder for a different one or a lead.

 

Thanks tigger. Not sure what make of line its a cheap nasty one I know that. I have a snap swivel on that setup so can changed feeders fine. Are cage feeders any good for lake fishing?

[Andy Macfarlane]

I'd also use a cage feeder or an open-end feeder for groundbait and a block-end feeder for maggots. I'd probably use a 2lb hooklength and a size 20 hook, until I've established what size the fish go up to but going as light as I've mentioned will allow you to hook pretty much anything without being exclusive. If the fish are generally quite large, then you can step up your hooklength and hook size.

Rather than buying expensive groundbait every time, buy a 25k sack of brown breadcrumb. That'll get you fishing for ages. Just take a few pints of brown crumb and mix some dead maggots, caster, chopped worm or whatever takes your fancy. Once you start hitting fish regularly, then you can try using specialised groundbaits to flavour, colour and texture your groundbait mixes.

[Dick Dastardly]

I would say its most likely a simple case of the hook being to big and the hook link to heavy.Depending on bait then size 18-14 hooks would be more than enough for maggots,casters etc.

 

Once youve got the end tackle right the only real "skills" you need for feeder fishing specificly are to remember to cast to tjhe same spot each time.This allows a bed of feed to build up and concentrate the feeding fish in one spot. First couple of casts I only leave out long enough for the feeder to empty,regardless of bite or not I then wind in.This builds up a good start to the bed of bait you want.After that I just cast according to bites.

 

If fishing in a river the following is a good general rule for feeder fishing as well-

 

If your not getting bites lengthen your hook length-this is because the fish are probably hanging back down stream of the feeder waiting for the bait to wash down to them.

 

If your getting bites/catching and this suddenly stops then shorten your hook length -this is because the fish have most likely become confident and have moved up stream closer to the feeder to get them.