Bait

[macko]

What do you regard as the No1 bait for Barbel.Meat would be my choice, but I like to have a change, but I can't seem to catch on other baits like cheese, sweet corn, bread, lobs,gits and all the ready made pastes available nowadays.
Bear in mind I don't use hair rigs.

ATB Macko

 

[tom_moran]

I found out last night whilst barbel fishing that there aren't any barbel left in the stretch of the Avon on my club ticket. The otters have eaten all of them

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[robtherake]

What do you regard as the No1 bait for Barbel.Meat would be my choice, but I like to have a change, but I can't seem to catch on other baits like cheese, sweet corn, bread, lobs,gits and all the ready made pastes available nowadays.
Bear in mind I don't use hair rigs.

ATB Macko

There are a few "gits" that I'd like to feed to the fishes, Macko.

 

[thecrow]

Its possible that you are getting pulls on baits other than meat but as you don't use a hair the cheese or paste may not be allowing the hook to come through to make contact with the fish. Do you give the "change baits" a fair time to work before going back to the trusted meat?

Is there any particular reason why you don't use a hair rig? I feel you are handicapping yourself by not using them.

 

[binka]

Without using a hair I would go for meat or a big bunch of chopped worm bits on something like a size 6 as my favourites although crust and cheese can become favourites under certain opposite conditions.

 

[macko]

Thecrow, I'm more of a traditional fisherman, hair rigs don't sit well with me,also I tend to hold the rod and touch leger. Having said that I'm not against people who use hair/bolt type rids, live and let live, I say.
But what is it about meat that makes it a more instant bait for barbel than other baits and still catches loads of barbel in this day and age of the pellet.

ATB Macko

 

[tigger]

I've been touch legering this year using banded pellets and both sweetcorn and maggots directly on the hook either seperately or as a cocktail. I've used meat for many years for both legering and trotting but I think the halibut pellets, corn and maggots catch just as many if not more fish (round these parts that is) especially when trotting. They're so much more convenient than meat, you don't need to chop them up and get greasy hands baiting the hook etc. I do still use meat but just not nearly as much as in days gone by.

 

[thecrow]

Thecrow, I'm more of a traditional fisherman, hair rigs don't sit well with me,also I tend to hold the rod and touch leger. Having said that I'm not against people who use hair/bolt type rids, live and let live, I say.
But what is it about meat that makes it a more instant bait for barbel than other baits and still catches loads of barbel in this day and age of the pellet.

ATB Macko

I don't think its any more instant than other baits, sausage was a very good bait years ago and would probably produce the goods now, maggots are pretty much instant no matter where they are used the same with hemp and casters.

I should think that every river containing barbel has seen its fair share of meat over the years, the difference being that meat is still being used while other things such as sausage have gone out of fashion and are not used anywhere near as much as it was although I did know an angler that used little else and was very successful.

I really don't get this "traditional" thing, how far does one take it? spearing fish using horsehair lines? but as you say each to his own.

 

[macko]

Today I bought some Sausage Sizzle pellets to try in 4/6/8 mm, will make a paste with some for h/bait and use the rest for feeding, bait dropper 6/8 mm,
4 mm in a feeder, has anyone used these pellets, and had any success with them.

ATB Macko

 

[thecrow]

Today I bought some Sausage Sizzle pellets to try in 4/6/8 mm, will make a paste with some for h/bait and use the rest for feeding, bait dropper 6/8 mm,
4 mm in a feeder, has anyone used these pellets, and had any success with them.

ATB Macko

Not used them myself but I have a friend that is sponsored by them and has good results with their baits.

 

[macko]

Thecrow, when I say traditional, I mean, as much as possible, to strike into the fish, rather than the fish hook itself. I just enjoy it more that way, but I have on cold winter nights put the rod in the rest and waited for the reel to start spinning. Probably why I prefer float fishing over any other method.
I don't do Breeks and all that nonsense.

ATB Macko

 

[stewybill]

On The Rother I have used my own homemade boilies with good results. I use Almond oil with the usual 50/50 dry mix with some hempseed oil.
Having said that went out to fish corn on the stick for roach the other day and got smashed by a Barbel !
Seems to me that if a fish is hungry and confident it will eat whatever turns up.

 

[lutra]

Meat is an all time classic barbel bait, but pellets can't be far behind it in the points league around here. Many anglers fish them and the barbel just never seem to learn.

In a more traditional way and maggots and trotting aside, the blockend feeder fished with Hemp and caster scores very high for me. Deffo caught many big and biggest bags of barbel with it.

 

[tdrozdow]

Worry less about the bait and more about finding them. In my experience, if you drop a bit in front of them without spooking them and they are feeding then they will have it !! If I was forced to choose just one bait though (especially in winter) it would be maggots. If small fish or crayfish are a issue then 14mm dynamite halibut pellets or a good quality well glugged boilie are hard to beat. Meat is great but messy especially in the warm so I tend to go for the convenience of pellet or boilie. I have to agree with the previous comment that not using a hair rig is a serious disadvantage. If you want to avoid that then a side hooked boilie works very well too but use a wide gape hook.
Happy catching, Tony

 

[sam vimes]

I'm more of a traditional fisherman, hair rigs don't sit well with me,also I tend to hold the rod and touch leger.

Hair rigs on their own are not bolt rigs, as such. It's fixed/semi-fixed leads that are the essential part of a bolt rig. You could quite easily use hair rigs in conjunction with your usual running leger and continue to touch leger. Their use may result in the odd extra unmissable bite, and more positive hook ups, but you can still miss plenty of bites on them.

 

[Jim Crosskey 2]

Today I bought some Sausage Sizzle pellets to try in 4/6/8 mm, will make a paste with some for h/bait and use the rest for feeding, bait dropper 6/8 mm,
4 mm in a feeder, has anyone used these pellets, and had any success with them.

ATB Macko

That's all a bit new-school isn't it Macko - as opposed to old school?

I'm only messing. However, this does make me think of a discussion I saw recently on a facebook barbel page, along the lines of - "what's the best hookbait for barbel"

Loads of people weighed in with their opinions, based largely on what had caught them fish. But when you look at the broader picture - based on what people catch on - it can make you think that there's actually very little out there that barbel won't eat!! So getting really hung up on hookbait might be counterproductive. Location, feeding and time of the day (feeding spell).... getting those right are probably way more important than finding the perfect hookbait.

However, for what it's worth.... I like plain spam, straight out of the tin in a rough-torn chunk (rather that straight cut).... dynamite halibut pellets in 8mm and 14mm.... and sweet corn. Generally i'll rotate on those baits, and if I get a bite on one of them, i'll stick with it for the next cast. If I get a bite, well and good; if not, i'll change. Obviously using two rods gives you more opportunity to chop and change, but if I feel that I'm on feeding fish, I'd just use one.

Lastly, something that I only tried this season for the first time - which I think has got me more bites - is using a paste wrap around a pellet hookbait. I make mine by mixing some groundbait very stiff, so it will stick on well and breakdown slowly. When the water is coloured, this seems to work very well. So good luck with your paste experiments - it's certainly something I will be giving more thought to in general.

 

[flightliner]

Float fished maggot does ok for me.

 

[jasonbean1]

Today I bought some Sausage Sizzle pellets to try in 4/6/8 mm, will make a paste with some for h/bait and use the rest for feeding, bait dropper 6/8 mm,
4 mm in a feeder, has anyone used these pellets, and had any success with them.

ATB Macko

this time of year a bit of extra bite in your paste works wonders, try adding some chilli powder to it. In particular the chub love it and if you can get them in your swim feeding barbel wont be far behind.

 

[john step]

I just don't get not using hair rigs for the reason that they are not being traditional. Also why should a hair be synonymous with bolt rig fishing and not needing to strike?
It just doesn't have to be like that.

If you research hair rigs you will find references to them at least a hundred years ago in old writings. Thats fairly traditional.

You don't need to use a bolt lead to use a hair. You are allowed to hold the rod as you would anyhow. Just allows better sucking up of bait and less spooking due to the detection of the hook.

Hairs can even used in float fishing where you strike in the normal way for all sorts of fishing. I do this regularly and find the bites very positive and in no way are they bolt rigs.

Just my take on it. Everyone to their own though.

 

[dicky123]

I get Macko.

Recently fishing for chub with hook buried in the meat, all fish caught had the bait almost in the throat. As I use barbless it was no problem to ease them out with forceps.

I think hiding the hook in the meat is an advantage myself. Had loads of knocks with hair rigged meat on a heavy lead. (heavy enough to hold ) So changed and got better results. But like the others (old school) I prefer to strike my fish, rather than let them hook themselves.

I'm amazed at times how little lead you need when the line is thinner, and your not always fishing in the middle of a river.

But each to their own, it's not a contest for me.