I’ve been working on a new idea to try to create bites when the going gets really tough - and I definitely think I am on to something with my new Pellet Plug, which incorporates Sonubaits 1mm Fin Perfect Feed Pellets.

Basically, I am creating a plug of compressed, dried out pellets, using a section of rod tube to compress the pellets before drying them out in the house at room temperature for a couple of days.
 The end result is a plug of dried, compacted pellets which, when put into water, take a considerable amount of time to break down. So far I have used it several times on matches on the Makins complex, and touch wood, to date I have always managed to catch over the ‘plug.
 I think it is going to work really well once the weather starts to warm up a bit, and I think it will prove to be a killer tactics for skimmers, as well as carp.
 So how do I make the plug? First of all I cut off a one-and-a-half inch long section of rod tube. I then soaked a tub of Sonubaits 1mm Fin Perfect feed pellets for one minute. I drain off the water and immediately start to pack the tube with pellets, inside a bigger bait tub. I cram as many as I can into the piece of tube and then transfer it to a smooth surface, like a piece of flat timber, and I stand on the tube, using my heel to compress the pellets even more.
 The resulting pellet plug is then put somewhere in the house where it can gradually dry out, over a period of a couple of days. The plug of pellets just fits inside my largest Preston Kupkit cup, and I simply ship the plug out and tip it into the peg at the required spot.
 As I say, it is still early days but the results to date, while not setting the angling world on fire, have been encouraging enough and I want to trial this idea some more, especially when the water starts to warm up a little bit more.