Corn, and your experience with barbel?

[dicky123]

Unlike many of you that fish clear rivers, I'm not able to watch the reaction to corm on the fish I'm after. But I wondered if corn could be a good bait for my rivers barbel?

I see many were caught on the Ouse with it, and big ones too. I always carry a tin or two in the car but never get around to using it! Any thoughts from you guys?

 

[flightliner]

Super bait on the day, drop a grain beneath an overhanging bush or tree on my small river and its often instant action !

 

[jasonbean1]

My experience of it is very poor, plenty of roach. Chub and dace though

 

[theartist]

Inferior to meat, pellet and maggot for barbel but will still of course catch fish.

I've seen it spook Barbel in clear water when introduced.

 

[thecrow]

In my experience for some reason it can take Barbel a while to realise that corn is actually food (they are pretty thick ) when it is first introduced although once they do it can be a good bait, I haven't used it for Barbel for a long time as I find other just as convenient baits are better.

 

[binka]

I'm never confident with corn for some reason yet I managed a good run of barbel on it on the Trent last summer, usually laying on with the float down the edge of the nearside shelf but I've not been able to make any visual observations.

I've also caught barbel on it in winter when the water is cold, up and coloured.

 

[tigger]

I've watched barbel hoovering and even burrowing between rocks to get to sweetcorn.
Sweetcorn is one of my favourite baits along with maggots and caster. I've never seen barbel spook from corn at all,don't get that one to be honest.
I often use corn and maggot as a cocktail, even squeeze a caster or two on the hook with them. I use it for both float fishing and legering and it works great.
Some people say it's a summer bait I find it a good year round bait.

 

[peterjg]

Tigger, can I ask. When barbel fishing with corn do you sometimes accidentally catch roach? Do you use single bits of corn or do you use a few bits on a hair? Thanks in advance.

 

[barbelboi]

Corn would be way down the list for me...............

 

[tigger]

Tigger, can I ask. When barbel fishing with corn do you sometimes accidentally catch roach? Do you use single bits of corn or do you use a few bits on a hair? Thanks in advance.

Yes Peter I do sometimes catch roach, in fact when trotting and legering for barbel and chub using bunches of maggots, single, double or more pieces of corn I have had my largest roach....obviously by accident. If trotting the bait is usualy hooked directly on the hook but if legering I mix it up a bit depending on how many pieces of corn i'm putting on the hook, if using 4 to 6 pieces I hair rig it.
I very often swap and change the amounts of bait on my hook and try single, double or treble corn on the hook on it's own and then try just one or two pieces of corn and as many maggots as I can squash on the hook.So I just play about until I get a result.

 

[notmuchhair]

Not sure if this would help but I've experimented a little with corn in a shallow clear river. They were particularly spooky when a bed of corn was introduced but little and often feeding had them competing for the grains of corn as aggressively as they would for Baits like caster or pellet fed in the same way.

 

[theartist]

If it's clear and sunny and if it's shallow then corn raining down can be quite intrusive by the nature of it's size

 

[tigger]

If it's clear and sunny and if it's shallow then corn raining down can be quite intrusive by the nature of it's size

Obviously they react differently in different rivers and I would imagine in different conditions or times of year.
I would imagine halibut pellets or lumps of meat raining down to be even more intrusive by their bigger size and weight! I usually feed just above the fish anyhow so the bait goes down to them in the current.
I've been stood mid river and under arming corn on barbels heads in 2 1'2ftof water and the corn literally slid down and of their bodies...the fish just ignored the corn, they didn't even feed on it.
It was very frustrating to be stood a rod length away from barbel holding station in the current and they just wouldn't take my corn or maggots. I then noticed small groups of barbel moving along the bottom and hoovering up the corn as they passed by. I removed my float, added a couple of swan shot and fished corn on the deck. I actually watched the fish take the bait and the way they reacted when I struck the hook home. They all did exactly the same thing, they'd shake their heads and bolt away, often bolting straight into the stationary fish knocking them out of their spot but they just moved straight back to the same spot and completely ignored the fact that the hooked fish where going daft. I even witnessed groups of barbel (as perch often do when you hook one) all bustling around the hooked fish trying to get to the visible bait on the hook in it's mouth. Up until then i'd never witnessed any of this and it was an eye opener. This happened during very warm conditions in the height of summer in low levels and clear water.

 

[108831]

After several years of success with maggot on the Somerley estate at Ellingham,on the H.Avon, I turned up and the river was chockablock with minnows and no matter what I was skinned almost immediately,I shot off early afternoon to Ringwood and picked up a freezer pack of corn,plus a couple of tins,the results were quick,4 or 5 barbel and 2-3 chub,from that moment on corn was my bait of choice for around 3 seasons,barbel do like it,but similar to carp,you need to feed just the right amount to avoid spooking,feeding hemp and groats as bed feed,and introducing around 3 droppers of corn every hour and a half.As for roach eating it,roach eat pellet and boilies too,I always used 2-3 grains on an eight(when I caught on it).

 

[flightliner]

Brilliant bait on the Trent too Alan, I often fished it on a long hair as a "tower" --- three/four grains and some yellow rig foam to give it lift.

 

[theartist]

Obviously they react differently in different rivers and I would imagine in different conditions or times of year.
I would imagine halibut pellets or lumps of meat raining down to be even more intrusive by their bigger size and weight! I usually feed just above the fish anyhow so the bait goes down to them in the current.
I've been stood mid river and under arming corn on barbels heads in 2 1'2ftof water and the corn literally slid down and of their bodies...the fish just ignored the corn, they didn't even feed on it.
It was very frustrating to be stood a rod length away from barbel holding station in the current and they just wouldn't take my corn or maggots. I then noticed small groups of barbel moving along the bottom and hoovering up the corn as they passed by. I removed my float, added a couple of swan shot and fished corn on the deck. I actually watched the fish take the bait and the way they reacted when I struck the hook home. They all did exactly the same thing, they'd shake their heads and bolt away, often bolting straight into the stationary fish knocking them out of their spot but they just moved straight back to the same spot and completely ignored the fact that the hooked fish where going daft. I even witnessed groups of barbel (as perch often do when you hook one) all bustling around the hooked fish trying to get to the visible bait on the hook in it's mouth. Up until then i'd never witnessed any of this and it was an eye opener. This happened during very warm conditions in the height of summer in low levels and clear water.

I'm not saying it doesn't work I'm saying it can be intrusive, Corn is much bigger than the pellets I feed thats for sure. End of the day corn is a good bait for Tench Bream Roach and Carp etc but Pellets will out fish it for Barbel on most occasions and most rivers nowadays. I've had some good days on corn too but i'ts not my first choice and be honest it's not yours either?

 

[tigger]

I've had some good days on corn too but i'ts not my first choice and be honest it's not yours either?

EH?....I am being honest, corn is my second go to bait for barbel when trotting, maggots being my first. As i've said in my earlier post I like using them together and often have a corn/maggot cocktail on my hook or alternate between the two. Pellet definitely doesn't out fish corn on the rivers where I fish during the summer months and definitely not when trotting.
I've no idea why you keep saying it's intrusive, why? Corn is just like any other bait and it definitely isn't a large bait. It's a good colour making it easier for the fish to see and it's heavy enough not to be swept down stream beyond my intended trotting glide. Pellets just sink like a stone, even smaller ones, arn't as visually attractive and imo are best use for legering.

 

[theartist]

EH?....I am being honest, corn is my second go to bait for barbel when trotting, maggots being my first. As i've said in my earlier post I like using them together and often have a corn/maggot cocktail on my hook or alternate between the two. Pellet definitely doesn't out fish corn on the rivers where I fish during the summer months and definitely not when trotting.
I've no idea why you keep saying it's intrusive, why? Corn is just like any other bait and it definitely isn't a large bait. It's a good colour making it easier for the fish to see and it's heavy enough not to be swept down stream beyond my intended trotting glide. Pellets just sink like a stone, even smaller ones, arn't as visually attractive and imo are best use for legering.

Your river must be different to all the ones I fish, either that or they aren't 'on' the pellets yet but if the static anglers are using them they should be, I'd give it a go if I were you as pellets will smash corn all day long on float, 4m pellet will go downstream a fair bit in fast water, i'm only going on the Severn, Colne, Lea, Teme and Wye as reference,(i'm not referring to the Lea being fast there) Why do people think trotting pellets has to be a donkey choker job, my pellet attack is far more akin to hemp fishing and its much smaller than sweetcorn, fact is i'm targeting roach but get many barbel and chub as a more than welcome byproduct.

Maggots I wont say a bad word about as they take the barbel in winter, and granted in summer if there's not too many bits about.

I've Seen corn spook barbel on a number of occasions that's where my opinion comes from whereas the pellets sees them coming up in the water, smashing it, that's why I think corn is intrusive. Pellets are a better bait than corn all round otherwise we would be talking about large quantities of Green Giant changing barbel's hormones in rivers rather than pellets, unless everyone else is doing it wrong. Love them or not pellets are here to stay and they work.

 

[thecrow]

Pellets are a better bait than corn all round otherwise we would be talking about large quantities of Green Giant changing barbel's hormones in rivers rather than pellets,

Did you not read this post from Graham Elliot about the damage pellets can do to fish?Cant see it happening with corn.


I did a lot of research on a question and answer session with the two major suppliers.

Both admitted that if these products ie elips types were used in quantity for coarse fish they would have a significant effect on the fishes health.


Another Senior Fish scientist ( Franklin, who has done a lot of EA work) also told me that a high level of intake could affect reproductive abilities.

Or don't you believe it?

 

[tigger]

Your river must be different to all the ones I fish, either that or they aren't 'on' the pellets yet but if the static anglers are using them they should be, I'd give it a go if I were you as pellets will smash corn all day long on float, 4m pellet will go downstream a fair bit in fast water, i'm only going on the Severn, Colne, Lea, Teme and Wye as reference,(i'm not referring to the Lea being fast there) Why do people think trotting pellets has to be a donkey choker job, my pellet attack is far more akin to hemp fishing and its much smaller than sweetcorn, fact is i'm targeting roach but get many barbel and chub as a more than welcome byproduct.

Maggots I wont say a bad word about as they take the barbel in winter, and granted in summer if there's not too many bits about.

I've Seen corn spook barbel on a number of occasions that's where my opinion comes from whereas the pellets sees them coming up in the water, smashing it, that's why I think corn is intrusive. Pellets are a better bait than corn all round otherwise we would be talking about large quantities of Green Giant changing barbel's hormones in rivers rather than pellets, unless everyone else is doing it wrong. Love them or not pellets are here to stay and they work.

People have been using pellets and boilies on the rivers I fish for many years (so have I). I often use them if legering and I have trotted pellets in various sizes, and no they arn't anything like as good as maggots or corn for trotting imo. I don't use green giant either, I use value bags of frozen stuff, costs little money and catches more than pellets do, oh, and it doesn't harm the fish like manufactured hormone stuffed pellets.
I ain't interested whether other people are doing right or wrong, I just go to catch fish and I have my fair share.
Like it or not, corn has been around a lot longer than pellets and it'll still be being used when wev'e run out of halibut to make into effin pellets mg:.