Swim goes dead

[The Flying Tench]

Am I unique? First cast, before the groundbait has had a chance to act, I often get a bite within seconds. Then one or two bites fairly soon. Then the swim goes dead. It happened today when I was fishing a Thames 'carrier' with maggot feeder, but it has happened in a multitude of venues. Do you find the same?

I know that sometimes a pike has moved into the swim, but usually there are signs such as attacking the hooked fish. There was nothing like that today. Could I be over feeding? Maybe, but today I put in less than a pint of maggots in two and a half hours.

Is there another factor I'm missing?

[Martin56]

Hi Tench, You might have misjudged where the groudbait has finished up? The current/undertow/over tow sometimes takes it well away from where you expected it to end up.

The fish might already be in the swim, so try fishing just a hook bait for 10 or 20 minutes or so to see if that's the case.

Try casting around with Groundbait in just a Cage Feeder & resist "Balling In" loads until you've found some fish.

You can plug one end with Groundbait, put a few maggots in it then plug the other end with more Groundbait. 

A short strike when it's hit the bottom will dump it all near your hookbait.

Do this every 5 minutes, reeling in & building the swim. Might take an hour or so but they'll come in eventually.

Edited August 31, 2021 by Martin56

[Whitty]

There is no one size fits all feeding approach in fishing,each species,weather connotations,water temps,light levels,seasons etc all have bearings on your day,when you say you only fed less than a pint of maggot in two and a half hours,on more than one occasion in matches I've fed one maggot a trot for five hours,on one occasion I weighed over 8lbs and was second in the match,how many maggots is that in total??? The big problem with feeders is most think you must fill them right up,back in the day I used to cut down drennan feederlinks and araldite small arsley bombs into the base,these feeders took around fifteen maggots full,I cannot tell you how many big catches of chub i've taken on these....

[The Flying Tench]

Thanks, Whitty and Martin. So I may be overfeeding. That would certainly explain it. But a number of times I've heard it said 'You can't overfeed on the Thames' and I've thought (with Martin) 'They'll come in eventually.'

Whitty, can you explain how you came to the decision to feed one maggot a trot? Was it winter?

It occurs to me, should I start feeding only a little, and then build up as I get bites? I remember buying some paste for tench fishing years ago and it said to feed more pellets as I got bites. At the start there will probably only be a few fish in the swim, so should I have the feeder only, say, a third full at the start and then build up? Let's say in autumn conditions when the expected catch is roach.

[Tigger]

 

I've never fished the thames, so have no idea about it.  I would imagine there is no chance of overfeeding a river like that during the summer months if using less than a pint of maggots in two hours.  That would tell me there are very few fish in the swim.  Several decent sized chub would go through those maggots within 20 mins or less.  Even a small shoal of dace would get through those maggots in a short time.

Are there minows present?  If there are they will eat the lot!  Sounds to me like you fed way to little. Next time I would take at least three or four pints of maggots and a bag of sweetcorn.  Ditch the feeder, loose feed and fish over the top of it.  Try float fishing also.

It sounds like there were probably few fish infront of you, or the ones that were just weren't hungry, or you need to feed more to get the fish going and draw in more to compete. 

I've fished swims and similar has happened, I either throw in a good few large handfuls of maggots which has immediatley switched the swim on or if nothing happens for half an hour I move elsewhere.

Sometimes you have to up sticks several times or more to find the fish.  If the fish are not there, or the resident fish are not feeding then you have to move and find some elsewhere or be prepared to sit it out and possibly catch a few fish, or blank.  That's the beauty of travelling light as I do.

 

 

 

Edited September 1, 2021 by Tigger

[Whitty]

I fished the Ouse in Bedford yesterday,I catching quality roach feeding 5 or six maggots a chuck,the more I fed the more bleak I drew in,in summer these days on the Thames you have more chance catching chub on tares,on the feeder it was always small amounts,often because I was expecting a bite from a chub within two minutes,reeling in then to start again...in winter liquidised bread in a tiny cage feeder and breadflake,or small knobs of cheesepaste are most effective maggot has lost its magic as numbers of chub have become less...

Edited September 3, 2021 by Whitty
Spelling

[The Flying Tench]

On 9/1/2021 at 11:46 AM, Tigger said:

 

I've never fished the thames, so have no idea about it.  I would imagine there is no chance of overfeeding a river like that during the summer months if using less than a pint of maggots in two hours.  That would tell me there are very few fish in the swim.  Several decent sized chub would go through those maggots within 20 mins or less.  Even a small shoal of dace would get through those maggots in a short time.

Are there minows present?  If there are they will eat the lot!  Sounds to me like you fed way to little. Next time I would take at least three or four pints of maggots and a bag of sweetcorn.  Ditch the feeder, loose feed and fish over the top of it.  Try float fishing also.

It sounds like there were probably few fish infront of you, or the ones that were just weren't hungry, or you need to feed more to get the fish going and draw in more to compete. 

I've fished swims and similar has happened, I either throw in a good few large handfuls of maggots which has immediatley switched the swim on or if nothing happens for half an hour I move elsewhere.

Sometimes you have to up sticks several times or more to find the fish.  If the fish are not there, or the resident fish are not feeding then you have to move and find some elsewhere or be prepared to sit it out and possibly catch a few fish, or blank.  That's the beauty of travelling light as I do.

 

 

 

It would certainly be an interesting experiment to heave in 4 pints of maggot. The trouble is, while there are no minnows there are abundant bleak. Also float fishing is limited by my eyesight - though not impossible. I'll think on't!

[Whitty]

You will soon be coming to the shut off time for bleak,so they wont be a nuisance,horrible things....

[The Flying Tench]

I hadn't realised there was a cut-off time for bleak, though I'm glad if there is. End of Sept? Could it be that they go into the lock cuts? I've known them, when casting a groundbait feeder in to the lock cut, attack the bits of crumb that escape even in winter. And often Ms perch is waiting for them, though I've neve caught Mrs P in these circumstances.

[Whitty]

Maybe October,depending on water clarity,temperature etc,once the water clears as the boats ease a little they become less troublesome,in fact you wouldnt know there were any amazingly...