Ivy berries for Roach and Chub?

[mastercaster]

I have used Elderberries to good effect during the Autumn months in pursuit of Roach and Chub on my local River Stour,So today as i walked my dog, i could'nt help notice the similarity of the now ripening Ivy berries. This made me wonder if they would be as effective during low clear winter conditions as the elderberry is in the autumn?

I would be very interested to here if anyone has tried Ivy Berries or any opinion as to how they could be used as a free bait source?

 

[marie marling]

Ivy berries are an old bait for salmon fishing .you put the juice of the berries on your flies. I think they talk about using them in the complete angler I've never seen any one using them though. I have caught a barbelthat coughed up hawthorn berries. try freezing some elder berries for use in the winter. /forum/smilies/wink_smiley.gif

 

[Jon Jagger]

Aren't they poisonous?

 

[The bad one]

I'd be very careful about using unknown berries.

Yes Ivy berries are poisonous to humans,can't find anything as to their poison status regarding fish though.

Handling them and putting them on the hook (secretion of juice) may case irritation of the skin and/or absorption through the skin. Taken internally, as in juice on the hands andeating a butty, would at best make you ill and at worst kill you.

Rule of thumb, if you don't know whether a plant and its berries are poisonous and you can't ID it,don't mess with it!

Here's a link to berries in general

link

 

[mastercaster]

I did freeze a few pints of elderberriesthis year, but while on holiday the electric went out and the freezer thawed/forum/smilies/crying_smiley.gif,but from the past i know they are a great bait in low winter conditions, that i guess is what made me think of the ivy berries. i had'nt given a thought to there toxivity so thanks, you have probably saved me at least a bad belly ache.

Barbel choghing up hawthorn berries? Interesting, Does anyone else have any alike stories that may help me find new natural bait ideas? i know its well known that chub eat small fish but i was suprised to find a 2lb chub had regurgetated 5 tiny minnows whilst recovering in the net recently. perhaps you may have noticed similar or stranger from your captures?

 

[Jon Jagger]

IIRC, in his book on Roach Dr Mark Everard says that water snails are an important food item for roach. So they probably are for chub too.

 

[marie marling]

we have caught chub on brambles ive been told you can use rosehips but i have not tried them the lads from theC.S.G would be the best to help you .

 

[Ray Daywalker Clarke]

Rosehip is an old flavour that work's well, as Phil ( the bad one) say's if your not sure, don't use it.

 

[marie marling]

old ones aswell wheatboiled and barleyboiled for roach.cherries and goose berries for chub take the stone out of the cherries.

 

[Jon Jagger]

snow berries are listed as a possible bait in a bait encylopedia book I've got. Wikipedia says they are poisonous to humans but an important winter food source for some animals (eg quail).

 

[will spencer]

mashed bananas honey and fresh bread made into a paste.

 

[Gary Dolman]

Chub are fairly catholic in their tastes. I used to fish a small river in the midlands called the Mease, which flows into the Trent below Alrewas.

In the summer chub were highly visible and extremely difficult to catch on the usual baits, bread maggots etc, but we caught them on worms, slugs, lightly squashed snails, grasshoppers (took longer to catch than the chub), minnows, bullheads, big black beatles. In fact there were few naturals that they would refuse and later in the year they were suckers for a daddy longlegs.

I,m sure Walker would have covered fly fishing for chub, as floating baits on small rivers are really good in the summer months.

Winter fishing was different and in colored water conditions cheese paste was my favourite, in fact I had 2 5lbers and 8 more upto 4lbin one short memorable January afternoon, I thought that I must have died and gone to heaven.

 

[slime monster]

This thread has brought to my mind a bait i never got round to testing, i noticed iris plants shaking about in a corner of the lake i was fishing, such was the activity i crept around to see what was causing it, Carp were eating the seeds of Iris plants which were splitting out of their pods ,i left them to it but not before comparing the size shape and colour to tutti frutti sweetcorn.......

 

[john conway (CSG - ACA)]

Of the 413 baits/bait cocktailslisted in the CSG data base accounting for 13,271 chub over 4lb; there is no mention of Ivy berries, goose berries orrosehips the top particle bait is sweetcorn and that only accounted for 382 chub. However, 1 chub was caught on Xmas Pudding and another on a Cola Bottle Sweet.

 

[mastercaster]

A Juniour in our club got his pictureon the fishing page in a local free paper after he caught a 5lb chub on a strawberry.So it seems That Izaak's words are as true today and the chub will eat almost anything.