If you pole fish, you’ll probably have a large pot for kicking off your swim at the start of the session, but some pleasure anglers out there haven’t cottoned on to the benefits of having a small pot mounted on your fishing kit permanently.
One of the tricks you learn as you fish commercial fisheries more is that it’s actually a disadvantage to draw too many fish into your peg at once.
Dump a stack of food in and you might get half a dozen or more quality carp mooching around a very small area.
The inevitable result is line bites, and this can cause you to foul hook fish. Foul-hooked fish take longer to get in and can mess up both your swim and your feeding pattern.
A small pot mounted at the end of your pole allows you to add small amounts of food to the swim gradually, and right on top of your float. You can draw one or two fish into your peg at a time with careful feeding and pick them off as they arrive.
You can buy pots that slide straight on. One that we recommend is the Fox Tosspot (£3.99) which comes in three sizes and includes a snap-on lid that helps you avoid the problem of food bouncing out of the pot as you ship out.
Another good one is the Preston Innovations Cadpot (£2.99), which also has a snap-on lid and comes in three sizes. Like the Tosspot this slides onto the top kit via a groove under the pot. You get two sizes in each pack.
This month we’re showing you how to make your own pole-mounted pot using an everyday Kinder egg.
One thing you may struggle with a little is the creation of smooth-sided holes to fit the grommets into as the plastic can split. This can actually done by heating up a large nail over a flame (hold it in a pair of pliers) and pushing it through, but only in the company of a responsible adult.
The hardest things to get hold of are the grommets – we sourced ours cheaply from Halfords.

For the DIY Kinder pot you will require:
• A Kinder egg
• Grommets
• Pen or pencil
• Sharp scissors

Step 1 Open up the Kinder egg, eat the chocolate and make the toy inside!	Step 2 Using something sharp, make a small hole in one side – being careful not to split the plastic.
Step 3 Gradually open up the hole, you want as round an opening as possible, with no split.	Step 4 For an on-the-bank job, you can slide the Kinder egg onto the top kit like this.
Step 5 For a more professional job, fitting grommets protects the pole tip.	Step 6 Select a grommet with a diameter that locks in place on your top kit near the tip.
Step 7 We need to open up the hole a little bit more to fit the correct size grommet.	Step 8 Using something smooth, like the end of a pen, make the holes larger.
Step 9 You may need to push it right in for larger diameter top kits – but don’t split the plastic.	Step 10 You’ll need to trim off the plastic inside to create smooth edges to fit the grommets.
Step 11 Twist and turn the grommet so it can be fitted into the hole.	Step 12 With both grommets fitted you have one Kinder pot ready to go.
Step 13 Simply push it over your elastic connector and onto the top kit. The grommets help lock it in place.	Step 14 Now take the top part of the Kinder egg and cut a disc out of the top of it.
Step 15 This lid can be snapped into place to help prevent feed from bouncing out as you ship out.