Method feeder for Barbel

[sagalout]

I have watched this video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CR6u3w_C36w with interest because I like method feeders, I have absolute confidence that I am not tangled after the cast.

What I don't like with this mix is the cost. I am happy with liquidising pellets for the fishmeal groundbait part and happy with pellets for the particle type part but I ain't happy with the cost of the boilie mix and the sticky krill liquid.

So, what would make a good cheap binding agent and what liquid? Oooh as I type I just thought Molasses for the liquid, £7 per gallon.

 

[binka]

That video is all a bit sophisticated for me.

I just mix and soak a load of pellets for twenty minutes (regardless of size) and then drain off to leave overnight which gives you a mix which sticks to the feeder like you know what to a blanket.

Chuck in whatever you want on the day, tin of tuna, bit of hemp, etc... If there are barbel willing to feed in the area they'll have it.

This came up in a similar thread not too long ago but I can't remember which one so just as easy to repost the pictures...





I should probably add that I fish this with a long tail and the bait not buried on the feeder but I don't ever recall having a tangle of any sort.

 

[sagalout]

That's a bit simples! Cheers Binka, what method feeder do you use?

 

[binka]

That's a bit simples! Cheers Binka, what method feeder do you use?

ESP heavy method feeders in 70 or 100grm, proper jobbies for fast water!

Edited to add: I swap the semi-fixed connector for a bead and swivel to make it free running, not sure if it makes much difference but it makes me feel better.

 

[sagalout]

Thanks Binka, I shall try it out when time and weather allows.

 

[sagalout]

Another thought has occurred in my tiny brain (it took some time didn't it?) why use a method feeder if you are not using a short hook link and tucking it in? Why not use a "normal" cage feeder?

There are more questions than answers and the more I find out the less I know. Soon I will know everything about nothing, which is a massive improvement on my current situation of knowing nothing about everything.

 

[Graham Elliott 1]

Great post Binks. It was a very popular method method (get that) on the Severn 10 years or so ago but seems to have moved out of fashion a bit. The aim as in still water is to get the fish attacking the fairly solid mix and picking off particles as they flow off and hopefully the hookbait.

The only time I use a cage feeder nowdays is when using mashed bread and big breadflake bait for chub when I want some particles to escape on the drop.

 

[binka]

why use a method feeder if you are not using a short hook link and tucking it in? Why not use a "normal" cage feeder?

I've mentioned it a few times in various threads, I prefer the flatter profile which doesn't tend to roll around as much and especially after emptying.

Being thinner than a cage feeder I also think it's less prone to getting wedged between rocks but that's only a hunch, I hope I'm not going to speak too soon but I don't ever remember losing one.

 

[sagalout]

Cheers Binka. Give it a couple of days and I might have another question.

 

[tigger]

I have used a method feeder on the river when targeting barbel and chub but for the method mixture I just use brown/or white crumb, sweetcorn and old maggots and casters, plus any old bits of bait if I have any, i've even stuck sawdust in the mix to bulk it out when i've been short of crumb lol....the barbel never complained. If your careful how you mix crumb it's stickier than any method feed mix going. I made it so sticky most of it was still on the feeder when I brought it back in which is how I wanted it.

 

[sagalout]

Cheers Tigger, when you say white crumb is that liquidised bread that's dried out or something else?

 

[tigger]

Cheers Tigger, when you say white crumb is that liquidised bread that's dried out or something else?

Yeah, it's just bread ground into dust /powder. I think you can buy it a little more coarse if you want it in bigger bits. I never bother liquidising it myself but I suppose you could. It's cheap, especially if you buy a sack of it and if kept dry it last for yonks. You could add a bit of robin red or fish meal etc if it made you feel better but as I said previously the barbel don't seem to give a monkeys . All those bits Bowler was chuckin' in that mix are great if you want to waste your hard earned coin, i've done it and it deffo didn't catch me any more fish than the crumb and bits of corn n'stuff .