• You need to be a registered member of Barbel Fishing World to post on these forums. Some of the forums are hidden from non-members. Please refer to the instructions on the ‘Register’ page for details of how to join the new incarnation of BFW...

Hemp and caster

Rob Hilton said:
£18 a gallon in t'frozen North!
Click to expand...

Don't rub it in Rob :D Down here, beyond Watford, where civilisation starts :p It's about £24 a gallon minimum for maggots, £32 for casters. Don't know what you lot moan about, you earn roughly the same as us (Central London apart) but get everything cheaper....you even get your houses half price :eek: Not that I am jealous like :D:eek::D

Cheers, Dave.
 
David Gauntlett said:
Don't rub it in Rob :D Down here, beyond Watford, where civilisation starts :p It's about £24 a gallon minimum for maggots, £32 for casters. Don't know what you lot moan about, you earn roughly the same as us (Central London apart) but get everything cheaper....you even get your houses half price :eek: Not that I am jealous like :D:eek::D

Cheers, Dave.
Click to expand...

Ssshhhh Dave! We don't a mass exodus from South of Watford!

By the way, £13 a gallon for maggots! The barbel fishing ain't so bad either!!
 
Rob Hilton said:
Some good points above but I'd disagree that the method is non-selective. Sure, you'll get all sorts of species eating your loosefeed, but the way the hookbait is presented for me is what makes it selective.
The stretch of Trent I'm fishing is like an aquarium for all species - hoardes of roach, dace, bleak, chub, perch and bream as well as the barbel. Sure, I hook the odd roach and chub, but the barbel outnumber them about 50-1 in terms of fish hooked!

I would totally agree that for low stock density rivers, it is an expensive way of fishing and not one that I'd use blind in the hope barbel were in the area - thats where watercraft comes in. That said, it is still deadly effective even if fishing for small groups of fish.
Click to expand...
Take your point Rob . If there are barbel in your swim using this method can be devastatingly effective , the barbel will by and large push the other 'nuisance' species out of the way so to speak . However while you are waiting for the barbel to arrive / start noshing ,the 'nuisances' will muller your hookbait unless of course you are using artificials which it appears many anglers do . Bottom line is , mass feeding like this is well worth it if there are barbel present or in close proximity , if not you are just feeding a load of different species fish that you may not want to catch , if you are going to adopt this approach hemp and tares may be a cheaper option , it has a similar effect on barbel as maggots and casters.
 
This thread is fantastic! I'm going to give this a go on the Wey when I have some holiday in a couple of weeks time. I can sort out the rigs (inline feeder + short (fluorocarbon) hook-link), and maybe guess at the hook size / type.

One thing I'm not sure about - the river is quite coloured, so it is not easy to find gravel-based swims. I know some swims where barbel have been caught before, but I don't really want to go there - there is miles of river to go at.

Does it have to be a gravel-type swim? I guess not but with £30 odd of bait at stake, I don't want to bait-drop into a pointless area.
 
Gravel bottom is not a pre requisite , if it was half the rivers in England that contain barbel would be a no go . Just find out where they are , or think they are and go for it :D
 
Hugh Bailey said:
This thread is fantastic! I'm going to give this a go on the Wey when I have some holiday in a couple of weeks time. I can sort out the rigs (inline feeder + short (fluorocarbon) hook-link), and maybe guess at the hook size / type.

One thing I'm not sure about - the river is quite coloured, so it is not easy to find gravel-based swims. I know some swims where barbel have been caught before, but I don't really want to go there - there is miles of river to go at.

Does it have to be a gravel-type swim? I guess not but with £30 odd of bait at stake, I don't want to bait-drop into a pointless area.
Click to expand...

Hi Hugh,
Nice to see such enthusiasm !
I've already stated that I'm a lifelong fan of H & C and have also fished the Wey for many years.
The river is euthropic for most of the year, leading to algal blooms which prevent you from spotting too many fish, and as you mentioned, can make it difficult to choose a swim, especially if you are new to a particular stretch.
Out of the 12 miles of Wey bank that I fish, less than a tenth has a population of barbel great enough to use 30 quids worth of bait blind.
The barbel in the other 9/10 th's can be nomadic and are thin on the ground.
It really is a case of rivercraft and experience on these stretches of river.
The Wey is full of Ribbon weed, sadly, as the Ranunculus has long gone except at the top end and a few other isolated spots. Ribbon weed gathers silt and can be hard to spot in deeper coloured water.
I would certainly make sure that I picked a clear swim with a known resident head of barbel close by before using H&C.

All the best
dt;)
 
I've used hemp and maggots/casters in the past to great effect when on numbers of fish, but just can't afford to be shelling out that kind of money on a regular basis. These days I tend to use hemp and crumbled boilies, with a mini boilie on the hair. If you're going to spend £30 on bait, you've got to be 100% sure you're on fish.

Nick C
 
£30 is crazy money for a bait for just a session, no matter how good it might be, why not persevere with micro pellets or tares as previously suggested?
 
Neil Smart said:
£30 is crazy money for a bait for just a session, no matter how good it might be, why not persevere with micro pellets or tares as previously suggested?
Click to expand...

I guess what's crazy to some isn't to others. I bet my bait bill per match is close to that + entry fees on top of that etc.... People will spend what they can afford to at the end of the day. Maggots, casters and worms are fantastic baits though, and I certainly wouldn't show up without them. They've got me an envelope or two this season already!
 
Yes Neil, you can certainly be accused of buying your fish I suppose, but it is a combination that seems to push all the right buttons for barbel.
I would use 5 of caster and 3 of hemp on the Avon which is nearer the 20 quid mark, but still enough!
Even the magic hemp alone does'nt seem to always have the same pull as it once did on some occasions. When a hemp ban was being enforced on the Throop years ago I often sneaked a pint in a cloth bag along with me.
A couple of Thamesly baitdroppers into the swim would have an almost instantaneous effect on the barbel, same on the Royalty.
Maybe that was down to sheer numbers of fish present at that time, or the fact that they were'nt seeing gallon after gallon heaved in the river.
I think barbel get a little full on some pellets when used in large amounts, unlike caster or maggots which will leave the fish wanting more when an angler happens to fish the same swim the following day...subjective maybe.
Maybe the comparative high price is a reason we no longer witness so many anglers trotting for barbel,..always a great way to catch them throughout the day armed with a gallon or so.
I don't think the price of casters or maggots have risen above inflation over the years, but we have become accustomed to cheap pellets which are a damn site easier to keep and are ready to use as and when.
All the best
dt:)
 
Dave never posts anything but good sense in my opinion, but I have to agree with Neil: £30 is crazy money for a bait for just a session, no matter how good it might be, why not persevere with micro pellets or tares as previously suggested?

One permit I bought, i thought, in indulgence, for the year cost £30, and it felt like I was spoiling myself - it makes no sense to me whatsoever to spend that kind of money on one do or die day, feels a bit desperate really. Chucking money in the water. I reckon it's still a case of sticking a nice bit of bait in the right spot and then watching the day go by.

Zzzzzzzz ! Way to go happy!
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top