Long distance feeder fishing! What tackle, what distances are "really" possible

Long distance feeder fishing! What tackle, what distances are "really" possible

Can anyone give advice on feeder fishing at distances over 50mtrs? which rods, reels, line, feeders, and what is possible to consistently achieve distance wise.

Re: Long distance feeder fishing! What tackle, what distances are "really" possible

I used to regularly fish the feeder at long range on the River Trent, back in the 1990s. The middle river is usually about 55 - 70 metres wide, but there is some variation either way. I used the google maps 'app' to measure this accurately the other evening (yes, I know, I need to get out more!).

Using maggot feeders will considerably reduce maximum potential distance. Headwinds likewise, even a moderate one. I have not found a weight-forward feeder make that much difference. I tend to use weights of 1oz to about 2.5oz, and anything over this very rarely. Matched with the tackle below, although something similar from an equivalent manufacturer will do the job.

The key is correct technique once you have balanced gear. It takes lots of nerve to fully compress an expensive rod. If it breaks/fails, it was never up to the job. If it survives, it can do it cast after cast.

When you get it right, it feels effortless. The rod does the work; I think it's all about the timing.

Tackle

Rods:
Daiwa 11-13 'heavy' - LCL 11.13QT, WKL 11.13QT, AWL 11.13

Reels:
Daiwas in 3000 or 3012 size

Line:
6lb Maxima

Give it some welly!

Re: Long distance feeder fishing! What tackle, what distances are "really" possible

Thanks Ravey, that's more or less what thought possible and the way to go, just spent about 5 hrs googling and you tubing stuff, have found some bloke in Germany called Michael Zammataro, if you google that name with feeder fishing behind it then you get details etc, he has his name on BALZER rods "masterpiece heavy feeder rods " these things are 13.5 ft long and they according to the video chuck feeders weighing up to 100 grams without feed in, big wire cage bullet shaped feeders, the rods cost about 320 pounds each the feeders are 2 pounds each, the reel he has is massive like a sea reel and one full turn is 1 mtr to measure the distances when you wind in these are about 150 pounds each, the total of this lot is going go be about 500 quid if I go this way, is this what the stuff you recommend would cost? is this the sort of way you fished on the Trent? Mike

Re: Long distance feeder fishing! What tackle, what distances are "really" possible

I regularly fish at 90 to 100 yards on one stillwater for bream.
Use 2 cheapo 2 1/4 fast taper, soft tipped, 12ft carp rods, Okuma 50 reels, using maggot speed feeders of 2 1/2 oz I make myself.

Can at a push put them to 120 max

Re: Long distance feeder fishing! What tackle, what distances are "really" possible

For quivertipping I use a shimano antares heavy feeder, this will blast a 2oz open end feeder up to 60 meters on an accurate basis. It will cast a drennan 2oz maggot feeder 85 meters and a 3oz maggot feeder 110 meters. Couple this with 6lb maxima line. Shimano xtea 6000 baitrunners.

For alarm fishing using above feeders I use Fox Kevlar Barbel Multi tips 1.75lb TC with 8lb main line maxima, to get 5 meters further out that identified above. Same reel.

For method feeders I use Fox Floodwaters which are 2.75lb TC coupled with Shimano mini-pit reels with 10lb main line or 13lb line on the tidal Trent.

Re: Long distance feeder fishing! What tackle, what distances are "really" possible

Brilliant guys great info this is a big help, on the line side of things do you both use a leader? or go straight through, I know you said 6lb Maxima,what line diameter is that, and have you any experience with braid over mono? thing that worries me about braid is that it might be too direct, no give, all the fishing I will be doing here will be with quiver tips, this is an interesting challenge Mike

Re: Long distance feeder fishing! What tackle, what distances are "really" possible

6lb Maxima is stated at 0.22mm, but knowing good old Maxi, it could be out. It is thick gear, though - but as tough as old boots. I know people rate Daiwa Sensor, but I have been happy with Maxima for years and see no reason to change. It lasts for ages. Make your own mind up, though. Try them all if you have the time and money!

I switched to 6lb after using 4lb with a shock leader of 6lb - 8lb for a while - as seemed to be the consensus/advice at the time. Some say that using 6 as opposed to 4 means you need much more lead to hold in a flow, but that has not been my experience. A bit more lead, yes...but only a bit. Fish a bow in the line. Another problem was/is the presence of snags. When the River Trent was popular with match and pleasure anglers, lost tackle became a real problem. If you snag up and have to pull for a break, you end up losing your leader, if you use one. That's 6m of heavy line and end tackle you've just left in your peg (and for the next guy that fishes it...). Lost line used to do my head in. With 6 direct you can really compress the rod with full confidence that you are unlikely to 'crack off'.

I used to fish at range because, during my match fishing, it seemed to be the most productive approach for one reason or another. Everything else needs to be 'right' to win regularly, though, and distance is only one part of it.

Whilst I am reasonably proficient at fishing at 'moderate' range (more experience with fastish rivers, though), I am mindful that there are serious drawbacks which may offset the advantages to some degree. These include a loss of accuracy (with regular practice necessary), and a reduction in efficiency - it takes much longer to retrieve you gear and play fish. Wind conditions have an increasing impact on your range/accuracy as well. Not just that, though; whilst there can be some satisfaction in fishing well at distance (it can impress some onlookers), it is less 'pleasurable' to play fish on gear designed to fish at range. No doubt about it, the more specialised the gear the less pleasurable it is to play fish on. The question is, do you really need to fish so far out? How far are you intending to fish?

In terms of gear, I don't think you need to spend a fortune. To some extent, the more the cost of the rod, the more fearful you may be of breaking it. Ironically, this may affect your distance, your accuracy, and your confidence. More important is practice. Do you have friends who can show you? Don't be afraid to approach others. It is like learning to fish again!

Would a beachcaster/multiplier or a bait boat be a better bet? How's that for a bit of impromptu alliteration!?

Re: Long distance feeder fishing! What tackle, what distances are "really" possible

No leader I use 10lb Gold Label to 7 lb maxima hooklinks There are some large carp in my distance water.

Don't use braid as it can suffer from wind knots, which isn't good in the middle of the night

Re: Long distance feeder fishing! What tackle, what distances are "really" possible

Michael,
What are you fishing for? What size are the places you are fishing?
With regards to distance, i don't mean to call anybody a liar, but have you actually measured the distance you are casting by winding the line around 2 bank sticks at a fixed distance apart? It is very easy to badly get the distance wrong by just assuming when you cast over water.

If you are using maggot feeders, try and get some fox finned with the weight in the nose, some don't like them, but you don't get feeder wobble in mid air that you do with a feeder with weight on the side.

Rod wise if you are using a quiver, if you can find an old Daiwa Amorphous (it needs to be an old model from late 80's early 90's, these rods will do the distance time and time again, there is something about the Amorphous from that period, that makes them one of the best long range casting rods (just look on mud pigger forums), my mate has a set of the old 2.25 carp rods and can outcast people with 3-3.5 rods, due to how the rod was made.

I would look at a shock leader, just for added insurance, don't use any old line, get something like riverge grand max, it will cost you a little more, but as a fluoro type line, it doesn't have that much stretch in compared to standard mono, so transfers more of the cast into working the blank than mono.

Re: Long distance feeder fishing! What tackle, what distances are "really" possible

smallbreamboy said:

Michael,
What are you fishing for? What size are the places you are fishing?
With regards to distance, i don't mean to call anybody a liar, but have you actually measured the distance you are casting by winding the line around 2 bank sticks at a fixed distance apart? It is very easy to badly get the distance wrong by just assuming when you cast over water.

If you are using maggot feeders, try and get some fox finned with the weight in the nose, some don't like them, but you don't get feeder wobble in mid air that you do with a feeder with weight on the side.

Rod wise if you are using a quiver, if you can find an old Daiwa Amorphous (it needs to be an old model from late 80's early 90's, these rods will do the distance time and time again, there is something about the Amorphous from that period, that makes them one of the best long range casting rods (just look on mud pigger forums), my mate has a set of the old 2.25 carp rods and can outcast people with 3-3.5 rods, due to how the rod was made.

I would look at a shock leader, just for added insurance, don't use any old line, get something like riverge grand max, it will cost you a little more, but as a fluoro type line, it doesn't have that much stretch in compared to standard mono, so transfers more of the cast into working the blank than mono.

Click to expand...

You are quite right about distance over water. However, on the water I fish (Gravel pit with many bars) we have several straight footpaths that run for 400 metres and one of the guys is a surveyor and has one of those measuring wheels. We have the distances marked out on them, so we known the distances are accurate to within a metre for when you clip up at that distance.

Line is a personal preference to each angler, mine is for what I stated above, never let me down in the 10 years I've been using it for all my big fish fishing.

Don't see your point about fluoro line and transferring more of the cast into working the blank. Std mono has between 3-5% stretch in it and given at most on compression of the rod in the cast you have 13 ft of line out, it's so negligible to make no difference. The moment you release the pressure off the cast with your finger to let it fly, the compression of the rod stops working as the line is free.

I'd agree for distance maggot fishing the the weigh needs to be in the nose and not on the side. But given the price of Fox feeder, I'll stick to making my own speed feeder types for about 30p each.

Re: Long distance feeder fishing! What tackle, what distances are "really" possible

Hi all, am fishing large shallow dams, already fishing them with standard rods, shimano tribals etc but now want to feeder rod fish them, quiver tip rods, thanks for all the info, have come to the conclusion that braid is not as popular as I thought it would be from all your comments so am now going to look at some of the lines you mention, yes I have the 2 poles 5 mtrs apart and a line meter that clips on to the rod if I need it, the thing is that I don't think a standard medium feeder rod is up to it, the rods you have told me you are using are what is needed, interesting about the rod from a previous era being a better performer and a great tip about the el cheapo rods, its true that the more expensive the rod, the more "timid" you are likely to be casting with it, reckon I am going to go for one of the good 6lb lines and a leader say 12/14lb I have come across a lot mentioned about "powerline" but don't know the brand, the decision to go the 6lb / 12 lb route is basically the sum of all your advice, each of you have preferances on make but within a band are saying the same thing, surfing the web I have found that the Germans seem to fish feeder at reasonable distances and make some hellish stuff like bullet feeders 60, 80, and 100 grams, what I dint understand is that they fish these feeders on a loop not straight through on the main line, I cant work out if this is for the weight or the presentation on the bottom? ??? Thanks everybody have got some direction now regards Mike

Re: Long distance feeder fishing! What tackle, what distances are "really" possible

The loop rig stops the feeder slipping down the line to the rod tip if you lower the tip below parallel. Much used by the matchmen for speed fishing where time is of the essence for baiting a hook and loading the feeder.

However, they are not the safest rigs to use as the weak point is just above the knot on the loop. This generally leaves the feeder connected to the loop and unable to come free from it. If the break off is on a fish, the fish is towing the feeder round with it.

Also if you crack off with bait on the hook, a fish can pick it up, again towing the lot around till it gets tethered or is caught by another angler and removed.

Using a leader of 12lb to 6lb line the weakest point would be the knot between the poundage lines on the 6lb side. If the feeder is also looped on the 12 lb it's never going to come off and becomes a potential tether rig.

Not good angling practice at all!

Where ever possible you should aim to use rigs that if a break happens the feeder comes free from the rig. leaving only a piece of line attached.

Re: Long distance feeder fishing! What tackle, what distances are "really" possible

Here's my safer loop rig



The upper water knot (that stops the feeder slipping up the line) can be replaced with either:

1. A rig ring
2. A loop knot
3. A slip knot tied around the line like a stop knot (a bit like a grinner)

Re: Long distance feeder fishing! What tackle, what distances are "really" possible

Thanks, I just couldn't work out what the loop was for, I wondered if it was anything to do with the strength of the set up when casting long distances, it seems as if its more of a "presentation" thing than a strength issue I suppose the loop means the fish can only run so far with the free line before the feeder hits the loop and hooks the fish, I normally fish straight through with the feeder on the main line, also I have noticed this loop seems to be more used for bream than carp "thanks all Mike

Re: Long distance feeder fishing! What tackle, what distances are "really" possible

Hi all, I went to the tackle shop today and bought line to put on my biggest diameter reels, I bought 6lb maxima for one and 8lb fireline (was on special clearance of old stock price) for the other, so tomorrow off I go to see which one I am going to go with, was very impressed with the maxima to be honest I should have looked at this line before now, had a great feel to it when I spooled it on, just feels right the maxima line, the fire line spooled on better than I thought and also has a good look and feel to it, I have put 20ft leaders of 14lb mono on both them to help with the casting and with the fireline to give a bit of a buffer stretch, I have two rods 1 x 13 ft Balzer distance feeder and 1x 12 ft WAFT black mamba distance feeder and the reels are big diameter OKUMAS its the best I can put together for the test, I want to thank you all because I learnt a lot about what to do and the solution I have put together is from the advice I got on this thread, on the rig side this has been my biggest concern, in the end I have gone for a 60gram GARBOLINO distance feeder ( big tube type feeder with a weight around the bottom diameter) I have basically used a cut down carp rig using small rubber beads, and shock beads for the feeder to go up against and protect the knot, am using 6lb hook line 300 mm ( 1ft) long and a 14 reasonably thick gauge scud type hook, because I am at a big open space am going to fish two rods a near one, then play around casting with the long ones to see what distances I can get will use the line meter to measure, will let you know thanks all again Mike

Re: Long distance feeder fishing! What tackle, what distances are "really" possible

Good luck with that Michael - let us know how you get on .... with a 13ft rod you should be able to make 70 metres with fairly basic technique, but consistency is important at that distance.

My experience (and kit recommendations) are very similar to Ravey's, but I would make a few more observations.

In the UK situation, there is often a compromise between casting, bite indication and playing the fish. Bream are a great example of this. With traditional match feeder fishing you would often be using an 18 or 20 fairly fine wire hook, so needed a softer rod to avoid pulling the hook out of the soft mouth. The softer rods are however, less good for casting a long distance. Equally, a very soft quiver tip does not blend well with a stiffer rod. Although this may be more aesthetic than practical??

Braid - brilliant for showing up bites at distance. But braid can be a bit like cheese wire when compressing a rod for a big chuck .... mind your fingers!
I also find that braid lays less well on the spool, but maybe that's just me? I do use it for stillwater bream fishing, but very rarely on rivers.

basic rules -
a rod that compresses well with the suitable loaded feeder.
A big diameter spool loaded properly.
Use the rod, not your strength.
pick a static marker on the far bank
clip up and cast to the clip if on open water (unless you're getting fish that run hard and you can't unclip in time)
Feather rig just before it lands to straighten the rig out and avoid tangles.

Re: Long distance feeder fishing! What tackle, what distances are "really" possible

I have little to contribute to this thread other than the observation that when i used to fish the far-bank overhangs of the Thames, i could get away with a 9' glass qtip rod, 4.4Ib mainline. 1oz feeder, at range up to about 55m.

Being at the limit of the distance that could be casted using my Mitchell and this rod, i could be pretty accurate as there was less chance of significant overshoot, and giving it some welly ensured it didnt fall too short either. So for accuracy, perhaps a range that it is near the maximum for a rod may be more easily repeated cast after cast?

Re: Long distance feeder fishing! What tackle, what distances are "really" possible

I use a Greys Method Feeder rod, not exactly cheap but a brilliant casting rod.

Usually this is coupled to a Shimano 4000, or for the really "lang wang" then my Diawa Infinity 5500's are brought into play.

With the latter set up then 100 yards are easily accounted for, mind you at places like Clattercote then you'll be getting a bit of 'stick' from the anglers on the far side of the lake LOL

Nevertheless, on a suitable venue then the Greys and the Diawa are unbeatable, failing that then I use my Viper 3 (when the blooming thing is working that is!)

Re: Long distance feeder fishing! What tackle, what distances are "really" possible

Hi all, am struggling to lift my touch pen after a full days casting! !!!!! trying the various items I bought after all the advice I got from this thread, first of all THANKS EVERYONE, remember I am trying to get distance with heavy feeder rods, quiver tip rods, albeit heavy ones 13ft heavy feeders, with 60 gram weights full of feed, I tried the 8lb fireline and the maxima 6lb both with 20ft 14 lb mono leaders, the fireline is good but it floats and makes it harder to set the rod tip, I found myself constantly having to retighten the reel handle to keep the bend in the tip apparently this improves over a few trips, casting wise it was good and I was able to get to the clip at 70, then 75, but couldn't hit the 80 mtr mark, the maxima 6lb is simply awesome as soon as I put the line on the spool I knew it was right just the way it lay on the spool, it just felt and looked right from the start, because it had a bigger diametre I was worried about the casting distance ( 0.18 to o.22) but I hit the 70 first time, then the 75 and the 80. And the line sank and tightened up quickly to the tip, after 6 more casts and some friendly assists I got to 85 mtrs (once) but this was the best for now, but I feel confident in this line and am sure with some more practice and effort I will get further with it, on the rig side I realised the tether capabilities of the loop story and went for the feeder running free on the line and used some carp fishing buffer beads to cushion the feeder impact and a very small tail rubber, over the top ring of the snap swivel and the knot, it stood up to the test easy, once again. Thanks for the advice all its really appreciated Mike