How to Fish a Cage Feeder

By Alex Clayton · Updated 23 October 2026

A cage feeder is an open mesh groundbait feeder. You pack it with groundbait, the feed breaks out on the drop and on the bottom, and the cloud it leaves draws bream and skimmers down to your hookbait. Bream often feed off the bottom and follow falling feed, which is why the cage has largely replaced the plastic open-end for them.

It suits bream and skimmers on stillwaters, reservoirs and slow rivers, and a smaller cage works for roach. It is one branch of feeder fishing, and it is the one built around groundbait.

The six steps below run in bank order, from checking the rules to fixing a swim that has gone quiet.

Step 1: Check the Rules, Then Find the Deepest Water

A bailiff or a closed river can end the day before you wet a line. Five minutes of checking avoids both.

Rod licence: in England and Wales you need one from age 13, including on private lakes and club waters. It is free for 13 to 16 year olds, and fishing without one risks a fine of up to £2,500. Check current prices on GOV.UK or in our fishing licence guide.
Close season (England): 15 March to 15 June inclusive on all rivers, streams and drains, plus some canals and stillwaters. Most lakes, reservoirs and ponds have none, but clubs can add one. See fishing seasons and the local fishing byelaws.
Fishery rules: some waters restrict rigs or groundbait. Ask before you set up.

Now cast a lead around, count it down each time, and note the deepest area. That is your main line.

A second rod can go slightly shallower. A standard licence covers two rods (three with the three-rod licence). In England, byelaws also require your outermost rods to be within 3m of each other, and you must never leave a baited rod unattended.

You should now know whether your swim is deeper than about 10ft (3m). That number drives Step 3. On an English river between 15 March and 15 June, stop here.

Step 2: Pick a Plastic or Wire Cage With the Right Number of Holes

Two cages that look almost identical can feed a swim very differently. Material and hole count decide where your groundbait ends up.

Feeder	Best for	Strengths	Watch out for
Plastic cage	Weedy or ledgy bottoms, deeper swims	Lifts off the bottom quickly on the retrieve	Lighter, so less range than wire
Wire cage	Longer casts	Heavier, with more exit points, so it empties on the drop	Can dig into the bottom; empties too fast in deep water
Plastic open-end	Holding bait until it reaches bottom in deep water	Keeps feed in until it lands	Little cloud effect; harder to cast far

Hole count matters as much as material. For bream, clip on a five or six-hole cage. For roach, drop to a two or three-hole cage, which releases less feed.

Use enough weight to hold bottom at your range, and no more.

If you want to feed loose maggots rather than groundbait, a maggot feeder is the better tool. The cage puts a cloud through the water; the open-end keeps its load in until it lands.

By the end of this step, the right cage is clipped on.

Step 3: Mix Your Groundbait Wetter for Deep Water, Drier for Shallow

Winding in a clean cage every time from a deep swim means the mix is wrong, not the fish. Depth decides the consistency.

Water deeper than about 10ft (3m) needs a heavier, wettish mix that stays in the cage on the way down. Shallow water wants a dry mix that bursts out soon after it lands.

For bream and skimmers, use a sweet or fishmeal-based groundbait with maggots, casters or micro pellets through it. Leave chopped worm out at the start. It can make a swim or kill it, so hold it back until bites slow.

Mix it properly:

Add water a little at a time, stirring as you go.
Leave it for several minutes so the crumb absorbs the water evenly.
Pack a cage and drop it in the margin to see how it breaks.
Add water or dry crumb until it behaves the way your depth needs.

Some fisheries ban certain groundbaits or additives, so check before you buy. Our guide to groundbait mixes covers bases and additives in more depth.

By now you should have a mix that holds in the cage until it hits bottom at your depth.

Best for: a wetter mix in swims of 10ft or more. Skip it if: you are fishing shallow water, where a dry mix breaks out faster.

Step 4: Set Up a Running or Fixed Rig With a 50cm Hooklength

One starting set-up covers most bream days. After that, the hooklength is the main thing you adjust.

Running or fixed

A running rig is neat, tangles less and suits shy bites. A fixed loop rig shows more bites and helps fish hook themselves. Some waters restrict fixed feeders, so check the fishery rules before you choose.

On a fixed rig, tie a couple of small overhand loops in the mainline below the feeder. These boom loops hold the hooklength out at an angle and cut tangles on the cast. Full diagrams for both set-ups are on our feeder rigs page.

Hooklength

Start at around 50cm (20in). If you get no bites, shorten it in 10cm steps. On hard days, go longer.

Match the hook size to the bait, not to the fish you hope for. Check the fishery’s rules on barbless hooks and minimum line strength before you tie up.

Hookbait

Start with double red maggot. For bigger bream, try chopped worm, corn or dead red maggots. On silty lakes, casters or dead maggots sit better on the soft bottom.

Carry a tin of corn as well. When small fish keep stripping your maggots, a bigger, tougher bait gets past them to the bream.

By now your cage feeder rig is tied, baited and ready to cast.

The default: a running rig, a 50cm hooklength and double red maggot. Change one thing at a time from there.

Step 5: Build the Swim, Then Top It Up With Every Cast

Most of the work that catches bream happens before the first bite. Put the feed in one tight area, then keep it topped up.

Get every cast landing in the same place:

Cast to your chosen line, pick a far-bank marker, and put the line in the reel’s line clip so every cast stops at the same distance.
Pack the cage firmly, enough to hold until it hits bottom.
Cast, let the feeder settle, and tighten up to it.
Repeat, using the same marker each time.

To build the swim, make four or five quick casts, or put in two or three full bait-up feeders. After that, each normal cast tops it up. Some anglers start with one big bait-up feeder on a separate rod instead.

Hold back. Too much feed can put bream off, and once bait is in the swim you cannot take it out. You can always add more.

Recast regularly to keep a light trickle of feed going in, and let the bites set the pace: more often when fish are feeding, less when it is slow. Our bream fishing tactics cover how bream shoals behave in more depth.

By now you should have a baited area at one fixed distance. If bites stop after a busy spell, feed a little more, not a lot.

Step 6: Read the Bites, Fix Problems and Look After the Fish

Bites that dry up, or bites you cannot hit, are where most cage feeder sessions are won or lost. Each common problem has one likely cause and one first fix.

Problem	Likely cause	First fix
Cage comes back full	Mix too wet, holding too long	Dry it slightly
Cage comes back empty from deep water	Mix too dry	Make it wetter and heavier
Liners but no proper bites	Hooklength wrong for the day	Change it in 10cm steps
Small fish chewing the bait	Bait too small	Switch to corn or a bigger bait
Tangles on a fixed rig	Hooklength wrapping the feeder	Add boom loops or go running
Swim goes quiet after a good spell	Feed running low	Feed a little more; try chopped worm now

Change one thing, give it a few casts, and judge the result before you change anything else.

Bream carry a lot of slime. Wet your hands before you handle them, unhook them on a mat and return them quickly.

If you use a keepnet in England, the byelaws set exact standards. The net must have no knotted or metallic mesh, be at least 2m long, have no holes over 25mm in circumference, and have rings no more than 40cm apart and at least 120cm in circumference. You can be fined for leaving fish in a keepnet after you finish. Fisheries may add their own keepnet rules, so check.

Frequently asked questions

What is a cage feeder used for?

A cage feeder is a groundbait feeder used mainly for bream, skimmers and roach. Groundbait packed into the open mesh breaks out on the drop and on the bottom, making a cloud that draws fish down to the hookbait. A five or six-hole cage suits bream; a two or three-hole cage suits roach. See Step 2 for choosing one.

What is the best cage feeder rig for bream?

Use a running rig for shy bites or a fixed loop rig for better bite registration, with a hooklength of about 50cm to start. Shorten it in 10cm steps if bites are slow, and go longer on hard days. Check the fishery rules first, as some restrict fixed feeders. See Step 4 for the full set-up.

Do I need a licence to fish a cage feeder?

Yes. In England and Wales anyone aged 13 or over needs a rod licence, including on private and club waters. It is free for 13 to 16 year olds, and fishing without one risks a fine of up to £2,500. You also need permission or a ticket for the water. Check the current price on GOV.UK.

How big do bream get in the UK?

The British record common bream weighs 22 lb 11 oz (10.291 kg). Scot Crook caught it from Ferry Lagoon, Cambridgeshire, in 2012, according to the British Record (rod caught) Fish Committee list dated January 2026. Our British record bream page has the full story.