Picking the right feeder for fishing

With so much of my time these days spent feeder fishing, one thing I have built up is a massive collection of open-end feeders.

The number of different feeders I carry might seem excessive, but they all have a use – and picking the right type and size, for example, can make a huge difference to your catches.

You also need to look in detail at the way your chosen feeders can be cast, and how they hold and release their payload of bait.

So with that in mind, in this week’s column I’m going to talk to you about the feeders I use for distance work, and the reasons for my choices.

I think this way you will see that as far as feeders go it’s all about the detail.

Although feeders might look the same at a glance, they all perform very differently…

Baiting up feeders

Feeder fishing has become so popular that there are not only patterns for fishing, but for baiting up too. I’ve used lots of different types recently but I’m currently using Guru Baiting Up feeders to prep my swim, and top up when necessary.

You can cast them in excess of 60m with a normal, heavy feeder rod, in other words they aren’t so big you need a carp rod to cast them.

That said, they are still more than big enough to deliver a large amount of bait in a relatively short space of time.

They are also slightly tapered to ensure they will empty cleanly so you’re not dragging bait all over the place.

At the moment they are available in two weights – 20g and 30g. Which I choose depends entirely on how far I want to cast. For longer work it’ll always be the 30g version.

Window feeders

This style of feeder is really in fashion right now and I’ve used pretty much most of them on the market, including some early types that I adapted myself. Obviously I was delighted when my sponsor, Guru, came up with our version!

So what are the benefits? Window feeders make casting easy, because all the weight is in the nose – it’s almost like casting a bomb. So if you ever find yourself struggling for distance, a window feeder will soon change that.

The idea with window feeders is that they are great for delivering a lot of particles – casters and chopped worms – straight to the bottom where the fish are. This makes them ideal for deep water, and in particular Ireland.

They can be fished in shallow water too – I use them a lot as an impact feeder. The saying goes ‘attract them with a cage and catch them with a window’.

The cage clouds up the swim to attract the fish and then a window drags them to the bottom, where you can catch them.

A great feature with the Guru window feeder is that you can chop and change lead sizes simply by clicking the leads on and off.

This allows me to carry bodies and leads separately, so in effect I have to carry half the number of actual feeders.

Cage feeders

X-Change cage feeders are what I use to really attack a swim. They are slightly wider than a normal cage, and so carry a lot more bait. They are tapered, too, so that the bait releases nice and cleanly.

I believe this style has loads of pulling power due to how much it gives by way of attraction. Even in deep water I don’t mind a few bits breaking off the feeder as it sinks. Fish will see these and follow them down to where the bulk of the bait is.

With cage feeders I can clip the weights on and off, a big plus point. It means I can carry bodies in two, three, four and five-hole versions with a range of weights to fit separately. As a result I never get caught out if the wind gets up, as I have all bases from 20g to 50g covered.

Cresta Rocket feeders

To most anglers, a rocket feeder is just a rocket feeder and they are all the same – but in fact there are often subtle differences between them. These Cresta Rockets are a brilliant example of this.

First, the lead position is different to most rockets. It sits slightly further back than on a standard rocket.

This serves two purposes, the first of which is easy loading – you can get your fingers in at the front and back of the feeder.

The second benefit is one that you wouldn’t know unless you fished with them, and that is bait release.

The Cresta Rocket is brilliant in shallow water as it releases a lot of bait on impact with the water.

In fact, when feathering in against the clip it actually slaps into the water and you can see the groundbait coming out.

I use these feeders a lot if I want to cloud up a shallow swim to attract fish. I must point out that when I say ‘shallow’ I’m talking about depths from 3ft to 10ft.

Matrix Rockets

If I need to fish a cage feeder and casting a long, long way is necessary, Matrix Rockets take some beating. I’ve tried most of the rocket feeders available on the market, but for distance work I keep coming back to these – they really do cast further.

I think this is down to the longer taper of the lead on the bottom of the feeder which helps it cut through the air that little bit better.

Weight-wise I have them from 20g all the way up to 80g, although its very rare for me to go heavier than 60g for my UK fishing.

Solid feeders

Solid plastic feeders aren’t a style I use a lot, but they are useful when I’m having trouble getting fish to feed on the bottom.

If I know there are fish in the swim but I can’t get them to go down, even with a cage feeder, I’ll switch to these. A solid feeder releases very little bait release as it falls, so if fish want to eat they will have to go down to do so.

If I’m getting indications on the tip but no bites I’ll swap to a solid feeder. Often this works, as it drags fish down to the bottom. Rarely will I start on a solid feeder, even in very deep water, because I don’t feel it offers enough attraction to kick-start a swim.

Mini bullets

These are for when I want to fish at range but feed very little bait. I carry them in sizes from 20g to 40g t fish at up to 70m, and use them to try and nick a bonus fish or two late in the session.

Being so small, they go in with very little disturbance. Thus makes them ideal for shallow water work when the fish are spooking away from the noise of a larger feeder going in.

Gordon Simm cage feeders