Feeder Fishing Tips | 5 tips for bream on the feeder

Milder weather means one thing – bream! There’s no better way to catch them than on the feeder!

Vary the feed

Once you start fishing, try to judge how many fish are in the peg by the bites or indications you’re getting. If that’s not very many, it may be worth cutting back on the number of freebies going in through the feeder. There’s no point piling in more and more bait when there aren’t many fish there in the first place.

Let the fish tell you how much to feed

Let the fish tell you how much to feed

Big hits of bait

Making several quick casts at the start of the match will get some bait into the peg, but don’t bother doing it with the feeder you’re going to be fishing with – these are too small and will take too long. Instead, invest in a baiting-up feeder with a much bigger capacity. Between six and eight loads of bait are ample, using groundbait and a scattering of casters, dead maggots and pinkies, finely-chopped worm and a few bits of corn.

Baiting up feeders are a good way to kick off the swim

Baiting up feeders are a good way to kick off the swim

Watch the clock

Top bream anglers will always have a stopwatch by their side to time how long each cast is left out in the water. This is to try and work out when a bite is likely to come – if, for instance, you are getting most of your bites within 10 minutes, there’s little point in leaving the feeder out for longer than this.

Time how long you leave the feeder in

Time how long you leave the feeder in

Redworms are autumn kings

Worms will still work their magic at this time of year, but on tricky venues it’s worth sourcing some redworms for the hook. These tiny worms are loved by bream, especially skimmers, despite their smaller size. Two or three fished on the hook make a brilliant bait, tipped off with a dead red maggot.

Redworms are a deadly bream bait

Redworms are a deadly bream bait

Add some colour

In clearing water, certain colours of bait and feed work really well for bream, with yellow the best of them all. Corn or a small yellow wafter or boilie catch loads of fish and you can also pep up your groundbait by adding Pastoncino. These small pieces of biscuit come in bright yellows and reds and just a handful stirred into mixed groundbait puts lots of little flecks through the feed for the fish to pick out when feeding.

Adding some colour can really boost results

Adding some colour can really boost results