Carp Fishing In Winter - Preston Banjo Feeder

This entry was posted on 27th January, 2015

It’s a fact, fishing this time of year can be hard, but with a little extra effort and planning it’s still possible to put a few fish on the bank!  Most recently we visited a local commercial fishery in our area, famous on both a regional and national scale, Barford lakes is one of the countries best fisheries, comprising of around eight lakes in total, with match lakes, pleasure lakes and even a training lake, the complex really does offer something for everyone.  With permission granted from Sarah (fishery manager) we had been allowed, for the purpose of this feature to fish one of the match lakes on a day ticket, the particular lake we chose was one named Willow. A long thin lake, comprising of around 30 pegs its stacked full of Carp and F1’s, and on the right day, in the right conditions, weights of over 100lb are achievable on the lake. However, for this feature we were dealt anything but the right conditions! With Jack Frost making an appearance the evening before our planned session, things could have been hard, things could have been really hard!

We set off around 9.00 and after a quick pit stop at the local café for a coffee and a bacon roll we arrived at the lake around 10.00.  Before we decided on what area to fish a quick wander round the lake was in order. Now this time of year, or when the temperatures are cooler the fish can be tightly grouped together so it’s always worth spending ten minutes or so using your watercraft skills and looking out for any sign of where the fish might be. On this occasion, we opted for peg three.

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The car was soon unloaded and the seat box and tackle, assembled in our peg. The plan of attack for the day, was going to be the Preston Banjo feeder, as at this time of year and in these conditions I believe that this little feeder can be a devastating tool if used correctly! The feeder is very similar to the method feeder, and can be used in conjunction with a mould, like the usual flatbed feeders you see on the market… However, the banjo feeder is slightly smaller, holds less bait and the bait is does hold is confined to neat, compact area when on the lake bed. I feel at this time of year that a small pile of bait produces more bites, as you are basically working on one cast, one fish principle, the Banjo holds just enough tasty morsels to attract an F1 at a time. A single fish moves in munches the small pile of feed and moves out again, by fishing like this you also don’t leave huge beds of uneaten bait throughout your peg, which is a must in the cooler months.

The Banjo isn’t a particularly heavy feeder, so light to medium feeder tackle was more than enough to manage, with us opting for a 10ft Daiwa Quiver rod, an ideal tool for the job, perfect for short casts on commercial fisheries, and soft enough to cope with speedy lunges from small carp under the rod tip! The reel was loaded with 6lb line and the hook length was around 4lb in breaking strain, to which a size 14 hook and hair rigged bait band finished the set up. Now it was just a case of preparing the bait! The classic bait to fish in the banjo is soft micro pellet, in this case, like many commercials now you have to use fishery owned pellet, Barford have there own tackle shop onsite so plenty of Pellet is always readily available. Now as everyone has to use the same pellet there aren’t too many things you can do to give you the extra edge, other than flavouring or colouring them. We favour the later!

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So in two separate bait boxes went a big handful of micro pellet, one of which was dusted with a yellow powder dye, and one which was dusted with a red dye. After a minute or so the Pellets took on the colour and were perfect and ready to use, the two coloured pellets were kept separate, but each were added to the plain coloured pellet. This is only a minor variation on using normal Pellet, but it’s the small things that can sometimes make a big difference! Once all the pellet is prepared and coloured it does look rather appealing to the eye, with little specks of red and yellow mixed in with the standard coloured pellet. Red and yellow are just two colours I’ve had lots of success with, but you could literally colour them any colour you want! Once all the bait was prepared the Banjo feeder was baited, using the mould and a standard 8mm pellet was added to the band, we clipped up to a marker on the far side, we opted to fish about three quarters of the way across the lake, where we had seen a few fish show earlier. With a gentle flick of the rod, the banjo flew straight and true and made the slightest plop as it entered the water, settled nicely on the bottom, the line was sunk and quiver tip set to perfect tension!

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It didn’t take too long before we started to get some indication on the tip, the tell tale signs of the hungry F1’s pecking at the bait and generating line bites as they came into feed. In general, when fishing any sort of feeder for carp it pays to sit on your hands, as you will often get many false indications, striking at these will merely spook fish and upset the swim, you are often much better to sit and wait for the fish to hook themselves or for the tip to properly ‘fly round’! After around twenty minutes, the tip duly ‘flew’ round and the first F1 of the session was showing off its fighting qualities! Soon in the net, the fish was a classic F1, a little bar of gold, around 2lb in weight, it was a welcome sight on what could have been a really tough day! After one last admiring look, we slipped the fish back and re-baited the feeder, a fresh pellet was added to the band and within a matter of minutes the banjo feeder was back on the same spot. After around ten minutes it was apparent that a few of these little fish were willing to feed, as once again we were attached to another F1.

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After around an hours fishing we’d put a few fish in the net and the fish had started to come regularly, obviously grubbing around on the bottom, keen to root out the soft, tasty , coloured micro pellets. As well as the coloured feed pellets, another thing we changed throughout the session was the colour of, the hookbait, as this can keep the fish guessing and interested in your swim. Sometimes it’s the small things that make all the difference, and in difficult conditions at this time of year little clever changes, from an angler who’s switched on can make all the difference. It can make an poor day into a memorable one, and an average match weight into a winning one! e carried on fishing and catching for a few more hours, probably putting around 40-50lb of F1’s in the net, before the dull wintery day closed in on us and it was time to leave. All in all, it had been a great session, we’d caught steadily in conditions that had been far from ideal, with all the little tweaks and changes coming together nicely to keep the little F1’s feeding happily all day.  Why don’t you go out there and give it a go yourselves, you may just find the fish feeding to the tune of the Banjo!

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Top Five Cold-water Tips…

1.) Fish the Banjo - Less feed, tighter baiting pattern, dinner served on a plate! Something slightly different for the fish to think about!

2.) Watch the water - Choose your swim carefully… often at this time of year the fish can be tightly grouped in one or two areas, if you can make sure your fish these spots.

  3.) Colour your feed pellets - This will trick weary fish, and will also encourage the inquisitive fish into your swim. Will also see them feeding eagerly for longer.

4.) Ring the changes – Don’t be frightened to change your hook-baits at regular intervals, even if your catching! This can often bring fish and bites quicker, it also keeps the fish guessing.

  5.) Switch on – Make sure you keep you head in the game, keep active, keep thinking, keep fishing! The best match and pleasure anglers will always be busy working towards that next bite and fish!

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