Barbel; mass baiting?

Does anyone have any thoughts about heavy baiting for Barbel? I know, many use a few pints of Hemp, maybe some pellets and other bits and pieces.

I mean perhaps 2 or 3 gallons of mixed bait ( or even more). Probably mainly particles for practical (cost) reasons.

I already use more than many. I spodded a gallon of mixed Hemp/ Pellets yesterday. In general my catches seem to hold up OK.

Any thoughts?

I think if you are fishing a river/stretch with a high stock density Ric then no problem, if fish are few and far between it could be counter productive in that you might feed the fish/shoal too much too soon!
What river/stretch or are we talking mate?

Ribble Eddie. Even though I used a lot of bait, I always have the feeling that after a couple of fish it's all gone.

Follow your instincts mate! If you really go to town and bait really heavily and get it wrong, then no harm done, its only 1 session wasted!

That's it Eddie. When I fished for Carp I upped my baiting levels with good results. I'm not saying it was just because of that, a few occasions aren't any proof.

If you look at most anglers on the Ribble they all tend to do the same thing. Either a feeder or pva bags with pellets. There are that many fish in there that when they get on the bait I'm sure it doesn't last long.

Mind you if yesterday is typical of how this summer is going to be, i won't be walking a mile with 5 gallons of bait, that's for sure!

I am with eddie mate go with your gut reactions, bang some more in if you think you have been hoovered up. Although if you have had a couple of barbel out of one swim you may have killed off that swim and it may be time to move on to another peg. If you can see the bottom where you are fishing try a few handfulls of sweetcorn/maize and see how quick they are taken. This time of year after spawning the barbel will be feeding heavily. I have been using about 2 pints of Partiblend mixed with a pint of Chickpeas, maize and 3mm pellets with 3 pints of hemp to make a gallon and I always end up freezing up a good bit of the leftovers. Too much bait in the trent gets me breamed out, the derwent I get too many silvers and I am still a virgin on the dove, but I am getting barbel out every session this week on less than 1/2 gallon on a 8hr session. Come October I might catapult a few freebies out and fish a method feeder to get them turned on.

Nothing better than a bit of "massbaiting", but I am not sure if thats why others on the stretch call me the "ships anchor" or the "merchant banker" :O)

I think about a gallon is good for a session using two rods.

Hope i'm not fishing the swim after you Ric!

If river levels are low I'm not sure of the benefits of mass baiting as you describe & also the possible impact of all that bait on the bottom.

I suppose it depends on the river but in a small river at low level I dont think it would be a good idea at all.

It does depend on the river and also the conditions. If it's low and clear then use very little, if any. If it's up and coloured with warm water, pile it in. But not all at once. Put some in with a feeder every cast and supplement each cast with a few handfuls of your chosen bait.