Small bits of paste and a few 4mm.

4mm all the way.

our local fishery responds to 6m or 8m to keep them down if they start cumming up.and 10p size and firm.i think it depends on stock levels.

i rang a well known bait firm to pick there brains over paste additives and we got onto the subject of feeding he told me to soak my feed pellets till they was almost collapsing so they mimicked the hookbait

I feed pumped expanders, they seem to work well. I add a flavour to the pumping water ,such as green lipped mussel, but make sure it’s water soluble or the pellets will float!
Regards Peter.

Bigger the bait, bigger the fish. I’d be tempted to feed 6-8mm pellets and fish a lump of paste over the top. I would definitely feed an additional lump of paste alongside the hookbait and to start with I wouldn’t wait too long for bites, preferring to strike the bait off. This really gets them going.

I’ve never gone with the ‘Bigger the bait, bigger the fish’ theory. I only use micros for paste fishing.

But if it works for you, that’s all that matters.

I’ve used a micros method where you ball them in. But I found that you would get a few, then they would drift off, especially fish of that size. I think its different with venues that still contain lots of pasties and fish of differeing sizes, where micros can be deadly and you can catch all day over an initial bombardment. Its horses for courses though isn’t it and very venue specific. Just my experiences, its funny though I do always end up fishing bigger baits on the rare occasions I catch,lol. I’m a big believer in big baits for big fish, obviously not always, but generally.

I usually find that if they start to drift off, a golf ball or more of micros brings them straight back. It does change from venue to venue, as you say.
Something also worth noting, sometimes the smallest bit off paste will catch the biggest fish ~think It’s a funny old game, lol

6ml pellets would be my first choice as feed for fish of 5lb-8lb. If i was targeting even bigger carp and i would not think twice about feeding 8mls or even 10mls. Micro,s and smaller pellets tend to get the carp grubbing around on or near the bottom but this can be a nightmare where foul hooking carp is concerned when using paste. I want to control the feed more with bigger carp and attract only a few fish in to the swim at a time. Feeding micro,s and small pellets can put to many carp in to the swim and while they are grubbing around can often creating big problems with foul hookers. You dont need many 8lb carp to put a very big weight together in 5 hours. So, controlling your feed is a big advantage in picking fish off when compared with using micro,s as feed. If the carp want more feed. Its easy to control with bigger pellets.

I’ve always used a mix of micro’s and 4mm’s soaked, can’t beat it for attracting fish from my experience. I’ve tried just using 4mm’s on there own and the catch rate is so much less. Yet i put some micro’s down and its a fish a chuck.

I understand what trueblue has said about a lot of foul hookers when using micro’s but if i’m honest i’ve not had much of a problem with that so that’s why i still use micro’s.

Hmmmmmmmmmm as a paste novice thanks guys learned a lot there just don’t know what lol another year of not having a clue what to do ! I think from now on i will make my paste up then throw it straight in the bin saves carrying it to the peg ! and i would catch as much on it too.

Whatsaroach dont give up on paste dont make it at home mix a small amount on the bank if youve made to much bag it and freeze it you cant go wrong with swimstim green
for me if its made into a ball its to hard i always use 6mm and fish alot close in with 6mm ichuck as hard as i can after every fish a hand full of pellets its not long intill the next bite
the bigger the paste the better it will pick the better fish look at the mouth of the size you are catching and go with paste of that size

ta for that i’m sure i wont give up just need to leave everything else at home an catch a few on it

whatsaroach it does not take long to pick up this method in the summer just go with paste and some pellets to attract them to the area
when starting on paste take time at the start to find a good flat area to fish if its uneven it will pull the float down and if you have a boyant float it will pull out the paste
a big piece of paste will stay in one spot or even pull the float under the water giveing no problems one thing that caught me out at the start was shot falling to fast pulling out of the paste on the way down i half shot and half use the weight of the paste
start with a firm paste and when you get used to it go softer the problems with a firm paste is they can back of this or take ages to break it down and could spooknoticeing the line a soft paste there hooked very easy and self hooked
when you first drop in once it reaches bottom do not twitch or move keep it very still leave even if the float goes under a few times when the float drops say 6inches under give a gentle lift to set hook alot of people lift into bites when the bait is being pushed around on the bottom and more so the harder it is hope this helps a little
A good time to start practiceing in summer is about 5oclock onwards when they come on the feed more but any time of day works

Johnymac, that’s a very interesting point regarding small bits of paste. Little pea size pieces definitely seem to work sometimes. I had a match once when I couldn’t catch on anything else. It was fishing a bit iffy and I ended up fishing the paste with a Preston Chianti!! I cant remember if I framed but its definitely one for the memory bank. Nothing stopping us fishing 2 or even 3 lines I suppose and seeing which particular style works on the day.

Yes, I’ve found the same, if my pellet line has been dying ‘pea sized’ bit’s of paste can instantly transform your swim.

I like to put in a mixture of sizes, micro – 8mm, get different break down times and do not want the fish feeding on the uniform feed and ignoring your bait ~think