Which pellets?

[conditor]

First time poster, so be gentle chaps fished mainly rivers,canals and the odd pond over the years ,using mag,worm,corn,bread ,recently joined a club with several lakes, so Sunday last went for a session with my usual baits and blanked everyone else was bagging up ,using pellets .... Problem is I haven,t got a clue which to buy ,the range of pellets in the local tackle shop just bamboozles me ,hard ones soft ones ,expanders ect ectmg:

Tried to find the answers on the net but struggling,so any help would be very great fully received


I know it may seem a bit old hat but some of us are a bit slow when it comes to change

 

[hunters moon]

good morning conditor and welcome to fm.
as far as the pellets are concerned why not just ask the lads at the water or ask your local tackle shop, conditor I don't use a lot pellets only halibut some
times for barbell in the river as I make most of my own baits, but I wish you
tight lines for the new season.



....I have fished through fishless days that I remember happily without regret.
....Roderick haig-brown.

 

[greenie62]

Hi Conditor,
I know exactly how you feel having just returned to fishing after a few years and finding the current scene confusing/mystifying. I'll try and give a few tips I have found over the last few months of ext(p)ensive research on & off the bank.
1. Buy a band applicator - this is a little plunger operated set of 4 prongs which hold the band open whilst you pop your pellet into it - about £4 from your local friendly tackle store.
2. Get down your local Aldi and see if they've still got some bags of 4mm fish pellets at £2.79 /Kg resealable bag.
3. Ignore the specialist pellet floats (usually more than £2 each) - 'mushrooms' etc which the afficionados use as "bolt floats" to self-hook tiddlers - some think this unsporting - can't think why!
4. Whilst at Tackle shop get a 'puddle chucker' float (£1) or similar dumpy loaded short antenna.
5. Whilst there get a small bag (3-500g) of 6 mm halibut pellets (£3) and a few bands of the appropriate size (1 band has lasted me 3 trips so far and several fish).
6. Go fishing

Rods - an Avon-style rod will do fine for 'puddle-chucking' (IMHO) there's no need to splash out on a 'pellet waggler' - most of your pellet fishing will be done with rod in hand / gently rested rather than 'podded-up' so you want it to be 'comfy'.

Rig - You can hair-rig the band to your hook or hook the band onto bottom of the hook-bend - both seem to work OK for me. I use a 12" hook-length and sit the float just above it with a sliding link to the bottom ring. It seems odd at first to fish at 18" in 9' of water but it seems to work!

Casting - you and I were probably trained in the old school "introduce your float to the swim with a minimum of disturbance so as not to spook the fish" method. The pellet-waggler method seems to revolve around the 'more splash the better' theory since it resembles the noise of scoops full of feed pellets hitting the surface and triggering a feed response.

Loose-feeding - a few (2-5) pellets (this is where the Aldi bag comes in useful) at a time, close to the float, every minute or so at first then tailing off. The match boys use a catty with their other 2 hands whilst instantly striking at the lightenin fast bites and eating a bacon butty. I can't hit a barn door with a catapult so I fish within wrong-arm throwing distance but have just started experimenting with a throwing stick.

NB: Some fisheries are fussy about the pellets that you are attempting to poison their fish with - can't think why!? - and insist you buy your pellets from them - some of these require pre-soaking - check on local fishery rules so you don't get banned from a water when there is a snap kit inspection and you still have the last fishing trips pellets in the bottom of the basket.mg:

I hope that helps - and please from another newbie - will all the more Senior members chip-in with hints and tips on this topic - ignoring my cynical prejudices where too apparent.
Tight lines.

 

[sagalout]

You don't say what the target is but in general:
Hard pellets for loose feed and hair rigging (smaller sizes banded, larger sizes can be drilled or bought wiv a 'ole)
Expanders catch most species, well liked by most species, personally I find them a pain, never know if it's still on or not, probably best with a pole
Jelly pellets are basically expanders expanded with jelly or gelatine so they are still hookable but stay on much better and can be cast, the down side is the leakage is obviously less

I suspect you were'nt catching for some reason other than you were'nt using pellets, pellets are a panacea, they are a convinient bait that any farmed fish will see as a natural food because they are raised on them, but all the usual suspects will still work.

 

[greenie62]

Thanks Sagalout,
You've hit the nail on the head there - I've replied with what I thought was the right answer but I ignored the most basic of questions - Which pellets and what for - I'm still learning about pellets and the different types e.g. do you band "hookable" pellets or only "hook" them? How do you know when to pre-soak pellets and for how long? How much do "Expanders" expand?

Ignoring pellets for a moment - if I was fishing a new water using 'conventional/old-fashioned' baits I'd probably use a groundbait feeder with samples of the hookbait - seldom unsuccessful!
Cheers.:thumbs:

 

[sampras43]

First time poster, so be gentle chaps fished mainly rivers,canals and the odd pond over the years ,using mag,worm,corn,bread ,recently joined a club with several lakes, so Sunday last went for a session with my usual baits and blanked everyone else was bagging up ,using pellets .... Problem is I haven,t got a clue which to buy ,the range of pellets in the local tackle shop just bamboozles me ,hard ones soft ones ,expanders ect ectmg:

Tried to find the answers on the net but struggling,so any help would be very great fully received


I know it may seem a bit old hat but some of us are a bit slow when it comes to change

Hi,

I'm not sure if I can add much in addition to what's already been said, but for me I tend to use a band and 6 or 8mm course or carp pellets on the hook and loose feed 2 or 3 6mm every cast. My local commercial doesn't allow lots of baits including oily pellets, so I tend to stick to the less oily course or carp.

This is if I'm targeting smallish carp on the waggler and in most cases I'll have a 12 or 14 hook for the band. Never fails me but everyone's different.

I'll use larger halibut pellets or maggot when targeting river barbel and they tend to be hair-rigged.

 

[sagalout]

I use drennan micro bands, they will band from 4 to 11mm. You can't really band a soft pellet because the band will cut it in half. I normally stick to 8mm pellets when hair rigging. For hard pellets I only use skretting coarse pellets. There are several articles out there on how the high oil pellets ain't good for coarse fish, rather than think about it or spend money on 2 types I just buy a 25kg sack of skretting 8mm coarse for £34 from pure pellet and use them on the hair, as loose feed and liquidised as ground bait.

My hook size varies with the job in hand, 14 or 16 for waggler, 12 for ledgering (drennan specialist hooks).

To fish soft/jelly pellets I use a fine wire (well finer than a drennan specialist) wide gape so as not to break the pellet, normally some preston jobby fits the bill and the wide gap hooks always look much bigger to me so I find a 16 seems big enough.

If you do a lot of pellet waggler work a pellet waggler rod is lighter, faster on the pick up and has a shorter handle than a barbel rod or a standard float rod. The shorter handle means you are less likely to snag the handle on your clothing, etc when retrieving and casting every two minutes.

Oh yeah, expanders generally need a pellet pump to expand them or at least soaking overnight. I find they either turn to mush or float. Pain in the arris but a very good bait.

---------- Post added at 18:24 ---------- Previous post was at 18:00 ----------

Just another quick thought, you can hair rig jelly pellets using a normal hair and stop but a much quicker way is with the preston quick stops. Once again I never have any confidence that the pellet still on.

Punched meat makes a damn fine pellet as does several well compressed bits of punched bread. Once again the preston quick stop is a good method to hair rig them.

 

[conditor]

Thank you for all your replies ,very helpful,..got talking to a chap at work today who advised me to stick to the cheap pellets add gellotine (helps to keep pellet on hook) add flavoring then put in a pellet pump , place in bags and leave in fridge until set ,it's all Greek to me ,still when in Rome and all that...

Guess it's down to trial and error ,thanx again all,


Oh and I like to catch bream and tench , not overly keen on carp, (each to their own)

 

[sagalout]

You might find this useful http://www.fishingmagic.com/forums/general-fishing/41100-expander-pellets.html

 

[sampras43]

Have you tried corn or maggot for the tench?


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[jake182]

I'm not having a lot of luck on the tench this season, tried, corn, maggots, casters, worms, and all I get is bream!!!!!!! Not that I'm disappointed cause some of them are nice, but I'm desperate for tench ha ha



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[sampras43]

I'm not having a lot of luck on the tench this season, tried, corn, maggots, casters, worms, and all I get is bream!!!!!!! Not that I'm disappointed cause some of them are nice, but I'm desperate for tench ha ha



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Are you sure they are there?

Seen any fizzing/bubbles?


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[jake182]

I'm told they are but I can't find them, I'm pretty new to the water so I'm just gonna keep trying,


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[daji]

Hi Jake, at the moment i'm finding luncheon meat, float fished in the margins during the evening has landed me a few Tench. As it gets darker the Bream are then moving in and its a bream a chuck and the Tench seem to vanish. Each venue is different though so see if any of the locals can be a bit more specific about how they are catching them.

 

[Tee-Cee]

Corn dyed red with food dye can be good for tench, if finicky...I have also taken some good fish with corn tipped with several maggots on a larger hook. By definition I suppose red corn tipped with red mags might take a fish or two.
At the risk of being old fashion I have taken very, very good fish (in the past) on three red worms with a piece of flake pinched on the shank, but this on the ledger with feeder holding chopped worm.
Needs a bigger hook, minimum size 8, but it works a treat over soft weed as the flake stops the bait sinking in the stuff, to some extent...

Worth a try when the sun gets up and they get fussy!



ps Sorry it's nothing to do with the subject matter..

 

[dorsetandchub]

Hi,


Hope this finds you well? One thing I've found is to get hold of an MAP meat cutter (I've found the 6mm blades to be perfect, but one can buy a cutter in 4mm, 6mm or 8mm sizes and 10mm blades along with the rest can be bought as spares).

Tesco are now selling garlic flavoured spam and, cubed, this can be devastating. It's really done me some service this season....

Mixed with hemp and a bit of corn, I would think it would bring the tench out. Could just be, though, that there are stacks of bream and a lot less tench.

Hoping it helps..... All the best

 

[jake182]

I think there's a pretty good chance that there are considerably more bream than pretty much any other species, makes it tricky to get the tench out,


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[dorsetandchub]

Strangely enough, similar situation myself - with a great mate, I'm fishing a lake which has lots more bream than tench. If you find the selective tench bait, give me a shout.....

 

[jake182]

Well I'm not giving up on it, I've heard of doubles coming out for the bivvie boys


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[dorsetandchub]

Good for you, mate. Best of luck - fire up a pic if you nail one....