Tiger and Panther Feeders
Hi Folks,
I've been asked to write a short piece about fishing the Tiger and Panther Feeders; so here's the skinny on how to get the best out of them. But first, a shameless plug!
Both Tiger and Panther Feeders retail at $4 apiece, including postage & packing; please ask me if you want a dozen or more, as bulk order discounts are always given! The feeders are the result of two years design and trial, with several anglers fishing a wide variety of venues; here's a few of the highlights:
1. I just had my best season ever in terms of the percentage of 20 pound plus fish to total carp caught. I ended up with a Twenty Plus percentage of 23%... and I had over 500 fish again this year! During that time, I lost, trashed or otherwise demolished just 11 feeders, all in the rocks on rivers... these puppies are TOUGH!
2. Larry Kirchner caught his personal best carp on his first Tiger Feeder session... nuff said.
3. Eric and I fished Tiger and Panther feeders exclusively on our first ever Hoosier Carp Tournament, on the St. Joe River in Elkhart, IN. I had the third biggest fish, and Eric was unlucky to lose a fish that would probably have won the big fish of the year award, and would definitely have won the tournament... all this on a day when only 6 carp were caught.
The feeders come in three standard weights; light at 1.7oz (good for method mixes and pay-laking), medium at 2.9oz (all-rounder, for heavy method mixes, lake and river fishing), and heavy at 5.8oz (deep, fast-flowing rivers).
So, what's the best way to fish them? At close to medium range (0 - 75 yards), I recommend a standard Safety Lead Clip & Tail Rubber rig (Tiger Feeder in the pic), as this ensures a great bolt effect with a standard hair-rig, using both soft and stiff links.
If you are going for distance (75 yards+), I prefer to set up the Helicopter rig (Panther Feeder in the pic), as this is totally tangle-free and allows you to really punch the feeder out. It's also creates a fairly good bolt effect, whichever direction the carp moves after it takes your bait!
For either basic rig, you can fill the feeder in a variety of ways. If you want to mix up a specialist groundbait, or one of your own secret concoctions, you can fill the feeder completely, or plug one end of the feeder with groundbait, fill the remainder of the feeder with some samples of your hookbait, then plug the open end. This works really well for bigger, hungry fish, here's a video of me showing this method of fishing. And here's a link to a great groundbait that works really well with the Tiger and Panther Feeders, this stuff is awesome!
You can also fish either Feeder "method style"; although I recommend a twist on the usual procedure! I make up two mixes, one very dry and highly flavored mix; this goes inside the feeder, with a wet, sticky mix squeezed over the top and outside of the feeder, make sure you have plenty covering the lead "ears" of the feeder on either side!
The method mix is most effective in relatively shallow water; once you are fishing more than about 8-12 feet deep, it's probably best to go to a stickier groundbait mix, inside the feeder. Otherwise you will either lose too much method mix on the way down, or if you mix it really hard, you'll be playing fish with lumps of method still attached to the feeder... not good for collecting fish in one place! An alternative, and something that works well even in shallow water, is to use a pay-laker style pack-bait; grits mixes are especially popular in the springtime.
Finally, both feeders are very effective when used with a PVA bag; simply stick a bag inside a dry feeder, fill it with your chosen dry ingredients and attractors, seal the bag and cast it out! The Safety Clips really come into their own here, as you can make up a batch of PVA bags in dry feeders, and just swap feeders each cast. Of course, you will probably want to have about a dozen feeder if fishing three rods... so you can have three feeders out in the water, and three drying off, while you are re-bagging the other six! Here's a link for PVA bags, Safety Clips and Helicopter Rig bits; here's another link for PVA bags, and Safety Clips.
If you have any other questions, don't be afraid to ask! I'll be publishing more information on Tiger and Panther Feeders in the near future, including links to shops that stock them. I'm also working on a variety of new colors and sizes of Feeder... so if you just have to have a Camouflaged Feeder that weighs 6 ounces, won't bounce in the flow of a fast-running river AND is snag resistant, then let me know and I'll be happy to give you a cost-effective quote!
I've been asked to write a short piece about fishing the Tiger and Panther Feeders; so here's the skinny on how to get the best out of them. But first, a shameless plug!
Both Tiger and Panther Feeders retail at $4 apiece, including postage & packing; please ask me if you want a dozen or more, as bulk order discounts are always given! The feeders are the result of two years design and trial, with several anglers fishing a wide variety of venues; here's a few of the highlights:
1. I just had my best season ever in terms of the percentage of 20 pound plus fish to total carp caught. I ended up with a Twenty Plus percentage of 23%... and I had over 500 fish again this year! During that time, I lost, trashed or otherwise demolished just 11 feeders, all in the rocks on rivers... these puppies are TOUGH!
2. Larry Kirchner caught his personal best carp on his first Tiger Feeder session... nuff said.
3. Eric and I fished Tiger and Panther feeders exclusively on our first ever Hoosier Carp Tournament, on the St. Joe River in Elkhart, IN. I had the third biggest fish, and Eric was unlucky to lose a fish that would probably have won the big fish of the year award, and would definitely have won the tournament... all this on a day when only 6 carp were caught.
The feeders come in three standard weights; light at 1.7oz (good for method mixes and pay-laking), medium at 2.9oz (all-rounder, for heavy method mixes, lake and river fishing), and heavy at 5.8oz (deep, fast-flowing rivers).
So, what's the best way to fish them? At close to medium range (0 - 75 yards), I recommend a standard Safety Lead Clip & Tail Rubber rig (Tiger Feeder in the pic), as this ensures a great bolt effect with a standard hair-rig, using both soft and stiff links.
If you are going for distance (75 yards+), I prefer to set up the Helicopter rig (Panther Feeder in the pic), as this is totally tangle-free and allows you to really punch the feeder out. It's also creates a fairly good bolt effect, whichever direction the carp moves after it takes your bait!
For either basic rig, you can fill the feeder in a variety of ways. If you want to mix up a specialist groundbait, or one of your own secret concoctions, you can fill the feeder completely, or plug one end of the feeder with groundbait, fill the remainder of the feeder with some samples of your hookbait, then plug the open end. This works really well for bigger, hungry fish, here's a video of me showing this method of fishing. And here's a link to a great groundbait that works really well with the Tiger and Panther Feeders, this stuff is awesome!
You can also fish either Feeder "method style"; although I recommend a twist on the usual procedure! I make up two mixes, one very dry and highly flavored mix; this goes inside the feeder, with a wet, sticky mix squeezed over the top and outside of the feeder, make sure you have plenty covering the lead "ears" of the feeder on either side!
The method mix is most effective in relatively shallow water; once you are fishing more than about 8-12 feet deep, it's probably best to go to a stickier groundbait mix, inside the feeder. Otherwise you will either lose too much method mix on the way down, or if you mix it really hard, you'll be playing fish with lumps of method still attached to the feeder... not good for collecting fish in one place! An alternative, and something that works well even in shallow water, is to use a pay-laker style pack-bait; grits mixes are especially popular in the springtime.
Finally, both feeders are very effective when used with a PVA bag; simply stick a bag inside a dry feeder, fill it with your chosen dry ingredients and attractors, seal the bag and cast it out! The Safety Clips really come into their own here, as you can make up a batch of PVA bags in dry feeders, and just swap feeders each cast. Of course, you will probably want to have about a dozen feeder if fishing three rods... so you can have three feeders out in the water, and three drying off, while you are re-bagging the other six! Here's a link for PVA bags, Safety Clips and Helicopter Rig bits; here's another link for PVA bags, and Safety Clips.
If you have any other questions, don't be afraid to ask! I'll be publishing more information on Tiger and Panther Feeders in the near future, including links to shops that stock them. I'm also working on a variety of new colors and sizes of Feeder... so if you just have to have a Camouflaged Feeder that weighs 6 ounces, won't bounce in the flow of a fast-running river AND is snag resistant, then let me know and I'll be happy to give you a cost-effective quote!
