John Baker Baits
Halibut Pellets…The Dangers of 'Catching-Fish-at-all-Costs'
John Baker
In the past few years there will be very few anglers who have not used commercially made fish pellets as bait. In fact, fish pellets are now used in virtually all branches of the sport, from the match circuit to specimen hunting and in the pleasure sector too. Trout, salmon, halibut and other marine pellet varieties make great baits and these are now very big business.
Average weights of the most popular target species, such as carp and barbel, seem to be increasing every year. As a result, there has been an increase in specimen-hunter style angling as well as a huge increase in the popularity of carp-match fishing. The pursuit of ever larger “Personal Best” specimen fish and match targets becomes the motivation behind angling methods and tactics. In short, there is now a new breed of angler and I am concerned that this situation has in fact produced anglers with a “catch-at-all costs” attitude. These are the individuals who will not hesitate to use unsporting or ruthless tactics to achieve their goals. They are likely to break fishery rules on the basis that they are unlikely to be caught. They are prepared to use any amount of bait in order to gain an edge over others. More critically, they are prepared to use bait that could be damaging the very quarry they seek! Over- baiting with high oil, or high protein bait can have a seriously detrimental effect on the health of fish and this is the basis of my concern.
In recent years high oil content pellets have proved to be one of the leading baits on the coarse fishing scene. In particular salmon pellets and halibut pellets. The danger and concerns of using these baits to excess has been discussed before. In fact, it was more than 10 years ago that many angling clubs and organisations banned their use. It is a fact that the excessive high oil content of these pellets will damage the digestive systems of carp, tench, chub and barbel. After all, about 85% of all commercially made fish feed pellets are designed for trout, salmon and other marine species they not formulated for coarse fish! It may shock many anglers to hear that the oil content of many trout and salmon pellets is up to 20% and the oil content in halibut and marine pellets is up to 46%!
Coarse fish have a totally different mode of digestion, as well as having different nutritional requirements to other species. When we throw our high-oil pellet freebies into the rivers and lakes we are often doing so without knowledge of what other bait is being introduced to the venue. Unlike a fish farm, we have no control over the quantities of food the fish are eating! It may surprise some anglers to know, that just one small handful of halibut pellets can provide a 10lb barbel or carp with most of its nutritional requirements for a week! If more than this amount of free offerings is introduced, it can seriously affect the metabolism of fish. It’s a bit like eating a curry every evening, it would soon make us fat, as well as seriously upsetting our stomachs too!
I believe the indiscriminate use of halibut pellets and other high-oil-content pellets is beginning to seriously affect our sport. When it comes to barbel fisheries, this applies to most, if not all, popular stretches of our rivers! Both I and many friends will confirm that anglers up and down the country, from the Hampshire Avon to the Severn and the Trent to the Ouse often struggle to get bites. Even the most experienced anglers are becoming confused with fish behaviour and at a loss to know why sport is slow, even in seemingly ideal conditions. There is a simple answer to this, the fish are full up!
As the winter approaches and water temperatures drop, all coarse fish find bait more difficult to digest. In fact, when water temperatures drop much below 11 degrees Celsius all cyprinoid species take much longer to digest even their natural food. Some oil and protein-rich bait can actually take several days to pass through their systems. The over-use of semi-indigestible pellets could not only be killing our fishing but actually killing our fish. High-oil content pellets leave nasty fatty deposits in the gut of fish. Liver function is impeded and overall fish behaviour can become lethargic. It is even possible that fish could come to rely on angling bait in the same way a heavy drinker relies on alcohol, yet the addiction masks the slow and inevitable damage being done. Perhaps we should carefully reconsider past reports surrounding the mysterious deaths of huge barbel, especially those that have suddenly grown- quickly over a short period of time? Is it likely that these fish died as a direct result of stress caused by the use and subsequent over reliance of over-rich angler’s bait.
I have, for many years, called upon professionally qualified fish nutritionists to evaluate my views and assist in my own bait research. I believe the findings outlined by fish nutritionist, Pat Haughton of Sparsholt College, are far reaching and significant. We must surely all realize that anglers bait now represents a major percentage of the diet of wild fish. The great weights gained in recent years by carp, barbel, tench and chub, cannot be sustained by natural food alone. As anglers, we are unknowingly disrupting the welfare of our revered quarry. Surely, it is now time to think more carefully about our behaviour and our responsibilities. We must think about the amount of free offerings we introduce to our rivers and lakes. I am not suggesting a total ban on the use of these over-rich baits but would recommend they are severely limited in their use. Why not use a halibut pellet as a hook-bait only and pre-bait with free offerings that have a low oil and low protein content? I am sure our results would be the same and fish health would not suffer.
Most anglers are conservation minded and we all care about any potential damage we may unknowingly be doing to the environment. I am sure we would be shocked if we thought we could be damaging the welfare of our favourite species.
