Catch Carp on the Slow-Sinking Feeder

One of my favourite venues, Watmore Farm Fishery in Surrey is full of carp, gin clear and responds all year round to the pellet waggler, however this venue is deep, over 20ft in places and searching out every inch of its depth is just impossible on the float. As the colder weather sets in the carp tend to drop lower in the water and it takes longer to tempt them up into waggler territory. Many start on the pole for the silver, constantly catapulting 8mm pellets on the waggler line whilst doing so, yet a few hours catching 10lb of silvers then carp later on in the match rarely will win a match here. Heading straight out on the bomb and fishing a slow sinking pellet on a long hook length is an option and once again does score but a tactic that I have had up my sleeve for a while now and one that has kept fellow anglers wondering how I seem to catch consistently throughout a match is the Slow Sinking Feeder.

A deadly method

I’ve come back to Watmore Farm to demonstrate this deadly method and have set up in Peg 7, not the deepest area but one that offers a good fifteen feet at 8mm pellet catapulting range, around twenty-five yards. There are a few carp anglers around and to my knowledge they haven’t had a great deal of luck throughout the night; however a few fish are showing so this is encouraging.

An absolute innovation

My set up consists of a Sphere Pellet Waggler rod teamed up with a Sphere MgTi 940 reel loaded with 0.22mm Cenex Low Stretch Mono. Placed onto the mainline first are a couple of Xitan Oval Super Stopper’s then a Quick Change Swivel which is trapped between yet another Oval Stopper. Onto the Quick Change Swivel is the feeder which is a Xenos J-25 with the Slow Sinking head screwed in. These feeders are brilliant as they allow different weighted heads to be quickly added or in this case the floating head device to be attached. This floating head can be used to target carp on the surface as it floats but it has a small opening and a plug which allows small shot to be added allowing the speed of decent to be adjusted from critically balanced and very slow sinking to a quicker speed of decent dependent of weight added. It’s an absolute innovation in commercial carp feeder fishing as it allows every inch of a swim to be explored. Last to be attached is a size 14 barbless 0.18mm Feeder Method hook-to-nylon which contains a pellet band into which an 8mm slow sinking carp pellet will be added.

My edge revealed, the Slow Sinking Feeder.

A few small split shot will sink the feeder slowly.

First cast and we are away.

"Often the carp will be in midwater at this time of the year."

Feather the line as the feeder hits the surface.

The carp at Watmore Farm Fishery respond well to this method.

Not the biggest, but off to a great start.

How and where they want it

Although the set up is very simple you will still need to play around with the length of the hook link as sometimes they will want the bait close to the descending feeder and at other times well away so it’s important to keep adjusting this to find what’s best. Something else that is paramount is finding at what depth they are intercepting the bait so as soon as the feeder hits the surface I start to count. The feeder today takes a good twenty seconds to hit bottom so there’s no point in leaving it there any longer if most of the bites are coming after say ten seconds. It’s just a case of working where and how they want it then casting accordingly. Effort equals reward and just like the pellet waggler the more you put into a session the more you will catch.

Waiting for the tip to be dragged round

Feeding on a little-and-often basis is paramount and again you will need to find out how many pellets to introduce and how often to do this. In the summer feeding ten pellets every twenty seconds maybe needed, yet in the depth of winter one or two every couple of minute might be best. Today I’m feeding six every thirty seconds and have been doing so since arriving and whilst setting up, some twenty minutes ago. Pinpoint accuracy isn’t needed, you just have to make sure that the catapulted pellets are entering the water in quite a tight area and that you cast the feeder to the same spot. I fill the feeder simply by adding around eight 8mm pellets then plugging, like you would with a spod, with some micro pellet or dampened down groundbait. Once the feeder lands it’s simply a case of placing the rod across my knee and onto the rest and waiting for the tip to be dragged round which has happened on my very first cast!

An hour in and nine carp averaging 6lb have graced my net so you can see how well over 100lb of carp can be caught in a very short space of time and just what an edge this little innovative device has given me.

Colin Sheppard