Carp can go into semi-hibernation when the weather gets cold. But there are ways of catching them with a well-thought-out feeder approach. Shimano Match Consultant Steve Ringer’s the man with the answers…


As you'll all be aware by now, the temperature has really started to drop and with every day seeming noticeably colder. As a result, the fish are having one last scoff before they shut down for winter. The carp are at this stage between a summer fill-it-in approach and a feed-nothing, straight-lead approach. To take advantage of this, a groundbait feeder is a brilliant choice. It is, however, much more than a chuck it and chance it method and by working at it you can keep the bites coming.

Top Tackle
Tackle-wise, I’m using what I believe to be the best feeder rod Shimano has ever produced, the new 11ft Antares Light Feeder. It’s a rod that Alan Scotthorne and myself have worked hard on and it follows on from the 9/11ft Beast Master with the range getting just better and better all the time. Reel-wise, I'm using the same Stradic FAs I’ve been using for a while now. They hold plenty of line, are powerful and super-smooth.

Rig 1 – The Running Rig
The first and simplest is the running rig. It incorporates a swivel with a feeder running on the line. Then, below this, is a Drennan Feeder Bead. I prefer the larger size of bead because it acts as a more effective buffer for the feeder to slide against and it prevents tangles. The hooklength is attached to the other end of the feeder bead. This is the rig I have used to great success at White Acres and it helped me to win the £25,000 Parkdean Masters Final in 2003. Although it’s a running rig if bites are iffy, I can fish with a very tight line from rod to feeder to add to the bolt effect of the whole set-up.

Rig 2 – The Loop Rig
The second set-up involves fishing the feeder on a running hook. All I do is put a swivel on the main line and then tie a loop of around six inches, incorporating the swivel. The swivel is then pushed up to the top of the loop and a series of small loops, say three or four 1in loops are tied below the feeder, creating a stiff buffer and keeping the hooklength away from the feeder on the cast. It also creates an almost anti-tangle effect. The hooklength is then attached to the bottom loop.

Rig 3 – The Safe Leadcore Rig
The third rig is one anybody who has been following my series will be familiar with. It incorporates the use of leadcore and is a great favourite of mine all year round, where fishery rules allow.
One thing I must stress is that if you’re using leadcore, a helicopter-style set-up is the only way you should fish it because then you can make the rig safe, which is so vitally important. The last thing anyone wants is for a fish to be towing about a length of leadcore and a feeder! In the event of an unfortunate break of the main line, the bead sitting above the swivel that the hooklength is attached to, will slide off the leadcore and allow the hooklength to slide off the leadcore too. I can’t stress how important a safe rig is; to my mind it’s the most important aspect.

One other thing I will mention is that, when I'm fishing the leadcore set-up, I always fish with a slack line to ensure the leadcore lays flat on the bottom. If I werer to fish a tight line, it would be defeating the object of using leadcore.

Feeder Design
To me there is only one choice of feeder and that is the wire, Drennan-cage design. I carry them in a range of sizes from the tiny micro one, right through to the large design.
The reason I use a wire cage feeder is because they release the feed quickly. Their importance was brought home to me at Gold Valley Lakes a few years ago. I, like most of the other match anglers, was using big, plastic feeders to allow me to introduce a lot of bait into the swim. On occasions when the wind died down it was noticeable there was a mass of bubbles where the fish had put their heads down feeding in the swim. However, what was also noticeable was that there was a trail of bubbles extending some 15 to 20 yards back towards me. This indicated that a large part of the feed wasn’t exiting the feeder properly until I started reeling in.

I believe this is due to the fact that plastic feeders create a vacuum effect when they’re in the water, thus preventing the groundbait from breaking down and exiting.
The beauty of the cage feeder is that it allows the water to penetrate quickly, hence you get a far faster and more effective release of the contents. Since I switched to cage feeders, I have never noticed the trail of bubbles coming back towards me – problem solved!
The only alteration I will make to the cage feeders is to the micro, the small and medium sizes, where I’ll add an extra strip of lead. This is done for two reasons. Firstly, it adds to the ‘bolt effect’ of the rig and, secondly, when chucking towards or near islands it will stop the feeder rolling down the shelf.

How Long?
“How long should the hooklength be,” I hear you cry? To be honest this is the million-dollar question. As a rule I will start with a 12in to 15in tail, but this doesn’t mean I’ll stick with that for the rest of the session. Depending on fishery rules I will shorten it on occasions and on others I’ll lengthen it; this all depends on bites.

For instance, if I’m getting bites as soon as the feeder hits the bottom and then there’s no indication of fish, it tells me that the fish are following the feeder and hook bait down and taking it as soon as it hits the bottom. To take advantage of this fact I will try a longer tail of around three feet or so. If this doesn’t work then I can switch back to a shorter one. But I have had a great deal of success in winter on a long tail, when everyone around me is being a slave to the more commonly used short tail.
To the same degree, if I’m getting a lot of indications once the feeder has settled then I’ll shorten the hooklength to get my hook bait right next to my feeder. It’s all about thinking what’s happening out there and taking advantage of the bites and indications you’re getting. You need to build a picture of what’s developing in your swim and how you can take advantage of it.

As for hooklength diameter, I’ll use anything between 0.16mm and 0.20mm Shimano Antares Silk Shock. I usually start on 0.20mm and although that seems heavy for winter carping there’s no point hooking them if they’re going to break you. Hook size and pattern is a personal preference, but I have proven to myself on a number of occasions, particularly at Makin’s, that on those hard days a smaller hook can make all the difference. As a starting point, no matter if I'm using one or two cubes of meat I’ll use a size 16 PR27. If I find the fish are cagey, I’ll happily drop down to a size 18.

The message I’m trying to get across is that I see a lot of people just chucking the feeder out and sitting there. Yes, winter is a time for patience and it can be a real waiting game. But even at this time of year the angler who works the hardest and rings the changes will reap the rewards.

Baits
Groundbait-wise, it will come as no surprise that Ringer’s Bag-Up Mix is my number-one choice. Whether it’s winter or summer, I have every confidence in it. As for other baits, cubed meat and hemp are my first choices until it gets really cold. Meat is a brilliant bait for that period when the fish are having that last feast before winter. And meat has a habit of picking out the bigger specimens. Hook bait-wise, a single or double cube of hair-rigged meat will be my choice. I’ll usually start on a double cube because I feel it stands out more. However, if the fish are being selective a single cube will do the job.
The other thing I always do with meat is to carry some flavoured cubes as a change. My favourites are Predator Plus and Mainline Fusion or Mainline Activ-8.
These flavours aren’t something I use all the time, but when we have had a lot of rain and the water is coloured they have paid big dividends for me. The flavours give the fish something to home in on when visibility isn’t that good for the carp.

The Van den Eynde Predator Plus also has the effect of dyeing the meat red and in my view red is a brilliant colour all year round.
Hemp, on the other hand, is great because it gives the fish something to root about for and is a very good holding bait.

As that first bit of cold weather has come in, a lot of people cast the feeder out and leave it. Now, for the first 20 minutes of a match I think this is the right thing to do. However, I’ll only do this just to make sure the swim isn’t solid with fish already. The last thing I want to do is cast a feeder in and out and spook a shoal of carp that are already there. Today is a perfect example, 20 biteless minutes on a small cage feeder and I decide it’s time to make something happen.

I switch to a medium cage feeder, remove the hooklength and have four quick casts, loading the feeder with groundbait, hemp and meat. However, rather than keep putting bait in I’ll switch back to the small or micro feeder to gauge any response. After another five minutes and I have two carp in two casts and it’s obvious they want a bit of grub, so I can switch to using a medium cage feeder and keep the bait going in. If the swim dies, though, I will switch back to a smaller feeder and see what happens. If I hadn’t caught over that extra feed I’d have stayed on the small or micro feeder until something happened, as opposed to switching to a larger one.

Feed To Bites
It’s very similar to potting in on the pole; you feed to bites. So, if you are getting them you can up the feed but if they don’t respond then you keep a small amount of bait going in, into a tight area, until the fish arrive.

Once the weather starts to turn, carp don’t like the feeder landing on them. So, by only using the bigger feeder to introduce feed and then switching to the smaller feeder there isn’t a constant splash on their heads. As a result, they will feed more confidently.
One other thing that’s crucial when fishing this technique is to make sure you are putting some bait other than groundbait through the feeder. If you don’t, the fish will almost certainly become preoccupied on the groundbait and, apart from an odd fish, your hook bait will be ignored. This is because it stands out like a sore thumb, different to everything else which is on the bottom.
The problem with using groundbait on its own in the feeder is that you can end up with the fish just filter feeding, blowing the groundbait through the gills and not picking up any particles at all. So, keep that meat and hemp going in even if it’s only three or four pieces on each cast.

Today I have an island in front of me and in the summer I would be casting tight to it, into the shallow water. However, now it’s colder I‘m happy to start a metre or two off the island, in the slightly deeper water. The fish will feel happier feeding where there’s a bit more depth with the water being both cooler and clearer.

A carp’s typical response is to back away from the anglers on the bank. So, even though it’s much deeper just 20 yards in front of me than it is where I'm casting, I feel the fish will be just off the island and as far away as possible from the disturbance.

The other advantage of casting here is that I still have somewhere to go if the carp decide to back off further. If I’d cast tight over to start with, they would have nowhere to go but sideways if they spooked off the feed. In a match there’s a chance I’ll lose them to the anglers either side of me. Giving the fish that buffer zone gives me somewhere to go in that last hour, when it gets harder. Also, it’s often then when the big fish turn up, fish that would have possibly been holding off the main bed of feed.
I’ve ended the session today with around 90lb of carp caught on meat hook baits, both plain and red. Today’s catch just goes to prove that the carp are there to catch if you adopt the right approach. Incorporate some of my tips into your own fishing and hopefully you’ll see your catch rates improve.


This article appeared in the December 2004 issue of Match Fishing magazine