Feeding tips

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Ian
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Feeding tips

Post by Ian »

We are planning to do an overnight on the 14th of this month on a quarry pond that has a few tench in it.we are planning to feed and rake it for a few days running up to that night.can anyone offer any advice on how to go about a feeding campaign e.g how many days should we feed,how much feed.another thing is that the swim is quite tight,with two small trees,one to the left and the other to the right,which are both in 4-5ft of water so we can’t get around them.will the fish be wary of braid,given how wild they are,or will we be ok.we were also planning to use 2 rods each,is there anyway of reducing the chances of a big tench running through the other lines.we are planning to use lobs and pellets.any help would be greatly appreciated as we are only going to be fishing for that one take and don’t want to mess it up if we get it.thanks
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Dave Burr
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Re: Feeding tips

Post by Dave Burr »

First question - why fish such a tight and snaggy swim?

Surely you could draw the fish to an easier extraction point with your pre-feeding, a few (4 or 5) days of rake and feed will bring the fish to you rather than you go and stir up their sanctuary.

If circumstances mean you have to sit in a tight spot then use a strong rod and line and a big hook. You can ten bend into a fish without fear of ripping it's mouth and the hook free. Not an ideal way to treat a fish like a tench in my opinion.

If you do use braid, beware of the risk if slicing flesh and fins if you are bent hard into a running fish in a tight spot. Mono is much more fish friendly.

If you have pre-fed doubt the fish will be tackle shy especially if they are 'wild'. I suggest a feed of a few pellets or hemp, a small tin of corn and some chopped worms, you then have a choice of hookbait - corn, whole worm, worm section or a cocktail. This gives you some variance on bait size also.

Good luck with your venture.

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Santiago
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Re: Feeding tips

Post by Santiago »

I would use a night float since it's quite shallow, limit myself to one rod since it's a cramped swim, and use bread as hook bait and pre-bait with mashed bread.
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Reedling
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Re: Feeding tips

Post by Reedling »

One thing I would say is that using Lobs in a quarry you may well pick up a big Eel, with trees either side in the water good luck as they fight like demons and can get that tail/body around anything solid.

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Ian
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Re: Feeding tips

Post by Ian »

To answer your question on why we are choosing this tight swim Dave,it’s simply because there are only 3 swims on this quarry.two of them have high banks,deep water and since they are close to the road,the fly tippers use it.theres car shopping trolleys,barrels,car tyres and the odd full vehicle.they are also thick with weed and lilies.theres no chance of raking it without snagging,never mind trying to put a bait on the bottom.we have began raking the chosen swim and we have managed to bring in 3 tyres,a sunken tree and an old office chair,it’s pretty clear now,though I snagged something unmovable tonight,but luckily we managed to get the rake back.we have found a drop off that goes sharply down from 4ft to about 6ft.the problem is the two trees so we have decided it best to only use one rod each.the next problem is the amount of roach in the place.they average 6/7oz and there’s hundreds of them,putting maggots,bread or corn in will get snaffled up in no time,there are some really big ones that we see rolling at dusk,but we have never caught one.maybe they feed when the smaller ones calm down,who knows.
The big eel scenario never even entered my mind,but now you mention itreedling,it’s a possibility.
Understandably,fish care is of utmost importance and I agree that braid is too dangerous so we will be using mono.i have yozuri hybrid in 8lb and it can double up as a hook link.
Pellets are far from a bait I would normally use,but we need to use something the fish haven’t seen before,the last thing we want is to attract a massive shoal of 6oz roach,nothing else would get near the bait.
Maybe you are right about the fish going off during darkness,but we have tried dawn,dusk and dawn til dusk and never caught a tench or big roach.
I would love to use a night float Santiago,but we will need to sit quite far back from the water so a bobbin would be more suitable.
Whatever the outcome is,thanks for all the advice given to me,I have heeded it and will be continue raking and feeding til next weds,then rest it til the Saturday.hopefully we can catch one of these wild fish.
Don’t cast doubt,cast out.

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Ian
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Re: Feeding tips

Post by Ian »

Well tonight is the night Rab and I have been building up to.
The swim has been carefully manicured over the past few weeks,through raking and feeding and has been left to rest since Wednesday,by us at least.
How things will pan out,who knows,but I’m very excited.we will arrive at the swim by 8:30pm and give it one final rake and feed before we set up camp.
Don’t cast doubt,cast out.

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Ian
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Re: Feeding tips

Post by Ian »

Martin H wrote: Sat Jul 14, 2018 5:31 pm Probably a bit late for this trip, but I'd have taken along some cooked frozen prawns. A bag of cheap small ones to loose feed, and a bag of more expensive larger ones for hook bait, smaller roach will have trouble mouthing these. Has been successful for me recently!!
I never bloomin thought of that Martin.i caught a few tench out whiteacres on whole prawns too.i tried it before on this quarry and got no luck,but they might work now that we have been feeding fishmeal groundbait.i think I will pop into asda for a pack.Would a big roach have no problem gubbing a whole one?
Don’t cast doubt,cast out.

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Ian
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Re: Feeding tips

Post by Ian »

Martin H wrote: Sat Jul 14, 2018 6:44 pm
Ian wrote: Sat Jul 14, 2018 6:40 pm
Martin H wrote: Sat Jul 14, 2018 5:31 pm Probably a bit late for this trip, but I'd have taken along some cooked frozen prawns. A bag of cheap small ones to loose feed, and a bag of more expensive larger ones for hook bait, smaller roach will have trouble mouthing these. Has been successful for me recently!!
I never bloomin thought of that Martin.i caught a few tench out whiteacres on whole prawns too.i tried it before on this quarry and got no luck,but they might work now that we have been feeding fishmeal groundbait.i think I will pop into asda for a pack.Would a big roach have no problem gubbing a whole one?
Hi Ian,
Only roach I've caught using the larger prawn was touching 2lb, nearly fell off my chair!!
I mix the hook-baits selected in with my cooked hemp(always use hemp in some form) to add a smell.
Wee have been putting in a pint of hemp every time we have raked it Martin.hopefully the fish associate raking with food by now.
Don’t cast doubt,cast out.

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Ian
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Re: Feeding tips

Post by Ian »

I could sit here and moan our bad luck,but after all said and done,it just wasn’t our night.
The weather was great and if it weren’t for the midges we could have sat in our t-shirts all night.
The light never really went,we could have sat float fishing all night.maybe next time.
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Don’t cast doubt,cast out.

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Ian
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Re: Feeding tips

Post by Ian »

Martin H wrote: Mon Jul 16, 2018 9:59 am Shame it didn't work out for you after so much effort, but that's what makes tench attractive for me, they are enigmatic!! Good to be by the water though?
Yes Martin,tench are a hard fish to catch.
Even the roach were having a sleep on the night.the night was so still and mild,it was a pleasure to just be there
Don’t cast doubt,cast out.

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