Plagued by Small Silvers

Apologies if this may have been covered before but has anyone any advice (probably obvious) on avoiding small silver fish when waggler fishing? I fished a new water on sunday and although I had a great time and it was good to be out on the bank, I found myself plagued by tiny roach and rudd. Don't get me wrong I did enjoy catching these but was keen to get something a bit more substantial. As soon as the float was hitting the water the maggots were being attacked. I switched to sweetcorn, worm and also a banded pellet but again had the same issue of little dips and knocks on the float. The best I managed was a Roach of about 1/2lb and also a nice 2lb Bream. It could just be that said lake is packed full of them.
Cheers
Adam

one tip I've been told is to fish just on the edge of the area you have been feeding - the theory is that the bigger fish will hang back at the edge of the feeding area as the small fish will attack the bait going in

Sounds unlikely you couldn't feed them off in such circumstances. Maybe a couple of hours dripping a bucket full of hemp would get some better fish to push them out, but a bigger bait and hook and a heavy bulk about 3/4 depth should get you through the first wave of attack.
Match a few heavy, feed rich balls of groundbait and you might get a positive response too. Personally I believe small fish feeding happily and untroubled nearby help settle more cagey specimens. Then again your 40th 4oz Rudd on a summer evening rarely seems like a blessing.
Or a boilie? (Will the mods allow such a suggestion?)

No your right I withdraw it, won't admit I ever use them.

When there are better fish in the water I have found there will often be a lull in small fish activity when the bully boys move in.
I have a similar problem at the moment on a tench venue. Its a nicer problem insomuch as the pest roach and rudd require a landing net. Often over 1lb.

I believe boilies were invented for your problem. If they are really tiny silvers try 10mm boilies. You can fish them on the float.

Also peperami pieces, but leave the outer skin on?

Thanks for the replies guys. The lake was very shallow which probably didn't help things. The most frustrating thing was, on a few casts I was getting fish take the maggots as they hit the water. This was ok but i found a couple of fish had swallowed the hook due to the fact there was virtually no chance for the float to set and me then not knowing there was a fish on the end. Sounds a bit daft i know.

Changing your shotting pattern with some bulk shot close to the hook may have helped with tiddlers taking the bait on the drop. Also try changing to a larger hook and use a larger bait. A whole worm, two pieces of corn or as John said a boilie should discourage the smaller fish.