Nicky.....Given the description of your water "margins are shallow but shelving off sharply with clear patches of gravel and some weed" I am wondering why you are feeder fishing in the first place....
Also, if you are clipping up am I right in saying you are casting out some distance, and if so, why?
Every water is different and perhaps your water is good for feeder fishing, but for me I think I would be searching the areas where the drop-off begins (with a float) and loose feed put in over a period in those clear gravel areas surrounded by the weed, and if possible the evening before fishing.
If I did use feed it would be black or mixed with soil so it doesn't stand out on the bottom and again because of the clear water probably put in the evening before.
IMO (and experience) I believe better quality tench like to sit in the weed cover, coming out to feed only rarely, so I would be making very few casts, preferring to leave the bait in one spot for a long period. In the past I have done this using corn as bait with worm or maggot tip and occasionally flicking out odd single grains of corn to keep disturbance to a minimum.
Obviously this approach means sitting well back form the water behind cover (with no part of the rod protruding over the bank) and the minimum of moving about, and the swim (or swims) I'd chosen to fish the result of time spent surveying the water without actually fishing.
I would not expect to land more than one or two fish in a session, but then I would be hoping they would be decent fish....
Doesn't always work, but a nice way of fishing and an alternative to casting a feeder into areas unknown!
Just a thought.....................
ps 6lb fish from nice clear water sounds as though it has the potential for much bigger fish in my opinion, so well worth putting in some effort!!
Good luck!!
Hi tee cee I don't know much about the water at the moment but I don't think we're far off with tactics as we had 7 runs between the 2 of us fishing the morning and into early afternoon unfortunately I lost two to snags.
I like to put a bit of feed in to attract the fish and prompt them too feed. In with my ground bait I had dead and live maggots they are definately attracted to the feed as between us 6 runs came to the method feeder the one I caught came on the helicopter feeder rig.
I tried a float with my spare rod just at the bottom of the shelf and not a sniff all day off any fish (don't think there's many silvers) as on another water i fish they have all but refused to take a feeder or ledger but coming out in numbers on the float (these fish can be so fickle).
I'm sure I will catch a few fish from this venue it does seem to be a sit and wait for a bite type of venue and the rig needs to be left at least an hour or at least it did on our first session.
It was just advice I wanted on apparent spooking off the bait in a tight area which I've had plenty of answers and food for thought
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---------- Post added at 18:01 ---------- Previous post was at 17:54 ----------
It depends on the venue and conditions but when clipping up I think you'd be amazed how varied your actual final feeder position is and how spread your feed will be. Even with markers & clips your own arm & final rod position will vary. It's easy to be a couple of metres different if you hit the clip at 10 o'clock in front of you, 12 o'clock directly above you or even 2 o'clock behind your head. Get a quick bite and strike and you could have feed everywhere !!!
I appreciate what your saying but I do tend to lift the rod to the 1 o'clock positionband feather the cast I can usually cast to inches of the bank not worried about accuracy they are mostly on target and if one goes a bit ascew I reel in and recast but after reading the responses maybe this cast should be left where it is lol
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---------- Post added at 18:06 ---------- Previous post was at 18:01 ----------
The weight of the feeder can easily put extra distance on a cast. How many of us have cast to an Island swim clipped up and then hit the island on the next cast.
I do find that presentation, accuracy and distance casting sometime obsess anglers. Ok if you are casting to a feature but most of us are not.
We have decided on the day where we want the fish to be, where we are going to cast and put our bait rather than where will the fish be. Many times I have miscast and caught. Caught on rigs that have got tangled. Spent day fishing at distance only to drop in at my feet when packing up and catch.
It pay to vary your cast other wise you go home saying the fish were not feeding today when they were but not where you were casting.
Bang on a friend once said to me you used to fish much more intuitively but over the years I have got obsessed with building a swimb and accuracy (don't get me wrong this has its days) but not all the time the last fish I lost Sunday I actually moved swims and did one cast which I was intending to leave for an hour and on 55 mins the bite came
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---------- Post added at 18:16 ---------- Previous post was at 18:06 ----------
I am sort of addicted to accurate casting with feeders. Occasionally fish will not sit over feed. If this happens I will cast around the feed area with a bomb and single bait with no feed.
Especially on the commercial venues I fish, I'm now fishing a different venue but expect it to mostly fish the same though baits may alter.
I can get all the information I need from the staff at the venue but prefer to work it out myself. At least to start with.
I'm going to clip up but vary the cast and maybe try a lead as suggested.
I even clip up on the wye for barbel albeit I unclip quickly to allow the feeder to fall on a slack line and feed a bow of line my friend who doesn't sometimes flies off into a lead but my swim usually gets better as the evening progresses and normally as some point produces a flurry of fish (barbel) and chub are going mental by the end of the night. I do often work further down stream and try and pick off the fish that are hanging back
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My wife would disagree of course and knows nothing about fishing
