I suppose we all dream of someday perfecting our own super-bait,one that will work anytime of year in any conditions and on anywater. The reality though is that the need to recognise when to use aparticular bait is far more important.
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If we aren’t prepared to put some thought into bait selection thenour results can, and do, suffer. Barbel fishing is all verycomfortable in as much as we can keep a rod and gear in readiness allthe time and as soon as commitments allow we can be off to the riverto catch terrific hard-fighting fish. It’s all too easy to keeprelying on the old luncheon meat though, it’s so simple to grab a tinor two on the way to the river. But put more thought into it and youwill catch consistently. In this article and the next I am going todiscuss some of the more successful baits for barbel, and then moveon to rigs and how to use them in a three-part article.
Let me make it clear – I am no bait guru (but I know a man whois!). What I have done though is actually fished with lots ofdifferent baits in lots of different conditions.
PARTICLES
It is so easy to generalise in angling, which can often be totallywrong but has to be done sometimes. It is up to the individual torecognise when to change tactics, so I will say that, generally,particle baits are the first choice of the low/clear water daytimeangler. Barbel will switch on big time to intelligently used smallfood items and even the biggest will eventually be unable to resist.The following are the cream of particles for barbel.
Maggot
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Possibly the most used particle of all time, and with good reason.I can’t think of a coarse fish that doesn’t love ’em! the onlydownside with regard to their use in barbel fishing can be the costinvolved to get the biggies going on them, for I would notcontemplate targeting big barbs with any less than a gallon ofmaggots and even that amount can be totally inadequate at times. Agallon may well get the barbs on the feed and you could well catch afew fish, but at times they can get through huge amounts, and couplethis with the smaller silver fish taking their share before the barbsmove in and it is easy to see why large amounts are needed.
There is most definitely a pecking order to consider when usingany particle bait and generally the longer you can keep a swim on theboil, WITHOUT fishing, the more chance you have of connecting with abiggie. It can take a lot of willpower not to introduce a hookbaitwhen you have been casting a feeder for a couple of hours and thefeeder itself is being savaged! Everyone’s idea of a good day’sfishing differs, but even if you don’t want to target monsters andjust want a decent bag, it pays to build up the swim first…….foras long as you can resist sending out a baited hook!
So for maggots think about building up a swim and take plentyfor a serious full day session.
Hemp
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Without doubt a superb attractor and holder of barbel and theamounts used in a year by barbel anglers must be massive! It can be agood hookbait but it’s small size can put a lot of anglers off,especially for a bagging session. I will cover fishing with hemp onthe hook in the forthcoming rigs articles, but bear in mind thatparticle hookbaits of this size will not be effective if not usedcorrectly. The hookbait needs to be in the thick of the freebies; theright place for intelligent positioning of hook baits andself-hooking/bolt rigs.
There is a school of thought that on some waters barbel have’wised’ up to large prebaited areas. I’m not so sure about this but Ido know that introducing large baits like meat over the top of barbsfeeding hard on hemp in clear water can have them leaving the area -and fast! Much better to save that tactic for coloured waterconditions.
Hemp is still a terrific item on the barbel angler’s list ofbaits. You can use it to bait heavily from the off for a static nightsession or as a bait to build up a swim for a bagging session.
Hemp can be used as a hookbait, but sometimes it can bebetter/easier to use in conjunction with other particles, possiblythe best of these being casters.
Casters
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These little beauts are second to none, arguably better even thanthe maggot. The only downside is price, but in all fairness this isone area where the dealers earn their corn! There is a lot of workinvolved in getting a decent caster and I would much rather let themdo it.
This is where a cheap particle like hemp really comes into itsown, for the marriage of hemp and caster is a long happy one and withgood reason – they are dynamite together! once you get a shoal ofbarbs homing in on this pair then hold onto your rod and have a canof Ralgex at the ready to spray on your knackered rod arm at the endof the day!
If you are mega-rich, or just feel like treating yourself to aspecial fishing trip, then casters used on their own are a superbbait for the biggest barbel. They can be terrific for barbs that haveseen it all, but I would only use them like this where I was acertain I had absolute control over where my freebies were ending up.To put them all over the place would just result in the other speciessnaffling them and no pecking order being established in a tightarea. This of course applies to all particles, but casters are a veryexpensive way to learn the ‘keep it tight’ lesson!
Casters are quite simply a devastating bait, usually used inconjunction with hemp, expensive but well worth it when you’re flush!Use with hemp to stretch em out.
Tares
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Not so popular lately but well worth considering. They are cheapand barbel love them, they can be used as an attractor in the sameway as hemp or used as a hookbait. In my opinion they are not soinstant in attracting barbs as hemp but once they are introduced acouple of times they can be very good.
A good no nonsense particle bait. Use as feed or as a hookbait.Its larger size makes it a little easier to use in this way thanhemp. Cheap and effective.
Trout And Other Pellets
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Trout pellets have been about in the fishing world for a longtime. I was introduced to them in the 70’s, but the last few yearshave seen them become a big thing, and rightly so, for they are agreat bait, being widely available from tackle shops and otheroutlets in a wide range of sizes. And of course the sinking varietyare the barbel angler’s choice. A lot of barbs are caught onpellets, for they are reasonably cheap and very effective. And I knowthey are used regularly by guys who market other baits.
The usual ploy is to bait up with the small ones and use largerones for hookbaits.
Sweetcorn
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Confession time – I wasn’t going to mention sweetcorn! I havenever caught much on it, but friends swear by it for use during thesummer months. To be fair, I have only tried it in the past when thegoing was slow and that’s not really a fair thing to do!
So this year I have used it a few times and I’ve caught on it,nothing spectacular but I will use it in future more fairly!
Barbicle – One To Watch!
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I was recently off to fish a well coloured Warwickshire Avon armedwith hemp and dusted and flavoured meat when a text message on mymobile told me a bunch of muckas were bound elsewhere. So I made aswitch to there and found it was the wrong choice of bait for thisparticular water, which didn’t colour up to the same degree. But Ifell in love with it anyway!
Some of my muckas were armed with a new particle, in fact one ofthem designed it – Barbicle! I don’t know why that name hadn’talready gone, catchy or what? Anyway Graham (where’s my wallet goneagain) Marsden teased out a cracking double, from a river that givesthem up not too often! So this is most definitely one to watch outfor, along with some other great products from Haith’s seeds.
Sounds like a terrific attractor/ holding bait to use inconjunction with other baits such as caster or maggots.
Safety
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There are a multitude of particles out there to experiment with,but the fish’s safety must be the first thing to consider. Mistakeswere made in carp fishing that resulted in the death of some finefish. The message is: DO NOT USE ANY BAIT UNCOOKED IF IT NEEDSCOOKING! This is, of course, aimed at seeds and nuts. If in doubtbuy ready-mades, or ask how to do it on the FISHINGmagic forum.
Conclusions
I have no doubt whatsoever that in low, clear rivers, particlesused with thought will outfish any of the larger baits. If I coulduse just one without having to worry about cost I think casters wouldjust about pip maggots to the post for me, but the amount of castersI could get through in a heavy week’s fishing is frighteningcost-wise, so the others I have mentioned all have a part to play.
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Coming soon: ‘Baits Part Two – Meat,Paste and Specials’
