Big river feeder fishing

Paul Neate · Jan 14, 2003

Thanks for the interesting article.

A couple of questions:

Why do you prefer a running rig, rather than a fixed paternoster, as most "authorities" seem to advocate?

And would you really recast every two or three minutes even in winter? Wouldn't you risk overfeeding the fish?

DAVE COOPER · Jan 14, 2003

Good questions Paul, thanks.

The articles tend to cover 'normal' conditions, and of course it's right to cut back on the amount of feed in hard, cold conditions, but not necessarily all the time. If the weather is mild and the river is in good nick I might still put a fair amount of bait in if I think it warrants it. Even if I was cutting back I would put less feed in the feeder in the first place and still cast frequently to keep bait trickling in on a little and often basis rather than cast less frequently with a full feeder.

Why the running rig? Simply I would never use a fixed patternoster with heavy weights in case of break offs and the danger of tethering fish. To fish a running patternoster with a large feeder in heavy flows gives you more scope for tangles with little benefit in sensitivity. I keep patternosters for lighter rigs in gentler flows where the rig gives me an advantage with the additional sensitivity.

Does that make sense? It's a personal thing with no right or wrong, it's just what I do and I find it works for me.

john conway · Jan 14, 2003

You can still have a sensitive running rig equalling that of a fixed paternoster rig. It’s the length of the dropper from the main line to the swimfeeder that gives the paternoster rig it’s sensitivity. However, beware if you are fishing snaggy areas the swimfeeder will hang below the fish when playing it and could easily snag hence Dave’s right about not using a fixed rig. If you are likely to get snagged while playing a fish you could always put a lighter line on the feeder dropper, then if you have to pull for brake you only loose the feeder and not the fish.

Ken Hammond · Mar 19, 2003

Dave, great series of articles, are you still going to be doing Part 6?

DAVE COOPER · Mar 19, 2003

Ken

Yes I will and I need to get off my bum and finish it. Trouble is I've recently moved house and I'm doing a lot of 'home improvements' to put it mildly, so free time to write is at a bit of a premium.

But the series will restart soon, promise, and I'm glad you find them useful.

Paul Neate · Feb 28, 2005

Dear Dave,

I am having problems with feeder fishing on my local river (the Tiber, in Rome), which is a pretty big, powerful river. Even when using the heaviest quivertip on my rod (4 oz) and setting the rod as high as I can, I find the force of the water bends the tip right over, and even bends the upper part of the rod top.

The swims I am fishing are not extremely deep (8 to 10 feet), and I manage to hold bottom with 1.5 or 2 oz Drennan oval feeders, so I guess I must be doing something wrong in the set up. I tend to cast almost directly across the stream, rather than up or down stream -- maybe that is it?

Any advice you can offer would be most welcome.

Tight lines, one and all.

Paul

Dougie Genini · Feb 28, 2005

Good article Dave, showed me where I've been going wrong on a few occassions!!

Paul, been trying to contact you, did send an email,last month, to apoligise for not contacting you last August. I'm still in Italy until September, can you contact me on dug_sue@tisali.it please.

Coops · Feb 28, 2005

Hi Paul - did I really write that article 2 years ago! Time flies....

I'm slightly confused at your problem. 1.5 to 2 oz holds in 10 feet of water, but bends your tip and rod right over with a 4oz tip? Sounds like your rod is too soft and not powerful enough for the conditions and your tip isn't really its stated 4oz rating.

One way you might combat the problem is to let out several yards more line and allow a bow to form below the feeder. Fish taking the bait should then shift the feeder and the bite will show as a straightening of the tip (a dropback) rather than a pull over.

Paul Neate · Mar 2, 2005

The rod is a Shimano Stradic Specialist, and I guess it is pretty soft. And maybe I am underestimating the "effective" weight that is holding bottom -- the bottom of the Tiber tends to be very rocky and the feeder bounces quite a bit before holding (and I lose a lot of feeders that are snagged up).

I'll give your suggestions a try and see what happens.

Coops · Mar 2, 2005

Paul, I would be careful then about going for the bowed line approach with your current gear because if your feeder is wedged into a bottom rock its not likely to be shifted too easily.

The key to big river feeder fishing is balanced tackle. If you can invest in a suitable heavy feeder rod and don't get hung up about using lots of lead to hold bottom if thats what it takes.

What you need to achieve is the feeder just holding bottom, whatever the weight, so that when a fish takes the bait the feeder shifts . This usually results in the fish getting hooked by the weight of the feeder. With too little weight the feeder will just swing in to the bank or lodge, as seems to be happening to you, on a snag or rock. If you use too much weight the feeder doesn't shift on the bite, making spotting bites more difficult.

Hope this helps.

Paul Neate · Mar 3, 2005

Dave, thanks for the suggestions -- I will definitely give them a try when the weather warms up a bit.

Waveney One · Mar 1, 2006

Good article and I agree with almost everything you say in it and the comments posted here. One thing I would argue with is casting downstream. Casting upstream and fishing the bow is far more efficient in my opinion and requires a little less lead than casting downstream. You get brilliant drop backs when casting upstream.

I fish the tidal River Yare which has a strongish flow and requires 1 1/2 to 2oz of lead to hold bottom when flowing. We tend to use Nisa open end feeders as they are strong and we are fishing for roach, skimmers and bream.

The tackle set up you show is spot on. We have used float stops above the feeder for years, before them we used to use shot, pinched on lightly. Sometimes if missing roach bites we push the float stops right down trapping the feeder and turning the end tackle into a bolt rig. With a balanced feeder and a short hook length it can be a brilliant way of fishing and very few bites are missed.

Looking forward to the next article

Waveney One · Mar 1, 2006

Paul, sounds to me as if the gear you are using is too light. Both the rods and the feeders. If the feeders bounce when hitting the bottom they are going to find a snag. Try obtaining some Nisa feeders in their 'big pigs' range. http://www.feedersdirect.co.uk/ they export them to Europe. They are open enders and will need to be fished with groundbait. Cast slightly upstream and feed a bow.

If it moves then you have too little lead. Get the balance right and those drop backs are unmissable.

Ricky · Nov 2, 2006

upstream or downstream,dependent on the conditions at the time.I have found on the Trent with its strong deep flow,upstream for me seems to work best, with maybe 10-15 yards of bow in the line.On the Severn below Stourport,I found downstream worked better,with a much steadier flow in 5-8 ft depth of water.On nearly all occasions,i use Blackcap feeders,using 3 and 4mm halibut pellets inthe feeder,and 14mm pellets sparingly by catapult.Link leger with just a run ring and clip swivel is all I tend to use.This year below Stourport me and my mate had over 70 barbel averaging7-8lb during our weeks holiday,using idetical rigs,as described above.

Fred Bonney · Nov 2, 2006

Good to see people are actively seeking out archive items.

njb51 · Nov 2, 2006

Should you be aiming to hold bottom with the feeder full or empty?

Big river feeder fishing

Paul Neate

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