Mention the swimfeeder on commercial fisheries and you think of long casts into open water on big lakes, or little plops up against an island or far bank – basically going further than the long pole to take advantage of fish backing off.
However, there’s another prime area of the peg where the feeder can catch, sometimes far better than the pole can, and that’s the margins. It looks odd, underarming a Hybrid or Method into just 12ins of water, yet the thinking behind it is no different to if you were casting to an island.
The fish will want to be in this shallow water later in the day, and a nearside margin is effectively no different to the shallows you find around an island. The feeder can also eliminate problems that you get with the pole, namely line bites and foul hooking.
With a feeder, it’s a simple case of waiting for the rod to get pulled right round – there’s no doubting when you get a bite!
Find shallow water
The most obvious swim choice is an empty platform. I prefer to fish to the side of the platform where the water will be shallowest and where I’ll have less trouble with line bites.
Pick a big feeder
A large 28g Guru Hybrid holds enough to pull in big carp, and won’t be moved by feeding fish. I fish a slack line from rod to feeder so fish won’t swim through the line and feel the resistance.
What payload?
In margins over 2ft deep, micro pellets will be my pick with a hard pellet or wafter hookbait. In swims 12ins deep groundbait comes into play, with bunches of dead red maggots on the hook.
Time your casts
If you see a fish moving about, let it find the bait – six or seven minutes between casts is fine. If there are no signs of action, fish somewhere else until those margin fish turn up.
