Once a commercial fisheries staple, pellets are now widely used in all styles of angling such is their effectiveness at catching fish! Originally developed for aquaculture, most shop-bought pellets and fishery pellets share the same core ingredients and manufacturing process.
Pellets are mass-produced through extrusion, which gives them their distinctive uniform shape, before they are dried to help retain their shelf-life. This results in hard pellets, which can sometimes be tricky to use straight from the bag, especially when fishing with a method feeder.
To maximise their effectiveness and adapt them to different fishing styles, proper pellet preparation is key. Whether you're soaking, softening, or flavour-enhancing your pellets, small tweaks can make a big difference in attracting fish and keeping them feeding confidently.
MAKE SURE YOU ARE USING THE BEST PELLETS FOR FISHING TO HELP IMPROVE YOUR CATCH RATES!
Expanders for feed and the hook
Expander pellets are a floating pellet and obviously if we are fishing on the bottom this pellet would be useless as a feed or hookbait, though they do make for a great bait when surface fishing for carp.
To create an effective feed or hookbait that sinks, they require some preparation. While a vacuum pump can speed up the process by forcing water into the pellets, it can also lead to over-expanding and the pellets can break up. Instead, a simple overnight soaking method provides a more consistent and reliable pellet.
COMMERCIAL FISHERIES ARE GREAT PLACES TO USE PELLETS, HERE ARE SOME PROLIFIC VENUES TO TRY!
This is my preferred way of preparing expanders:
Step 1: Portion the pellets.
Gather enough pellets for your session and place them in a sandwich bag, making sure they settle into one corner.
Step 2: Add water & flavouring.
Pour in enough water to completely cover the pellets. If you wish, add any flavours or additives at this point.
Step 3: Remove excess air & seal.
Tightly seal the bag down to the pellets, ensuring they remain compacted in the corner. This helps prevent them from over-expanding while they absorb water.
Step 4: Leave overnight.
Store the sealed bag in the fridge or your bait bag until the following day. As the pellets soak up the water, they will swell without becoming overly soft or breaking apart.
Step 5: Keep moist on the bank.
Upon arriving at your peg, open the bag and keep the pellets in a small amount of water to prevent them from drying out during your session, at this point you may want to add more flavour or colour just to make them stand out.
IF YOU NEED MORE ADVICE ON PREPARING EXPANDERS PELLETS, STEVE RINGER HAS SOME USEFUL TIPS.
Micro pellets for feed and the feeder
Micro pellets are a great bait to feed, fished through a feeder or moulded around a method/ hybrid feeder. When they are dry, they aren't suitable, one they won’t stay in a feeder or bind to a method/hybrid and second as they are so small and dry they would get caught up in surface tension and not sink particularly well. Therefore, the key is to soak them to make the soft and heavier.
Unfortunately, this isn’t just as simple as flooding them with water, it’s important to get the consistency right, too wet and the pellets start to break down and turn to mush and become virtually unusable.
THE BEST SHORT FEEDER RODS ARE GREAT TOOLS WHEN USING METHOD FEEDERS.
My preferred way to prepare them:
Step 1: Use a 1-pint bait tub.
Fill it to the top with dry micro pellets. This gives you a measured amount of bait, typically enough for a session.
Step 2: Add water.
Slowly pour in water until it fills all the gaps between the pellets and just covers them, ensuring an even soak. At this stage, you can mix in any flavourings or bait boosters to enhance attraction.
Step 3: Cover and let them soak.
Place a lid on the tub and leave the pellets to absorb the water. This usually takes 20–30 minutes, about the time it takes to set up your gear.
Step 4: Break them apart.
Once soaked, transfer the pellets into a larger container. Gently separate them with your fingers—they should be soft, bind well, and easily break apart again into individual pellets.
The pellets should now be perfect for feeding through a pot on the pole or for plugging a feeder. An extra step I like to take when fishing a method feeder is to add a sticky liquid to improve binding. This helps the pellets cling to the feeder while also adding extra flavour and attraction.
MISSED THE TACKLE SHOP? THERE ARE SOME GREAT LIQUIDS TO BE FOUND ON THE SUPERMARKET SHELVES.
Larger pellets for feeding
Even larger pellets can become trapped in surface tension. This presents a challenge when loose feeding with a catapult on a waggler or bomb and when using pellets on a pole, as drifting pellets may take fish from your targeted feeding area. To address this issue and ensure a consistent sink rate, I prefer to add oil to the pellets. This not only helps the pellets to sink but also enhances the flavour and attraction of the pellets.
IF YOU FISH THE POLE, THESE ESSENTIAL TIPS WILL MAKE YOU A BETTER ANGLER!
I like to prepare my pellets like this.
Step 1: Place pellets into bowl or bucket.
Empty the chosen size of pellet into a bowl or bucket with enough room to allow you to mix them with an oil.
Step 2: Add an oil.
Instead of water that can start to break the pellet down, using an oil that will be absorbed by the pellet without breaking it down is my choice. Give the pellets a mix in the oil to ensure every pellet is coated. This can be done on the bank or at home.
Step 3: Ready to go.
These pellets can be used straight away, if you don’t use all the pellets they can simply be stored for the next session, maybe even give them an extra coating of oil in preparation for the next session.
By prepping your feed pellets in this way, you will be able achieve far better accuracy when feeding, and will keep the feeding fish exactly where you want them.
YOU CAN ALSO USE PELLETS TO GREAT EFFECT WHEN TARGETING SPECIMEN CARP.
