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Natural baits

Alex Gowney

Alex Gowney

Senior Member & Supporter
It's quite rare on this forum to hear of people using natural baits for barbel. I had a video years ago that showed a well known angler catching a big double on a slug, I think it was on the Ouse. I have caught a fair few on lobworm over the years, even freelining on the Windrush for trout with lobworms I caught barbel, and that is a fast river so the worms were pretty high in the water. Anyone else rate lobworms or slugs highly? The big negative of course, is that everything that swims eats worms so swim disturbance is almost a given. And I have caught dozens of chub on slugs, but never a barbel, or anything else come to that.
 
Tried a slug once but no joy plus they are rank to mess with. I netted a muscle out the margins once and hair rigged the meat. Had one of the most violent takes Iv ever had. Nearly lost the rod and unfortunately lost the fish as it straightened my hook out. Similar result with a water snail except it snapped me off
 
Alex Gowney said:
It's quite rare on this forum to hear of people using natural baits for barbel. I had a video years ago that showed a well known angler catching a big double on a slug, I think it was on the Ouse. I have caught a fair few on lobworm over the years, even freelining on the Windrush for trout with lobworms I caught barbel, and that is a fast river so the worms were pretty high in the water. Anyone else rate lobworms or slugs highly? The big negative of course, is that everything that swims eats worms so swim disturbance is almost a given. And I have caught dozens of chub on slugs, but never a barbel, or anything else come to that.
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I've caught plenty of chub on slugs, freelined in streamy stretches mostly ..but never a barbel. Had a fair few barbel on lob though, always have them with me from November onwards. Bloody eels love them though, but they're not so active in winter.
 
Slugs were my main bait as a kid after meeting Charlie Landells on Britford in the 70's. He was the President of the chub study group before passing back in 2009. He would breed slugs and feed them melon to fatten them up. So effective was his cheap, mobile freelined slug method I used it for years from about 10 onwards. I never had a Barbel because the chub were on slugs so quickly and there were not many about. I seem to remember Stuart Morgan writing or talking about fishing Slugs. I think he used them as an intercept bait. Feeding an area above a shoal tucked away in snags and then placing a slug on the route the Barbel took to get to the feed. I find Barbel will pick up a well presented Lobworm even in cold conditions if put on their nose. Bounced down a drop off used to be very effective on the Kennet. The fact that most fish will take a lobworm is a bonus when its cold and you are struggling. Rather a bite and any fish than a blank and if the section does big perch or Chub all the better
 
I don't fancy handling slugs, but large snails are another matter. Basically a slug in a shell and the shell is a lot easier and nicer to touch than a slug. I hoik them out from under the lid of the compost bin and hook them whilst still in the shell. Then crush the shell a bit and cast in. The local supermarket also has cooked whelks and I'll buy a kilo of the smallest ones and keep them in the freezer. Sometimes I'll take half a dozen with me if the situation demands. They are drawn out using the point of a large hook and then threaded onto the shank.

Crayfish tails are also a good bait. You can't use crayfish as a bait, but if you break off the tail and shell it, the finished article looks like a prawn. So cooked prawns are also on the shopping list and find their way into the bait freezer.
 
Mark Swaby said:
Slugs were my main bait as a kid after meeting Charlie Landells on Britford in the 70's. He was the President of the chub study group before passing back in 2009. He would breed slugs and feed them melon to fatten them up. So effective was his cheap, mobile freelined slug method I used it for years from about 10 onwards. I never had a Barbel because the chub were on slugs so quickly and there were not many about. I seem to remember Stuart Morgan writing or talking about fishing Slugs. I think he used them as an intercept bait. Feeding an area above a shoal tucked away in snags and then placing a slug on the route the Barbel took to get to the feed. I find Barbel will pick up a well presented Lobworm even in cold conditions if put on their nose. Bounced down a drop off used to be very effective on the Kennet. The fact that most fish will take a lobworm is a bonus when its cold and you are struggling. Rather a bite and any fish than a blank and if the section does big perch or Chub all the better
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Slugs are one of the best chub baits for sure. I remember a day on the Cherwell at Northbrook many years ago when a friend came chubbing. We had slugs as the main bait and I said to him that all he would catch would be chub, nothing else eats slugs. His first fish was a perch... :(
 
The two I use most apart from worms are cockchafer grubs and whelks.


Cockchafer close up head.jpg



Isaac Walton mentions cockchafer grubs but he doesn't say whether he hair rigged them. With the larger ones I mount them like a wasp grub but with the smaller ones I just nick a fine wire hook through the side. Roach love them!


Whelks bait.jpg


As I said before I buy cooked whelks from the supermarket and put them in the freezer. These are large ones along with some luncheon meat that was unused and frozen for next time. I found that the smaller whelks worked just as well(k) as the large ones so now specifically ask for small ones. They are a lot tougher than mussels and stay on the hook for ages if not bothered by the fish. Carp, chub and barbel have a liking for these. If I could get fresh ones I would but we are too far from the coast for that.
 
Better to fish with Clive they taste like raw sewage , will be trying a black lug and squid cocktail next non sea fishing session .
 
Mike Hodgkiss said:
especially early season is a dead minnow .
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I’ve considered using Minnows early on in the season, but never got round to actually implementing it. I’ve heard of people catching on bleak and other small lives when targeting Perch too. Do you think Barbel actively seek smaller species (in a predatory way) or it’s a territorial response to do with spawning? Or a bit of both?
 
Alex Warren said:
I’ve considered using Minnows early on in the season, but never got round to actually implementing it. I’ve heard of people catching on bleak and other small lives when targeting Perch too. Do you think Barbel actively seek smaller species (in a predatory way) or it’s a territorial response to do with spawning? Or a bit of both?
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I believe that all fish are opportunist and predatory ... they'll avail themselves of whatever is at hand (well, fin 😆 ) I mean, flatfish are voracious predators, which to me is surprising.
 
Terry Simner said:
I believe that all fish are opportunist and predatory ... they'll avail themselves of whatever is at hand (well, fin 😆 ) I mean, flatfish are voracious predators, which to me is surprising.
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Yeah, I agree in principle and a Barbel’s natural diet is probably consists of a lot of loach, bullheads etc, but that is consistent with the hoovering and grubbing type feeding that we’re all familiar with. I can’t imagine them actively pursuing minnows and other small fish in a distinctly predatory manner, but maybe they do... Or maybe the minnows just get in the way when they’re rooting about.
 
Alex Warren said:
Yeah, I agree in principle and a Barbel’s natural diet is probably consists of a lot of loach, bullheads etc, but that is consistent with the hoovering and grubbing type feeding that we’re all familiar with. I can’t imagine them actively pursuing minnows and other small fish in a distinctly predatory manner, but maybe they do... Or maybe the minnows just get in the way when they’re rooting about.
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Three of the largest barbel recorded in France fell to lure anglers and in the UK salmon anglers regularly caught barbel bigger than the record whilst fly-fishing in the coarse fish close season. Given that the French lure fishing season commenced May 1st and that corresponds the UK coarse fish close season it might be that barbel predate minnows and other small fish to increase their protein content prior to spawning.
 
Clive Kenyon said:
Three of the largest barbel recorded in France fell to lure anglers and in the UK salmon anglers regularly caught barbel bigger than the record whilst fly-fishing in the coarse fish close season. Given that the French lure fishing season commenced May 1st and that corresponds the UK coarse fish close season it might be that barbel predate minnows and other small fish to increase their protein content prior to spawning.
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Interesting! Come to think of it, I watched a YouTube video sometime ago of a guy catching one on a mepps... Biologically speaking, they don’t really seem designed for it. A bit like the concept of them taking bait on the surface, which has been documented too.
 
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I tried these for the first time this year, lots of Chub bites, but only one small Barbel.
 
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