Small method feeders - a few questions

[Patrick Bateman]

Whilst having a decent session myself over the weekend, I noticed that a chap on the other side of the water was doing much better than me using a small method feeder. As a result (and as a seemingly good alternative tactic on the water) I'm setting up a second rod with a method feeder for my next trip. I didn't get the chance to speak to the angler as I was doing very nicely myself so have a few questions re set up.

I'm proposing to use 6lb mono mainline and a 14g Fox method feeder but have a few questions regarding the hook link.

1. Mono or braid?
2. Length of hook link?
3. Is hair rigging the bait really vital?
4. Bait pressed into the feeder mix or hook link left straight off the end?

Target species are tench to c. 6lb and bream to about the same. There are no carp in the water, apart from grassies up to around mid doubles. Bait wise I'm looking at corn and pellets, with perhaps worms as a back up.

All ideas welcome!

[Andrew]

1. Personal preference imo could use Feeder braid main line mono hook length

2. 2 inch with size 14 (i like korum s4's)

3. Not vital but it will help otherwise you will need to be lightening fast on strike. use inline feeder fixed or semifixed for better results (preston flat inline for example set as bolt rig)

4. Personal preference again i do well just letting it loose.

[norwich lad]

Elliott,i have got into this method for a bit of commercial fun, fished a preston 15 g feeder, guru made up hook links (about 10" ) with pellet banded,4lb mainline on a tip 10/11 tourney feeder rod. storming takes from carp bream and tench from 1lb upwards to 7-8lb. idiot proof set up. i was burying the pellet in the mould. got all the bits for about £6. bites are rod benders. have fun doing it.

[Jason Skilton]

Elliott, I'd go for 6lb mainline on the tip with a short hooklink......either on a std hair with size 12 hook or small 16 with a normal hooked bait 4lb line

If your fishing carp style at longer range I'd just up the mainline to 10lb and either 6 fluro or 8lb micro braid

[Patrick Bateman]

Thanks for the feedback so far guys. Fishing will be close range - nothing more than 50 yards. Thinking of using a light bobbin on a Delkim - is a quivertip a better idea? Done a bit of reading tonight and it seems shorter hook lengths are preferred...

[Gavin P]

When I match fished most weekends this is how a lot of us fished if it was beyond pole range. Personally I prefer the tip as it allows me to assess how the feeder is working i.e. I can see the small little line bites etc.

We often used the Preston feeders as we could use the mould to speed up the process and get the feeder fishing again as we were casting every 2-3 minutes tops

Mainline for me was 6lb sensor though a lot of the guys used the more fancy stuff though I liked the stretch for those more aggressive bites though you did sacrifice some accuracy when firing it up against a far bank or island due to that stretch but you cant win em all

Hooklinks were always mono with our favoured lengths of between 4-6 inches depending on feeder size with line strength of between 0.15mm to 0.19mm ( 5lb-7lb) with my favourite being 0.17mm (6lb). Hook size once again depended on hookbaits with anything between a size 12 and 16 sometimes an 18 for smaller F1's being used, favourite hook patterns for me where either a PR36 or Kamisan animals though I never really settled on which I preferred I wouldn't go any lower than 5lbs (0.15) due to the shock on the bite if its aggressive as any lighter will just snap

Hookbait wise my favourites where either corn, banded pellets or a single red dead maggot though in recent times I have become rather fond of the Sonubaits Band um's Pretty much everything was hair rigged bar the maggot which was fished as normal though fish still hooked themselves using it

Whether or not you bury the bait in the feeder just depends on how its fishing i.e. if the fish are really hammering it leaving it outside of he feeder can get the bites quicker whereas leaving it in the feeder can be better on slower days

Let us know how you get on

[Marty]

forget bobbins and light lines.

minimum 8lb mono mainline with at least 6lb mono hooklength, the hooklength wants to be between 2" and 6", and the only time i bury it in the feeder is if fishing at range so i can be sure of no tangles. If you are catching regular then increase the hooklength b.s. to 10lb+, these short hooklengths have no stretch so get a lot of batter and a LOT of shock. You'll find a band is much easier and quicker to use than a traditional looped hair.

cast at least every 10 mins for the first hour or two regardless of results, then as and when neccessary depending on what you find.

if your fishing for 3lb+ carp/tench then bites will usually be savage, sit through any plucks and trembles until tip pulls right round.

you will need a soft progressive actioned wand or short feeder rod to fish this style.

when you get it right you'll find out why this method dominates a lot of commercial waters - Ive weighed in a total of over 400lb in 3 matches this last month!

[Gavin P]

forget bobbins and light lines.

minimum 8lb mono mainline with at least 6lb mono hooklength, the hooklength wants to be between 2" and 6", and the only time i bury it in the feeder is if fishing at range so i can be sure of no tangles. If you are catching regular then increase the hooklength b.s. to 10lb+, these short hooklengths have no stretch so get a lot of batter and a LOT of shock. You'll find a band is much easier and quicker to use than a traditional looped hair.

cast at least every 10 mins for the first hour or two regardless of results, then as and when neccessary depending on what you find.

if your fishing for 3lb+ carp/tench then bites will usually be savage, sit through any plucks and trembles until tip pulls right round.

you will need a soft progressive actioned wand or short feeder rod to fish this style.

when you get it right you'll find out why this method dominates a lot of commercial waters - Ive weighed in a total of over 400lb in 3 matches this last month!

Some sound advice there

That's some good weights for just three matches up here if you get 50lb in a match you've done very well

Having just reread your post Patrick, I would also go with marty's breaking strains of line as I had stupidly assumed it was on a wee commercial pond for some reason

[Andrew]

Quiver fir sure mate love watching the tip.

Dont be tempted to strike at little pulls and hits wait for the wrap around.

[Daniel]

forget bobbins and light lines.

minimum 8lb mono mainline with at least 6lb mono hooklength, the hooklength wants to be between 2" and 6", and the only time i bury it in the feeder is if fishing at range so i can be sure of no tangles. If you are catching regular then increase the hooklength b.s. to 10lb+, these short hooklengths have no stretch so get a lot of batter and a LOT of shock. You'll find a band is much easier and quicker to use than a traditional looped hair.

cast at least every 10 mins for the first hour or two regardless of results, then as and when neccessary depending on what you find.

if your fishing for 3lb+ carp/tench then bites will usually be savage, sit through any plucks and trembles until tip pulls right round.

you will need a soft progressive actioned wand or short feeder rod to fish this style.

when you get it right you'll find out why this method dominates a lot of commercial waters - Ive weighed in a total of over 400lb in 3 matches this last month!

Bang on the money. There's nothing finesse about method fishing, its all about accurate, regular casting.
Personally I cast every 60 seconds for 30 minutes to put some bait down and go from there. If they're on it then it can be fast and furious fun even with tench and bream.

[Bob Watson]

forget bobbins and light lines.

minimum 8lb mono mainline with at least 6lb mono hooklength, the hooklength wants to be between 2" and 6", and the only time i bury it in the feeder is if fishing at range so i can be sure of no tangles. If you are catching regular then increase the hooklength b.s. to 10lb+, these short hooklengths have no stretch so get a lot of batter and a LOT of shock. You'll find a band is much easier and quicker to use than a traditional looped hair.

cast at least every 10 mins for the first hour or two regardless of results, then as and when neccessary depending on what you find.

if your fishing for 3lb+ carp/tench then bites will usually be savage, sit through any plucks and trembles until tip pulls right round.

you will need a soft progressive actioned wand or short feeder rod to fish this style.

when you get it right you'll find out why this method dominates a lot of commercial waters - Ive weighed in a total of over 400lb in 3 matches this last month!

Bang on the money. There's nothing finesse about method fishing, its all about accurate, regular casting.
Personally I cast every 60 seconds for 30 minutes to put some bait down and go from there. If they're on it then it can be fast and furious fun even with tench and bream.

I'd be doing that feeder fishing, but my method mix would still be glued to the feeder after a considerably longer time than 60 seconds

[Andrew]

Mix water in slowly Bob a little at a time allow the air in to it and let mix sook up the water to get a sticky but fluffy crumbly mix. Add more dry crumb if its getting too much and dont let big lumps form.

I usually get mines ready in the house a few hours before. Usually it just needs a tiny bit more water once on the bank.

[Daniel]

forget bobbins and light lines.

minimum 8lb mono mainline with at least 6lb mono hooklength, the hooklength wants to be between 2" and 6", and the only time i bury it in the feeder is if fishing at range so i can be sure of no tangles. If you are catching regular then increase the hooklength b.s. to 10lb+, these short hooklengths have no stretch so get a lot of batter and a LOT of shock. You'll find a band is much easier and quicker to use than a traditional looped hair.

cast at least every 10 mins for the first hour or two regardless of results, then as and when neccessary depending on what you find.

if your fishing for 3lb+ carp/tench then bites will usually be savage, sit through any plucks and trembles until tip pulls right round.

you will need a soft progressive actioned wand or short feeder rod to fish this style.

when you get it right you'll find out why this method dominates a lot of commercial waters - Ive weighed in a total of over 400lb in 3 matches this last month!

Bang on the money. There's nothing finesse about method fishing, its all about accurate, regular casting.
Personally I cast every 60 seconds for 30 minutes to put some bait down and go from there. If they're on it then it can be fast and furious fun even with tench and bream.

I'd be doing that feeder fishing, but my method mix would still be glued to the feeder after a considerably longer time than 60 seconds

Thats fine if you're loading the mix with particles when after big carp but modern method fishing uses a fairly fine, dry mix with very little food content that pretty much falls apart well inside a minute and the mix just sits on top of the feeder. The fish comes along and hoovers the lot up in one go and the bites are unmissable. Single dead red maggot on a size 14 or a 8-10mm white boilie hair rigged on a size 12 were my favourite baits.

[Bob Watson]

Mix water in slowly Bob a little at a time allow the air in to it and let mix sook up the water to get a sticky but fluffy crumbly mix. Add more dry crumb if its getting too much and dont let big lumps form.

I usually get mines ready in the house a few hours before. Usually it just needs a tiny bit more water once on the bank.

I wasn't looking for pointers Andrew, I was puzzled why anyone would cast a method feeder every minute to get a bed of feed down, I'd use a conventional feeder first until bites came then change to the method if I thought I needed to.

The whole point of the "method" is to get fish attacking the feeder, not waiting for it to break down.

[Bob Watson]

forget bobbins and light lines.

minimum 8lb mono mainline with at least 6lb mono hooklength, the hooklength wants to be between 2" and 6", and the only time i bury it in the feeder is if fishing at range so i can be sure of no tangles. If you are catching regular then increase the hooklength b.s. to 10lb+, these short hooklengths have no stretch so get a lot of batter and a LOT of shock. You'll find a band is much easier and quicker to use than a traditional looped hair.

cast at least every 10 mins for the first hour or two regardless of results, then as and when neccessary depending on what you find.

if your fishing for 3lb+ carp/tench then bites will usually be savage, sit through any plucks and trembles until tip pulls right round.

you will need a soft progressive actioned wand or short feeder rod to fish this style.

when you get it right you'll find out why this method dominates a lot of commercial waters - Ive weighed in a total of over 400lb in 3 matches this last month!

Bang on the money. There's nothing finesse about method fishing, its all about accurate, regular casting.
Personally I cast every 60 seconds for 30 minutes to put some bait down and go from there. If they're on it then it can be fast and furious fun even with tench and bream.

I'd be doing that feeder fishing, but my method mix would still be glued to the feeder after a considerably longer time than 60 seconds

Thats fine if you're loading the mix with particles when after big carp but modern method fishing uses a fairly fine, dry mix with very little food content that pretty much falls apart well inside a minute and the mix just sits on top of the feeder. The fish comes along and hoovers the lot up in one go and the bites are unmissable. Single dead red maggot on a size 14 or a 8-10mm white boilie hair rigged on a size 12 were my favourite baits.

I still fish it the old fashioned way then, with sticky groundbait and decent sized hook baits like 10mm boilies or corn etc. Just cos it's "old fashioned" doesn't mean it don't work

[Daniel]

forget bobbins and light lines.

minimum 8lb mono mainline with at least 6lb mono hooklength, the hooklength wants to be between 2" and 6", and the only time i bury it in the feeder is if fishing at range so i can be sure of no tangles. If you are catching regular then increase the hooklength b.s. to 10lb+, these short hooklengths have no stretch so get a lot of batter and a LOT of shock. You'll find a band is much easier and quicker to use than a traditional looped hair.

cast at least every 10 mins for the first hour or two regardless of results, then as and when neccessary depending on what you find.

if your fishing for 3lb+ carp/tench then bites will usually be savage, sit through any plucks and trembles until tip pulls right round.

you will need a soft progressive actioned wand or short feeder rod to fish this style.

when you get it right you'll find out why this method dominates a lot of commercial waters - Ive weighed in a total of over 400lb in 3 matches this last month!

Bang on the money. There's nothing finesse about method fishing, its all about accurate, regular casting.
Personally I cast every 60 seconds for 30 minutes to put some bait down and go from there. If they're on it then it can be fast and furious fun even with tench and bream.

I'd be doing that feeder fishing, but my method mix would still be glued to the feeder after a considerably longer time than 60 seconds

Thats fine if you're loading the mix with particles when after big carp but modern method fishing uses a fairly fine, dry mix with very little food content that pretty much falls apart well inside a minute and the mix just sits on top of the feeder. The fish comes along and hoovers the lot up in one go and the bites are unmissable. Single dead red maggot on a size 14 or a 8-10mm white boilie hair rigged on a size 12 were my favourite baits.

I still fish it the old fashioned way then, with sticky groundbait and decent sized hook baits like 10mm boilies or corn etc. Just cos it's "old fashioned" doesn't mean it don't work

Your way will work but my way catches more fish. Why wait for the fish to peck away at a hard ball of groundbait until it eventually picks up the hookbait when my way it gets the lot in one go. My way saves time so I'd have more fish in the net.
Also casting every minute is not just about putting a bed down. The fish learn to home in on the sound of the feeder hitting the water so I don't have to wait too long for the tip to rip round.
If after half an hour I'm not getting much action I'll usually slow down and only cast every 5 minutes and if after another half hour its still slow going I'll cast every ten minutes as the fish are not competing for the food theres no point casting so often.

[Patrick Bateman]

So I've watched a few YouTube vids and have just come back from the tackle shop. Picked up some Guru 8lb line, 4" 7lb hook links (size 12 & 14) with bands on and a gizmo that opens up the bands. Bought a bag of Sonubaits method mix that needs precisely 2 pints of water to a bag to make a perfect method mix and some matching 8mm pellets for the hook bait. Decided to use my Drennan method feeder and mould as opposed to the older style Fox feeder. Also picked up a new feeder rest.
Can I start by balling in say three balls of the groundbait to get a bit of bait in the swim quickly and then cast every 5-10 minutes or would that slow my action by giving the fish too much?
First run Saturday...

[Marty]

stay away from balling it in, your much better off re-casting every few minutes and building it up slowly. The fish will associate the plop of your feeder with food (if you really get em going then you'll get bites on the drop!), a few cannonballs at the start can often spook them away for a while.

your kit sounds fine, although i'd be using a size 16 wide gape with an 8mm pellet, and even drop to an 18 if bites weren't forthcoming. Your size 12/14's are fine for a larger hookbait though, try a single piece of corn.

good luck and let us know how you get on

[Daniel]

So I've watched a few YouTube vids and have just come back from the tackle shop. Picked up some Guru 8lb line, 4" 7lb hook links (size 12 & 14) with bands on and a gizmo that opens up the bands. Bought a bag of Sonubaits method mix that needs precisely 2 pints of water to a bag to make a perfect method mix and some matching 8mm pellets for the hook bait. Decided to use my Drennan method feeder and mould as opposed to the older style Fox feeder. Also picked up a new feeder rest.
Can I start by balling in say three balls of the groundbait to get a bit of bait in the swim quickly and then cast every 5-10 minutes or would that slow my action by giving the fish too much?
First run Saturday...

Firstly if you're mixing the groundbait on the bank it needs to be the first thing you do when you arrive to give it time to absorb the water while you set up.

I'd start with an empty feeder and no hooklength. Pick your spot and make a cast, keep casting until you hit the spot you want then put the line behind the line clip. Now gently drag the feeder along the bottom for 2-3' to check for snags, there's nothing worse than putting feed directly into a snag!
I'd stick to casting really frequently early on, balling in is fine but its a lot of feed in one go and once you've put it in you can't take it out again if they're not really on it.

[Patrick Bateman]

Thanks Marty/Dan, the only thing left is haul my a**e out of bed early tomorrow!

[Daniel]

Thanks Marty/Dan, the only thing left is haul my a**e out of bed early tomorrow!

I find that bits easy when I'm going fishing however things are a bit different on a work day

[Patrick Bateman]

I managed to roll out of bed at 6am this morning and got to the water by 7. Mixed the ground bait up first, adding some peanut kernels and coconut liquid to the mix. Simple enough. In my rush to get in, I forgot to clip up - which was a mistake.
After sorting the rest of the gear, I proceeded to make a bit of a mess of things first up. I needed a while to get used to the release mechanism on the Drennan mould and spent perhaps the first hour getting frustrated with not getting a consistent release before I twigged it - push the feeder in hard and pull back both sides of the mould at the top - simple.
Third cast and I had a bream of perhaps 3lb. Nice start, unmissable bite! After about 90 minutes I realised that my wayward casting was putting bait all over the shop - I had a couple more bream in this time, but I wound in, took the hooklink off and did what Dan suggested. I noted that it was tricky to cast short distances accurately with the 12 foot rod I was using - note to self, short rod if you're going to do this regularly.
Having got the distance sussed, I was still fluffing my casts by being wide of the mark I'd selected in front of some pads. Every time I was on the money, more bream came. If I was wide they came, but much more slowly. Practice, practice and more practice required here.
The afternoon turned quiet as all the regulars told me it would do. I still caught, but perhaps one fish every 20 minutes as opposed to every 5-10 minutes earlier in the day. I was however beginning to work metronomically - cast, tighten, sit on hands, strike, land, fill feeder... The feeder was never in the water longer than 5 minutes in the morning and 20 in the early afternoon. 5pm came and the fish turned on again. Lots of bites now - this is fun!
Despite all the action it was all bream and I was hankering after a tench. Around 7pm I got another unmissable bite. I was genuinely shocked when this baby hit the net...


An old warrior and a new personal best crucian of 2lb 7oz!!
I packed up at 8pm - it's a fun way to fish for sure, but I've some leg work to do to sort out the casting accuracy - which seems to be the be all and end all from what I saw today. To those who've helped me in this thread and put me onto a PB

[Andrew]

Nice write up dude congrats on new pb. Waiting for my back to fully heal so i can get in amongst it all again.

A tip for the feeder mould, stick it in a wee freezer bag and stick mix "on top" of bag and press in feeder then just tigjten bag to pop it out. Or get the preston one with the button under it, hold upside down hold edge of mould and press a few.times to loosen it and should fall out. An overly sticky mix sometimes sees half still stuck to mould.

[Daniel]

Good stuff mate. As you've found today accuracy is key to getting the best results and that comes from nothing more than practicing. As for rods I use my trusty preston 10' feeder rod for anything up to 50 yards, over that and I'll switch to the 12' version of the same rod.
Its worth having a few hookbait options with you as there are days when they can be really picky.
Try adding a really good glug of corn steep liquor to the water before mixing, its one of my favourite additions to a mix for drawing tench and bream in.

[Gavin P]

Good stuff mate. As you've found today accuracy is key to getting the best results and that comes from nothing more than practicing. As for rods I use my trusty preston 10' feeder rod for anything up to 50 yards, over that and I'll switch to the 12' version of the same rod.
Its worth having a few hookbait options with you as there are days when they can be really picky.
Try adding a really good glug of corn steep liquor to the water before mixing, its one of my favourite additions to a mix for drawing tench and bream in.

+1 to the above though I use different rods

[Patrick Bateman]

Good stuff mate. As you've found today accuracy is key to getting the best results and that comes from nothing more than practicing. As for rods I use my trusty preston 10' feeder rod for anything up to 50 yards, over that and I'll switch to the 12' version of the same rod.
Its worth having a few hookbait options with you as there are days when they can be really picky.
Try adding a really good glug of corn steep liquor to the water before mixing, its one of my favourite additions to a mix for drawing tench and bream in.

It's been a long time since I bought any coarse rods - wowsers there's a lot of choice! Took a look at a 10' Maver rod in the local shop today, a Drennan Series 7 10' rod and a much cheaper 9' 6" Frenzee rod (can't say I've heard of the latter brand before). Taking a look on the Preston website, would your 10 footer be the Mini or Mini Plus Dan? Having rummaged through my bait bags, I've got some Hinders pellet baits (sort of a dumbbell boille) that will do as another change bait, and I found a couple of Dynamite liquid bottles I'd forgotten about that will serve as glugs. I must admit, I was pleased with the relative low cost of bait for the day - a kilo of groundbait, perhaps 2 dozen pellets a glug of coconut liquid and a handful of peanut kernels - really much more economical than I'm used to! I use molasses in my groundbait in summer so will try that (in a diluted form) as a glug, too. I picked up a bag of 2mm expander pellets at the shop today to try those. We may have started something here!

[Fastliner]

The red range by drennan is very good value, they have a 10 foot feeder rod in the red range with 2 Drennan quiver tips for £50 if you shop around.


http://drennantackle.com/viewProductDetails.php?id=695

[Marty]

If your using method feeders under 25g then get yourself one of these:

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/NEW-Frenzee-M ... 3641.l6368

you wont find a better tool for the job without going up to a preston carbonactive at £150+.

[Daniel]

Good stuff mate. As you've found today accuracy is key to getting the best results and that comes from nothing more than practicing. As for rods I use my trusty preston 10' feeder rod for anything up to 50 yards, over that and I'll switch to the 12' version of the same rod.
Its worth having a few hookbait options with you as there are days when they can be really picky.
Try adding a really good glug of corn steep liquor to the water before mixing, its one of my favourite additions to a mix for drawing tench and bream in.

It's been a long time since I bought any coarse rods - wowsers there's a lot of choice! Took a look at a 10' Maver rod in the local shop today, a Drennan Series 7 10' rod and a much cheaper 9' 6" Frenzee rod (can't say I've heard of the latter brand before). Taking a look on the Preston website, would your 10 footer be the Mini or Mini Plus Dan? Having rummaged through my bait bags, I've got some Hinders pellet baits (sort of a dumbbell boille) that will do as another change bait, and I found a couple of Dynamite liquid bottles I'd forgotten about that will serve as glugs. I must admit, I was pleased with the relative low cost of bait for the day - a kilo of groundbait, perhaps 2 dozen pellets a glug of coconut liquid and a handful of peanut kernels - really much more economical than I'm used to! I use molasses in my groundbait in summer so will try that (in a diluted form) as a glug, too. I picked up a bag of 2mm expander pellets at the shop today to try those. We may have started something here!

Mine's the mini, had it years and I can't see me parting with it unless I break it but should that happen I'd almost certainly get another one, a fabulous rod that's caught me everything from 4oz roach to 20lb carp.

[Patrick Bateman]

So me being me, I've decided to do it properly and have picked up a 10' Preston Mini Plus. I had an interesting conversation with the guy in the shop about setting up the feeder. I used the Drennan method links that essentially sets up the feeder as semi fixed. He told me to try the feeder on a running set up using a bead so that more of the smaller knocks become full blooded bites. It was my understanding that the feeder should be fixed so that the rig hooks the fish. Is the running version a decent tactic, or should it wait until the fish are becoming a little wary of the resistance?
On another topic, I noted (and picked up a couple of) elasticated Preston method feeders - are these better/worse or just different to the standard feeders? I understand the principle, that it acts as a shock absorber, but not having fished an elasticated pole in my life I'm not sure of the advantages of elasticating feeders.