Baits (Please click the images for more information)
Baits are a subject which will forever be debaited, if you'll pardon the pun, throughout the land forever and a day! Many specimen anglers simply refusing to give away any 'trade secrets' to all but their closest allies. I will, however, explain the pro's and cons of many of my favourite baits whilst retaining the odd secret myself. You must bare in mind that whole books have been written on the subject, so I am just giving a brief overview.
Baits used will vary depending on the time of year, river conditions and indeed the river you intend to fish. For example, a large river like The Severn in full flood will produce little in the way of fish to a grain of sweetcorn, but a change to a larger, smellier bait such as meat or pellets may well reap rewards.
Most of my fishing experience has been on the River Severn, so this is the river most of my suggestions will be based upon. Although I am sure that these can be adapted to suit rivers the length and breadth of the country.
Below is the top section of my bait bucket - always take a selection!
Low Clear Rivers-
During the early season when the rivers are running low and the majority of the time clear, can be a tricky time for the Barbel angler. The Barbel may well be ravenous, so heavy feeding of groundbait is accepted as working well. You should be using a smaller bait in clear conditions, generally a 6-8mm pellet or boilie on a hair rig below a small hook. During the summer these should be high in oil to leak off flavour and give a good scent for the Barbs to follow. Barbel will be wary of a larger baits which stand out obviously from there natural foodsources.
You may also choose a few maggots or castors, which alot of people have great success with. I do find however that I am sometimes troubled by smaller nuisance fish.
In the colder months of November through till March the same theory
applies. The only difference being that any pellets or boilies should
be of the foodsource variety and based on a low oil mix.
A small pellet, presented in a band on a hair rig.  | A small pellet, presented on a straight hair held with a stop.  |
High Waters- In rivers that are containing more water than normal and probably carrying alot more colour, you can increase the size of your baits and think about using meat in its various forms. A Barbel will comfortably go for a 1/4 tin of spam directly on the hook or a larger pellet upto a monster 22mm! You can also use larger hooks and really be more crude in the methods you employ. When using meat it is important, in my opnion to use a quality brand, as they contain less fat and tend to lie on the bottom instead of float.
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I have found in the past that during high water, not much will surpass
a pellet or nice lump of meat glugged in something smelly (this is a secret I'll keep, but
look in your local shop!)
Warmer v's Colder weather.
As the seasons change, so must your approach to fishing for Barbel. During the hazy summer days and nights you may feed liberally to encourage fish into and around your chosen swim. The fish are very active when the water is warm, especially when there is some nice summer rain, providing more warm oxygenated water. During these periods are your best chances of catching without doubt. A nice load of rain coming from the South and falling pressure will undoubtedly do the trick!!During summer months it is best to go for 'high oil, high attract baits, but as the weather turns and the Barbel become lazy in the cold water you should be looking at 'food source, low oil pellets and boilies'
Below are some blast frozen food source boilies which can be what the Barbel are after.
Feeding time!!!
As we have previously discussed, feeding your swim can make or break your session. You have two main choices. The first is to feed with solid food type feed and the second is to create a cloud full of small particles.
The first I would definatley recommend in the warmer months when the river is at a normal level. It attracts and holds large numbers of fish in your swim. The more often you cast the better! The second one which creates a cloud of dusty smell and is often used in conjuction with a few pellets or hemp in a sandwich type thing used in the feeder.
The cloud of feed is produced by a method mix, which is very fine particle that are dampened. This is then packed around a weight or in an open ended feeder. It gradually breaks down, providing a scent trail but no actual food source.
A solid type feed is created by soaking halibut/trout pellets overnight in an amount of liquid equivalent to half the pellets i.e. 2 pints pellets + 1 pint liquid. You can easily add bait additives to the water to increase the smell factor! This can then be moulded around a method feeder or, as I do, compressed into an open ended feeder to gradually break down and be released.Both the above have been introduced to Barbel fishing, mainly by Carp anglers, but we must remember the traditional feeds of hemp and casters. Whenever I make up a groundbait mix, I will always add to it either a bag of casters or a bag of hemp! Often in crystal clear water, the only way to feed is pure hemp and casters on the hook.
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Be Patient!
Keeping a constant supply of food going into your swim is vital to attract and keep the fish in it. This should be done by casting regularly with your swimfeeder loaded up. At first you should aim to cast at least 8-10 times per hour for the first two hours. Building up a good bed of feed in the area you have chosen to fish. A really good way of creating a big bed of bait in warm weather is to introduce it with a large bait dropper. Before you intend to start fishing consider spending half an hour dropping out a couple of pints of hemp with a mixed assortment of hookbaits you may use. Now is the best piece of advice I could give............................WAIT!!!! For this to be effective, you must leave the swim pre-baited for at least half an hour!! This gives the Barbs time to gain confidence, feeding freely. For this reason, do not be suprised if your rod is pulled over almost immediately. Concentrate from the minute your first baited cast lands!
Below is my baitdropper loaded pellets. On the banks I would load it up with hemp and samples of my chosen hookbait, whether it be castors, pellets or boilies.
So here are a few basic guidelines -
1. High water - Larger smelly baits
2. Low water - Smaller baits/natural (maggots or castors)
3. Cold water - little or no feed
4. Warm water - feed more heavily.
