I regularly make a trip to a commercial carp lake. Especially in winter, when fishing for silverfish is not always easy, I do not mind a little variety at all. This day I ended up at the Berenkuil, where now in addition to the famous Snakelake, another lake is populated by carp. This lake called “Bearlake” possesses a varying depth up to about four meters in the middle.

A beautiful setting for a winter day of method fishing.

Actually, you can get away with any technique here. A pole…, the pelletwaggler, but today I choose the method feeder. A passive fishing style on the bottom that allows me to easily find the fish by casting at different distances and depths. In addition, I can then make nice use of the new Accelerate Easy Fill Feeders.

Various sizes and weights

Plumbing around

At home, I have already moisted 500gr of milled expanders. A little nutritious mix, which comes off the feeder very well. Before I start fishing I cast the mounted Easy Fill Feeder Small of 25g in several places to get a picture of the bottom. The bottom feels hard everywhere and gets deeper towards the middle with the deepest point exactly next to the floating island. To the Easy Change Bead that serves as a stopper, I attach a 10cm rig of 20/00 with a POWER CARP Hairrigger in size 16. On the hair is a baitband in which I can easily attach a pellet or wafter.

Filled by hand                     

The first cast lands about 3 meters in front of the island where the water is already at its deepest. The groundbait is not squeezed too hard into the feeder, hoping that the loose feed particles will quickly attract some fish. The top moves fairly quickly, however, it is clear that this is a line swimmer. A take does not follow and I decide to cast in again at a spot that is shallower. When the feeder lands I look at my stopwatch, I want to give this attempt a 10min chance.  Nothing happens at all…. It’s time to cast it tight against the island. For this, a line clip is very important, so with an empty feeder I first determine the exact distance. I swap the brightly colored wafter for a regular pellet and decide to press the groundbait firmly into the feeder. After 2 minutes the top flies around and a nice carp is the result. Could it just be a coincidence, or….. the next feeder lands right on the corner of the island and is barely on the ground when the take follows. The Identity Superior 320 is loaded heavily but offers all the control needed to land the fish quickly and safely. The Advantor 5000 is spooled with 25/00 Flecxium. This strong and fast sinking line comes into its own in this style of fishing.

A great start!

Change

It’s not a match today, so the perfect time to try something out. Do they really need the feed today, I wonder, as I swap the Easy Fill feeder for a Bomb. Maybe they are just sitting there and only the hook bait is enough to catch them…? The 15gram Bomb falls just in the right place and after first having a small indication, suddenly the line falls completely slack…. A fish appears to have taken the bait and swims the mount towards me… However, the 2 casts after that remain unanswered and quickly I decide to change back to an Easy Fill Feeder.

The slot in each feeder and bomb allows for easy changing.

That little bit of bait really pulls them over the threshold, what in rapid succession the bites now follow. Several nice carp found their way to the net, all nicely hooked in the lower mouth. That means that the combination of bait, hook and length of rig is in order. A sliding set-up prevents the fish from using the weight of the feeder to break free. This way, the chance of getting one lost is very small.

Perfectly hooked.

Hairrig Options

There are numerous variations when it comes to method rigs. Especially the way to attach bait can vary. A Lasso…and Easy Stopper…. a Banjonet. However, I like to opt for a baitband. Granted, they do break down over time, but the choice of being able to mount virtually any bait in a variety of sizes makes the choice easy for me.  A ready-made version in the right diameters is not lacking in my collection.

Pressing the bait

This session I deliberately chose to go with groundbait only for once. Of course, micro pellets are also a perfect bait to put in any type of method feeder. However, by concentrating solely on groundbait and differentiating the force with which I press it, I become a lot wiser today. Contrary to how I started the session, it became apparent fairly quickly that I needed to put the groundbait in the feeder as tightly as possible. This resulted in fewer liners, but also in quick, almost unmissable bites. The location of the hook with hard pellet or wafter in the band also proved to matter. It may easily be completely covered with feed. This way, the rig cannot come loose during sinking in this relatively deep water and a perfect presentation is created on the bottom with the hook bait in the middle.

The daylight is starting to wane and it’s getting really cold. With one last fish, I end the session. The half kilo of groundbait is almost gone, but the amount of fish I caught with it today is comparatively very much. But once again it turns out that especially in winter the right amount of feed is the way to success.

A nice sized  mirror carp

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