Packed with expert advice from top anglers to catch you more
Commercial fishery expert Brad Parkes shows why feeding tiny nuggets of groundbait is the key to silverfish success
AUTUMN arrives and the brakes are firmly applied on how much loosefeed goes into commercials by those targeting carp and F1s.
Gone are the days of cramming a big pole pot right to the brim with freebies then dumping the lot in a favoured spot, with just occasional sprinklings of bait the preferred tactic as the fish’s appetite drops in line with the falling temperatures.
For some reason though, caution is thrown to the wind when bream and skimmers are on the agenda.
Big balls of groundbait laced with particles are often introduced at the start, with top-ups being equally as generous. It’s an approach that commercial fishery expert Brad Parkes has witnessed regularly, with the results of those that go down that route rarely hitting the dizzy heights that are possible.
“A lot of anglers feed for bream and skimmers as though they are on a huge reservoir, where you can get away with piling the bait in, but the same species act and feed very differently when they live in a commercial,” explained Brad.
“Tiny quantities of food are all that you need to draw and hold bream on the pole, with a handful of bait more than enough to keep bites coming all day.”
Many anglers introduce an above average hit of loosefeed at the start of a session to try to gain the attention of the resident bream and skimmers, but Brad believes this can be a recipe for disaster, and puts in just a thumbnail-sized helping to kick things off.
“A marble-sized nugget that holds just four or five micro pellets is all that you need to feed to get things going.
“It doesn’t sound much, but the fish aren’t eating big meals, and the scent and small quantity of food is enough at the start.
“I’d love to claim that working this out was down to me, but it was conversations with the one and only Jamie Hughes that really opened my eyes, and he showed me why being negative is so effective sometimes.”
Experience has taught Brad that you don’t need to top up after every fish either, with a similarly-sized nugget going in once he’s landed two or three.
“It’s a matter of looking for trends, as they’ll often change with every session. A nugget might be enough to catch two fish one day, whereas it could be ample to fool four or five on another.”
Brad uses SonuBaits Crushed Expander groundbait and 2mm SonuBaits F1 feed pellets, with the contents of each bag enough to last him for four or five sessions.
He gets even more value for money with his hookbaits, and a bag each of 2mm and 4mm expander pellets will last hi
