Feeder fishing(video footage)

[Whitty]

After many years of fishing I find myself watching many YouTube videos on the subject,all different subject matter,but I find myself questioning certain anglers match fishing videos on bream,there are several anglers stating they want to be frugal on bait,then cast every two minutes(10 casts),then three minutes(5 casts),then three or four casts at five minutes,then out on the pole if no bites ensue,they never seem to leave it longer than five minutes at any stage,this goes against my findings during my time match fishing and pleasure fishing where I found the best times to leave a cast for bream were between 10 and 20 minutes,often with bites coming within a minute of my reeling in,this has resulted in big weights of bream,in matches or pleasuring,am I missing a trick or are they,who knows???

[Ken L]

It depends on the venue, the temperature, the stocking level, the species and whether there are critters like crayfish.

My local pool is not a commercial, and you are basically fishing for bites, with most of the fish present being fair sized bream, tench or carp. I'll happily let a bait soak for 40 minutes and feed very frugally. On other venues, I wouldn't want a bait in the water for more than 10 minutes.

[Whitty]

The videos that have made me start this thread are on a Northern canal,now I don't know the venue,but if its fishing hard,which it was on three or four of the vids,to keep casting every five minutes seems extreme and doesn't give the fish a chance to settle on the feed without another splash of a feeder,plus grub...

[Ken L]

10 minutes ago, Whitty said:

The videos that have made me start this thread are on a Northern canal,now I don't know the venue,but if its fishing hard,which it was on three or four of the vids,to keep casting every five minutes seems extreme and doesn't give the fish a chance to settle on the feed without another splash of a feeder,plus grub...

This one gives a very different perspective...

 

[The Flying Tench]

A key question, certainly, how long to leave the bait in before re-casting - and I often have little idea and don't even understand the principles involved. The ones I can think of are:

Reasons for re-casting

- get more bait in

- put the bait in a better position (if there are no bites it may be stuck in weed)

- stir things up!  (this may be rubbish, but it sometimes feels like the thing to do!)

Reasons for not re-casting

- don't frighten the fish

 

Any other factors?

Ken, I think the main point of the video was that fish aren't scared of feeders. But I felt he overstated his case. It may be true of a big shoal of mainly small dace in a big river, but authors on barbel fishing claim they seen barbel in relatively clear rivers being spooked by feeders. I realise you're already aware of this, and it may come under your earlier statement that it all depends ........

 

[Ken L]

1 hour ago, The Flying Tench said:

A key question, certainly, how long to leave the bait in before re-casting - and I often have little idea and don't even understand the principles involved. The ones I can think of are:

Reasons for re-casting

- get more bait in

- put the bait in a better position (if there are no bites it may be stuck in weed)

- stir things up!  (this may be rubbish, but it sometimes feels like the thing to do!)

Reasons for not re-casting

- don't frighten the fish

 

Any other factors?

Ken, I think the main point of the video was that fish aren't scared of feeders. But I felt he overstated his case. It may be true of a big shoal of mainly small dace in a big river, but authors on barbel fishing claim they seen barbel in relatively clear rivers being spooked by feeders. I realise you're already aware of this, and it may come under your earlier statement that it all depends ........

 

The match boys on the Trent in the 80's used to cast feeders every 90 seconds and strike regardless of whether they saw a bite.

The idea was to get the fish to associate the sound of the feeder with food and immediately compete for it.

I've done something similar with raggi balls for mahseer, where the guides feed the fish by throwing a couple of baits in every time they pass. You turn up and it's freebee, freebee, freebee, baited hook. It works well, but I preferred lures.

[Whitty]

Yes,but that doesn't and simply can't be right all the time,nothing is written in stone,it's what the fish want at the time,which could change minute by minute...

Casting a feeder regularly and accurately is paramount,the reason you recast is to get a feeding pattern going,like loose feeding on the float,there are times when feeding one maggot a cast is right,others where you feed every few seconds by the handful,that is why IMHO casting no longer than five minutes cannot be right,if the fish don't want to jump on the hook....

Edited June 8, 2022 by Whitty

[Blackbird]

No point in feeding if the fish are not responding, of course initially when fishing Wye or similar where there are large shoals of chub minnow and barbel, laying down a carpet of feed is imperative, if only to arouse minnow etc, they will attract the bigger species. I would recast initially every 5 minutes at least for say 30 minutes, and then if no bites stop, and the fish a lead over the baited area and wait. 

The tip of the rod should be an indicator if there are fish in the peg.  

Other rivers such as the WA I will drop a load of feed initially via dropper and wait if barbel are the target. 

I love black cap maggot feeder fishing, you really need to be like a metronome in feeding.

[Whitty]

Barbel fishing is a strange one,on rivers like the Wye where populations are high feeding is imperative,however with many rivers having less barbel to fish for because of otter predation in the main often small pva bags with a couple of boilies and a small amount of pellet is all that is required,no beds of bait,hoping to cast no less than 40 minutes between casts,feeding is venue orientated....maggot feeder fishing is different,fifteen to twenty minutes is my go to....

[Tigger]

I very much dislike using a feeder and if possible I always catty or throw out my groundbait/particles and cast as small a weight as possible onto it.  I don't like leaving my bait in for more than about 10 min's before re casting.  One reason for not leaving it long before re casting is you never know if your bait has landed in a spot where it isn't easily got at or maybe can't be got at, or even if it has been coverd up, come off, pulled off etc.  The thought of sitting there for a half hour or more before re casting and my bait being hidden between some rocks etc isn't my idea of fun .  Another reason for re casting more often is the fish very often see the bait as it goes down which incites them to go for it.  I often make a wind or two of my reel handle a few minuites after casting out in order to move my bait to bring it to a fishes attention and hopefully incite it to take it, and it very often does the trick.