feeding on rivers

[bream magic]

in winter, do you still put as much bait in as in summer or do you hold back as in still waters

[Poleyyyy (steve)]

same as still water mate as the water cools down fish are less likley to chase any bait but keep a eye on it as you may suddenly need to up the feed rate if the fish turn on

[bream magic]

cheers steve

[nige cooke]

feed to your bites little and often is the way to go

[Avonman]

Depends what fish you're on- a shedful of chub may need more that a peg full of roach, similarly some days you can catch a lot on a little, while other you may need to feed plenty to stimulate fish. If the water's coluored, a decent amount of bait loosefed just to provide a visible 'clump', as too little may just get lost.
In rivers, some fish feed better in the winter than summer, the classic example is chub, which are also notorious for wanting a lot of bait.

[bream magic]

cheers lads,very interesting im going on the avon at manor farm this winter for a change

[Avonman]

is that the Stratford or the Harvington Manor Farm?

[bream magic]

harvington mate

[Avonman]

harvington mate

Once the winter sets in you'll find that this strech is 99% chub, a few barbel, but the small fish vacate the stretch- this dictates your feeding, best method is usually wag n mag, feed steady (10 -15mags) a chuck to begin with to clear up what's there, then be prepared to up and down the feed at intervals thro' the match to stimulate a further response- the chub are greedy, but can back off once a few of their mates have disappeared, so by blasting it, and I mean 50+ mags a chuck for 30- 60 mins, they can be stimulated to have another go. After this time cut back to practically nothing and again you may sneak some more, as they come back up the peg looking for more feed. Try it and let us know how you get on.

[bream magic]

cheers mate,going on the 10th oct now as well,i here theres a weir, a fast shallow section and a deep slow section. i fancy the slow deep section what do you think. cheers

[roachaddict]

I fish the river stour for Roach alot in the winter and as a ruke i feed less but it really depends on how the session is going if the bites are coming thick and fast then i will keep putting in the feed. But if there has been a frost and its slow then feeding can be the kiss of death. Start little and often and see how it goes would be my advise.
http://ukcoarsefishingreviews.blogspot.com

[paulb]

when we all used to fish the trent it was standard practice to feed very sparingly first off, increasing the feed through the match as the fish came on but once you'd really got em going, easing back off with the feed to keep the fish competing, then feed heavy for the last hour to hopefully pick up some bonus chub, of coarse if your on the chub straight away you'd feed more but very dependent on the swim, if it's a fast stretch you need to be very carefull what and where your feeding, the last thing you want is fish following the bait to the bottom of your peg, the whole idea should be getting them as close to the rod end as you can.
btw the last two seasons i fished on the river i was totally converted to hemp n caster instead of maggot both on stick and the feeder, won me a lot of matches and a decent amount of coin.
hope that helps
paul.

[bream magic]

cheers,great help

[Avonman]

cheers mate,going on the 10th oct now as well,i here theres a weir, a fast shallow section and a deep slow section. i fancy the slow deep section what do you think. cheers

The bit that I know is from the wier down- although it steadies up gradually as you travel downstream, it doesn't get that deep, probably about 6ft tops. The method is the same all the way down, mainly wag and mag, with feed playing a part on barbel pegs

[bream magic]

thanks,looking forward to it