When to strike. Small bites and knocks.

[clutch]

Hey,

This is my first season river fishing and I have really enjoyed it so far, with a few tips from this forum and other anglers I have had some really great fishing.

I have a question about bite indication. I have been fishing mostly pellet, and in some sessions i get frequent, taps, knock, small pulls etc. Tonight I fished the Severn at Bridgnorth and I got lots of these small bites.

So, are they bites? Small fish moving the bait around? Most of them are a quick short pull or bounce of the rod tip. Do people strike on these? Or just put it down to small fish and wait it out for a proper bite?

Most of the bites are so fast and short that although I am sitting right by my rods they are over by the time i can get a hand on the rod.

Would be grateful for any advice or opinions.

Thanks

 

[dave m]

these little taps and short pulls will often be silvers [roach, dace or small chub] giving little pulls on the bait and dropping it as the resistance builds. the odd one may end up hooking themselves but if fishing for barbel its best to set up with them in mind and wait for proper serious pulls.

so how are you setting up your end tackle and rig, what bait and feed.

the way you feed can be crucial.
you need to keep enough going through your swim to ensure the barbel can find some feed and move into the swim and chase out the silvers...
i fish a pellet approach on my local river ribble but although small chub and roach can be hammering the loose feed the barbel soon move them out....
i have a mix of 3. 4, 6 and 8mm dry halibuts plugging the big feeder with plain crumb and usually a drilled 14mm pellet that is glugged or a heavily glugged boilie on the hair....

i fish a running feeder rig. i have the bait on a hair and have a 5-10mm separation between hook and bait to help stop hooking of smaller nuisance fish. a size 10 hook and a 10lb bs hooklength of about 3ft usually does the trick.

make sure you have a well placed front rod rest with a deep V so the rod is secure, and a butt cup on a separate bankstick to hold the back of the rod down tightly.
set the drag or baitrunner to give line when pulled but always double chuck each cast or the rod will be gone.

 

[108831]

I've read many an article on touch legering for barbel and how many bites are not registered or struck at,imho striking at bites that are possibly not barbel is extremely detrimental to your chances of hooking barbel at all,not all bites wrap the rod round and without doubt we as anglers are being 'done' by pressured fish wanting a feed without being dragged out of the water,the belief that barbel are not hard to catch is only applicable where fairly large numbers of fish are present,having spent more hours than i'd like to admit to watching them,there are times when even fish feeding heavily can be very spooky,with or without lines in the water,with low water conditions(which we certainly have down here)multiplying their caginess...

 

[Jim Crosskey 2]

Also bear in mind that if you're feeder fishing with groundbait, you could an almighty swarm of minnows and bleak bashing away at the feeder to get the bait out... worth trying to notice if the taps and pulls die back a little during a single case, if so it's probably just that your feeder is now empty.

Single jags are probably best left, though I have had some surprises when I've hit a bite that looks like a series of tiny movements, only to find that I'm attached to a larger fish (chub or barbel) than I expected.

Certainly at the start of a feeder session, I like to get four or five feeders of bait in to the swim in fairly short order to get a bit of bait in. If you do the same, why not try hitting one of these indications? Worst case scenario, your reeling in nothing and getting some more bait out....

 

[108831]

My worry with that Jim is that after watching fish on clear waters striking without a good chance of hooking up spooks fish,especially barbel,as does casting,on larger more coloured rivers like the Thames,Trent,Severn etc you can't actually gauge the fishes response,another concern would be foul hooking with a mis-timed strike though.

 

[dave m]

This is my first season river fishing...
I have been fishing mostly pellet, and in some sessions i get frequent, taps, knock, small pulls etc. Tonight I fished the Severn at Bridgnorth and I got lots of these small bites.

following on from my previous post, i would suggest that as you are fishing for the barbel you will get the right type of proper bites [tap, tap, big pull > rod getting dragged in] once all the pieces of the jigsaw come together.

right river conditions, just after a slight rise, still carrying colour.
right location and pegs, i think most of the middle severn will be good barbel territory.
right method and application, 5-10 quick chucks of each rod with a well loaded feeder to get a stream of bait in the swim. repeat every 10-15 minutes until you get your first proper bites, then recast at least every 20-30 minutes.

 

[clutch]

Thanks for the advice chaps,

I just didn't know what these small knocks were and if anyone bothers with them, so that's sorted out that issue!

I have been catching reasonably well for my first season, 2-3 ish fish a session. Although, I had my first blank this week when the river was right down. Anyway, still lots to learn!

 

[108831]

I should be so lucky mate...:wh