Swim feeders

[Izaak]

Does anyone agree with me that there are too many holes in swim feeders?
Sounds daft I know but when I fill one up with maggots, wind the line to
casting length, swing back the rod and cast, by the time it hits the water
anything up to half the maggots have escaped - some don't even reach the
water - they drop out onto the bank. The first time I decided to do
something about this, all I had to hand was some superglue. So I superglued
split-shot over all of the holes on the bottom half. One or two maggots
still escaped but otherwise it worked fine. Now, when I buy a swimfeeder
the first thing I do is block off half of the holes with strong plastic
sticky tape. I've looked in tackle shops for swimfeeders with less holes
but haven't seen any so far. Are such things made at all or do I have to
keep doing it myself? Anyway, it gets more bait to the swim and the feeder
always comes back empty so the maggots are getting out ok.

[Ergo]

Izaak wrote:
> Does anyone agree with me that there are too many holes in swim
> feeders? Sounds daft I know but when I fill one up with maggots, wind
> the line to casting length, swing back the rod and cast, by the time
> it hits the water anything up to half the maggots have escaped - some
> don't even reach the water - they drop out onto the bank. The first
> time I decided to do something about this, all I had to hand was some
> superglue. So I superglued split-shot over all of the holes on the
> bottom half. One or two maggots still escaped but otherwise it
> worked fine. Now, when I buy a swimfeeder the first thing I do is
> block off half of the holes with strong plastic sticky tape. I've
> looked in tackle shops for swimfeeders with less holes but haven't
> seen any so far. Are such things made at all or do I have to keep
> doing it myself? Anyway, it gets more bait to the swim and the
> feeder always comes back empty so the maggots are getting out ok.

Do what I do and wrap some gaffer tape around the swimfeeder body.


--
Ergo ²°°³
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[Dan]

Why arent you using any groundbait?
I mix the groundbait some and the maggots into the swimfeeder.
0 escapees and the maggots that are mixed in help spread the groundbait out
around your hookbait, making that hookbait all the tastier and tempting .

/Dan

[dfn]

Why don't you put a piece of disused photographic film (neg) inside?

A lot of people make their own feeders from old film. This way you can have
them the way you want them.

David


"Izaak" > wrote in message
...
> Does anyone agree with me that there are too many holes in swim feeders?
> Sounds daft I know but when I fill one up with maggots, wind the line to
> casting length, swing back the rod and cast, by the time it hits the water
> anything up to half the maggots have escaped - some don't even reach the
> water - they drop out onto the bank. The first time I decided to do
> something about this, all I had to hand was some superglue. So I
superglued
> split-shot over all of the holes on the bottom half. One or two maggots
> still escaped but otherwise it worked fine. Now, when I buy a swimfeeder
> the first thing I do is block off half of the holes with strong plastic
> sticky tape. I've looked in tackle shops for swimfeeders with less holes
> but haven't seen any so far. Are such things made at all or do I have to
> keep doing it myself? Anyway, it gets more bait to the swim and the
feeder
> always comes back empty so the maggots are getting out ok.
>

[Matt \(IS Team\)]

"dfn" > wrote in message
...
> Why don't you put a piece of disused photographic film (neg) inside?
>
> A lot of people make their own feeders from old film. This way you can
have
> them the way you want them.

I used to make my own feeders, partly because I like to make my own tackle
and partly because commercial feeders are expensive and not always the right
for the job.

For open end I used a sheet of clear plastic ("borrowed" from the binding
room at work!) and lead flashing (B&Q), 2" of Power Gum and a snap swivel.

Maggot feeders were made using old photographic film casings (smile nicely
at the nice lady at your local Boots!) and the same lead flashing, gum,
swivels. I found that the holes are best drilled at 6mm and then the rough
edges smoothed over with a soldering iron...

£15 of materials is enough to make enough feeders to last 5 years -for me
anyway!

[Phil.L]

Izaak wrote:
: Does anyone agree with me that there are too many holes in swim
: feeders? Sounds daft I know but when I fill one up with maggots, wind
: the line to casting length, swing back the rod and cast, by the time
<<SNIP>>
i've been doing this for years with black insulation tape around the body of
the feeder and just leaving the holes open top and bottom, making for a
slower, steady stream of maggots around the hookbait.
I agree that the shop bought feeders are next to useless for the job they're
supposed to do without some form of DIY!

BTW, have you not tried dead maggots in a cage feeder?
(they dont burrow away under the dead leaves/mud/silt etc)
make up a small bag of groundbait, take half a pint of dead maggots (to kill
them simply pour some hot milk over them) and mix them in thouroughly, you
can add cooked hemp or riddled meat at this stage, to make an explosive
mixture which fish will 'browse' over for a long time (if you can get it to
the same place each time!)


HTH

[Izaak]

Thanks for all your tips & advice on this. I'll bear them in mind.