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Feeders or PVA bags.

Mike Thompson

Mike Thompson

Senior Member & Supporter
Prompted by Richards very good looking feeders, I thought I would ask a simple question.
Do you prefer feeders or bags, and why ?
I don't feel happy using feeders, I think the contents are flushed out too quickly, so need more frequent recasts.
The rivers I fish hold relatively small numbers of barbel, so I am happy to get one in a session, though frequently blank. This leads me to cast with a bag of freebies and wait, only recasting every hour or so.
I do occasionally use a feeder, but after not catching I revert back to pva bags.
Your thought would be most welcome.
 
Strange that this should come up at this time, last year I used PVA mesh quite regularly and thought it was “outfishing “ my usual feeder setups,but I never really set out to do any on the ground fact finding.
This year on my Wye Trip I set out to see just what the catch rates were between the feeder and PVA rigs , my feeder rigs seemed to out fish the PVA every time.
I am still not 100% certain as to why,but I usually have quite a “heavy” feeder mix, especially so in the flood conditions, that came later in the second week, I think it washed out far more slowly than the PVA mesh .
I think that despite manufacturers blurb, PVA has an unreliable melt rate,especially when conditions change , IE, water temp, strength of flow etc. plus I could add anything I wanted to the feeder, as compared to the PVA when anything but bone dry contents would activate the PVA quite quickly, I am not a fan of having an oily PVA content, as I still have had varying results with the pva melt rate, when using such, which was very unsatisfactory.In fact I did try loading a PVA mesh tube with chopped Spam, I left the “spam “baited up tubes overnight and the next day when I went to use them, the fats and oils from the spam had permeated the PVA to such an extent it would not melt at all for at least an hour once left in the water, which was a big suprise. I had expected it to maybe take ten mins or so .
On balance I think that for stillwaters PVA can have the edge,marginal or no flow to affect the PVA,but, for flowing waters I am firmly in the “feeder” camp, believeing that the feeder approach is far more flexible and reliable .


Dave
 
I use feeders more the PVA bags because I use ground bait with little or no particles. If the flow is strong, I use sticky groudbait so it can stay in the feeder for a longer period.
 
If I’m in the position of using a bait which I intend to sit on for an hour or two or three, like boilies, then it’s a PVA bag. I prefer the subtler presentation of a lead.

If I’m planning on repeated casts, every 15 minutes or so, then it’s a feeder. Equally if it’s a tiny bait like maggot or casters. Simply because using so much PVA isn’t cost effective and I’m probably trying to create a trickle of feed.

In short, for my local low population rivers, it’s lead for low water and feeder for high.
 
I think it depends what you are trying to achieve.

I almost never use feeders. Mesh bags and loose feed for me.

But; having bought some of Richard’s feeders I might actually try one once we get some water.
 
I haven’t tried pva and don’t like gb. I use black cap feeders instead or if the Wye is a bit high, grey caps. I only use a small amount of hemp and 4mm pellets.
 
I like both . . .feeders generally on both rods initially (to get a bit of bait in) then swop downstream rod to lead with pva clip / golf ball sized mesh pva bag with the premise that the upstream rod is still feeding the downstream. . .I like the versatility feeders provide; you can tape them up to control the feed output, fish block end / open end / both, sloppy / stiff / explosive mixes etc.

Sometimes do put a very small mesh pva bag for both presentations on the hook itself, especially if its an awkward cast as it helps separation, (eg longer hooklinks). Generally only use micro pellet for hook nicked bags however as paranoid about the bag detaching / rolling of the hook before its hit bottom / fully melted and is depositing goodies miles away. . .
 
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I'm finding success not using a feeder at all, just a gripper lead with 4ft hooklength with a boilie and a PVA bag on he hook with a few chopped up boilies and a small pinch of pellets.

Keeps the fish away from the lead and stops them spooking (in theory anyway)

I've not blanked for a while now.
 
Instead of feeder and PVA bus, one method I used to use is to use sticky ground bait (more like the paste) mix with pellets, hemp etc, direct wrap it on the lead, works very well some time.
 
The way I see it bags are for a more subtle approach, if there is a large body of fish then feeders would be my choice.
 
Neil Smart said:
The way I see it bags are for a more subtle approach, if there is a large body of fish then feeders would be my choice.
Click to expand...
At the moment I'm thinking : So ..... first find a bleedin' large body of bleedin' fish, then think about using a feeder 🤣
(not used one this year, as a 'trial').
 
Terry Simner said:
At the moment I'm thinking : So ..... first find a bleedin' large body of bleedin' fish, then think about using a feeder 🤣
(not used one this year, as a 'trial').
Click to expand...
Terry, I fish Yorkshire rivers. With the best will in the world I am never going to find a large body of fish, feeding or not. Anybody want to buy some used feeders ?😂
 
Terry Simner said:
At the moment I'm thinking : So ..... first find a bleedin' large body of bleedin' fish, then think about using a feeder 🤣
(not used one this year, as a 'trial').
Click to expand...
. . .point! They're certainly proving elusive in the Avon stretches I visit at the moment . . .
 
this is a question I always ask myself, and I always tend to lean towards PVA as I can make up the bags prior to the start of my session, saving me time.
I tend to mix up a groundbait/pellet oily mix and make the bags up, in tests at home, the bags break down within 30seconds, which is more than enough time to drop through the water and find its spot on the bottom.
 
I did say fish, not Barbel, I am thinking of scaling down my expectations with Chub seemingly still fairly abundant it will be the way to go...I have seconded the wife's blender for bread duties and have got a small wild river to explore.
Any Barbel will be a bonus.
 
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