Fish Bait from Yeast - How to Make it By Phil Ringer

Fish Rise to The Yeast Feeder

What do you get if you fish a rig with all the attraction and fish-bagging goodness of a PVA bag, but without using any PVA? Or a rig that provides the same catching-power as the Method feeder, without having the splash and commotion caused when the set-up hits the water ?

The answer... a pellet cone.

Originally invented by Andy Findlay in the mid-2000s, the pellet cone has become a regular tactic on many of the UK’s commercial waters. One man that uses it extensively is Phil Ringer.As a member of the world-title-winning England International Feeder team as well as being a prolifi  c matchman, Phil is always looking for an edge to increase his chances of catching more.

Most recently, this edge has come in the form of Brewer’s yeast powder – which he adds to his loosefeed pellets – and a new boilie from his own company, Ringer Baits.

Pellet Cone Plus Points

The pellet cone works exactly as its name implies. A quantity of slightly softened micro pellets are squeezed into a small hollow cone hopper, before a baiting needle is pushed through its centre and the finished article threaded on to the hooklink. The plastic cone hopper is then removed leaving a perfectly baited rig. 

The pellet cone offers a host of advantages. Firstly, as water temperatures drop, fi  sh are less inclined to eat loads. The pellet cone is perfect in this scenario as it offers the fi  sh a single mouthful with a neat pile of pellets around the hookbait.

“I look at it as one cast, equals one fish,” said Phil. “Unlike the Method feeder, which still works to some extent in the winter months, the pellet cone is not a tool for building up a swim. It is more a case of casting to an area, not on the clip, looking to
fish for bites rather than bag up.”

The second plus point is that it is very discreet in the swim, as there is no feeder to alert the fi  sh to danger.And, unlike PVA, which is now banned in a lot of matches and on some venues, there’s no waiting for the bag to melt.In very cold water, a PVA bag can take several minutes to melt. During this time you aren’t fishing because there is no loosefeed in
the swim.

“The final advantage can also be one of its few downsides too. Being a cone of pellets that is threaded on to the hooklink, the rig will cast well, but requires you to use a much heavier lead than normal.

“Because the cone sits on the end of the hooklink, if you use a standard-sized lead the rig will tumble through the air, causing tangles. Worse still the cone could break up in mid-air or as it hits the surface. To combat this, the lead has to be at least an ounce.

Pellet Preparation

To get the most out of the tactic it is crucial that the pellets used to form the cone are prepared correctly. If they are not sticky enough, the cone will explode on the cast or on contact with the water’s surface which will result in you fi  shing a single hookbait with no loosefeed around it.

To combat this, we stole an idea from the England Feeder Team Manager, Tommy Pickering, as well as adding his own stroke of  genius to the recipe. With a cone, you can use any pellets you like,  ideally 4mm or 6mm micros. The larger pellets are better because they tend to be different to what everyone uses, plus they stop the fish becoming preoccupied on small food items.

“The problem with larger pellets is even when they have been soaked to moisten and make them sticky, you are left with air gaps between the larger individual pellets once they are loaded into the cone, you uses micro pellets as well as larger ones in his loosefeed mix. These are used as ‘gap-fillers’, but you still have larger items in the loosefeed to hold the bigger fi  sh in your swim. I prepare my loosefeed in a 70:15:15 ratio.

That’s 70 per cent micros, and 15 per cent each of 4mms and 6mms. You could use groundbait as a gap-filler but it tends to attract smaller fish.Make sure that his prepared pellets bind well.

By adding a tablespoon of brewer’s yeast to the moistened pellet mixture, i am able to create a mixture that is extremely sticky. More importantly, though, it produces a potent smell and flavour cloud in the water which will pull fish in from the surrounding area.

“Yeast has been used as an ingredient in boilies for many years because it is a product carp adore. If the pellets aren’t sticky enough with one spoonful, simply add a bit more until you get the desired fi  nal product.

Loading and Fishing the Cone

To load the cone, you can squeezes his pellet combo into the cone’s hopper. The baiting needle is then pushed through the cone from the thin end. This enables him to pull the hooklink back through the cone, so that the hookbait rests against the wide end. Doing it this way ensures that when the cone is cast the thin end travels first, making the presentation much more aerodynamic.

I always has a second cone loaded and ready to go. This means i just needs to unclip one hooklink and replace it with the next, already cone-loaded. To fish it, i recommends casting a comfortable distance, all the while aiming at a permanent far-bank marker.

The cone can be used to fi  sh one spot or as an opportunistic tool. That is the beauty of it over, say, the Method. Once the cone is in the water, I look to cast around every 10 minutes just to freshen the swim. I will extend this to 15 or even 20 minutes in the depths of winter.