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bags or mesh on severn

the idea of the thread was to get larger freebies down to the fish, (boilies, pellets etc.) with a little more accuracy. i often use the feeder for other stuff.

as for the middle severn being a match venue: yes there are a few sections that are heaving with smaller fish & others (mainly where i go) that really only hold better fish if you want a 'proper-en' then you have to be a bit more patiant
 
I always prefer solid bags in running water, especially if it's a little deep, your certain the baits made it to the deck then...
 
The people who think the middle Severn is a "match venue" full of "small" barbel, are fishing it wrong;-)

No, I'd say the middle Severn is rammed full of barbel from 4lb to 11lb, though I'd say very few go into double figures and 12lb+ is a real rarity.
Actually they are about match fodder size, IMO.:p I suppose because I'm fishing it so wrongly, that's why the 'secret' 15lb+'ers elude me so....;):rolleyes:

Next I'll be getting told the middle Severn is a hard fishery.:rolleyes::D
 
Do you think less of a splash is really an advantage ? I mean bait droppers have been used for years with success and they make much more disturbance than a couple ounce feeder. And not wishing to irritate you by using a DVD "in order to prove a point" but there's a bit of footage on I think it was barbel days and ways showing Chub and Barbel coming onto the feed very quickly with the bait dropper still being cast in.

PVA = waste of time and money on middle Severn.

Hmm Sam - no need to be facetious. I'm sure there are bits of footage (somewhere) that can prove any point.... Perhaps the fish don't necessarily associate a baitdropper with getting caught, as they might with a feeder? Just a thought......

But as we're talking about the Middle Severn, I may well be wrong.
 
Back in the day when the river was matched fished allot the old timers used to refer to the splash of the feeder as 'ringing the dinner bell'.
The fish on the match lengths definitely knew what was going on and it was not unknown for the barbel to grab the feeder on the drop and shake it to get at the contents. Allot of the match lads started putting an elastic band round the feeder and tucking the baited hook under it to take advantage of these greedy feeders.
 
Colin - IMO pva mesh makes less of a splash, if one can bear the cost (I think it's worth it). Also, feeders tend not to last long, smashing against gravel, rocks, etc....

Joe - apologies if I misunderstood. I just get irritated when DVDs are quoted in order to prove a point. :)


This seems to be in contrast to what you were advising on here last year Rich, Do you remember this?

Old 10-01-2010, 12:11
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Richard Parsons Richard Parsons is online now
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Hi John,

The tactics you use on the Tame will be fine for the Goyt bullets - try a boilie or pellet with an open-ended swimfeeder stuffed with damp 3/4mm pellets and hemp. Find a bit of slack deeper water (winter) or anywhere (summer) and you should pick up the odd fish. that, I think, is all you can expect on the Goyt. There are some lovely fish, and they're well worth the wait (not too long for you, I hope )....
__________________
Cheers, Rich
 
When i used too fish the Severn you wouldent go far wrong using the feeder, but you were mainly catching the smaller Barbel in their large shoals say up to 9lb and occansionally 10lb..If your setting your stall to catch the bigger girls 11lb+ i found firstly generally speaking the bigger Barbel were not with the big shoals and alot of the time they were very close in and out of the main centre channel..I think if you want too target the bigger Barbel then the pva mesh route is probably the better option but locating the bigger ones is the hardest and most important factor to consider..Yes the middle Severn is starting to produce some big Barbel with 14lb fish being caught most seasons, but if you want to fish exclusively for the bigger ones then you must start looking towards the lower severn around worcester simply because there are not so many small Barbel in big shoals..When i used too fish the lower Severn i had some very big Barbel from down there but i also had alot of blanks and the best route was too reguarly prebait a few swims and fish them and yes at times you start to question yourself especially when your not catching for weeks and weeks, but then when you get that big Barbel all the blanks become a distant memory..;)
 
Hmm Sam - no need to be facetious. I'm sure there are bits of footage (somewhere) that can prove any point.... Perhaps the fish don't necessarily associate a baitdropper with getting caught, as they might with a feeder? Just a thought......

But as we're talking about the Middle Severn, I may well be wrong.

How is that being facetious ? You said it irritates you :confused:

Fish hear the splash and to them it's a dinner bell. Thousands of fish are caught every year on the feeder, if fish were that spooky people wouldn't use the method would they ? Because it wouldn't be effective.

Personally I don't think fish are as clever as some people seem to think. All this Carbology doesn't appeal to me personally :)
 
I want to know: when did barbel fishing become such a complex task?

Yes I know many waters are suffering from poor stocks and others are subjected to high levels of angling pressure but this doesn't really apply to the Middle Severn, much of the Teme and Wye.

So on these prolific stretches, why the heck over complicate things?

What are "match tactics"?

And for gods sake don't tell me barbel are intelligent, clever or clued up, as that'd be more a reflection of your mental capacity than owt else!
 
Hi men,

If after all the expert advice on here you find they are a waste of time / hopeless , send them to me , I like wasting time:D.

Hatter
 
To be honest, going back to my first comment, it would probably be cheaper/easier/quicker to use PVA nuggets for masking the hook with hair rigs. That's what I'll be doing this season anyway :)
 
You started it Colin, you tell us!

I can see your point regards bigger baits but IMO the Middle Severn is a match fishery (fish being small and numerous), best fished with a match styled approach, again, simples innit.....:D:D

The vast majority of barbel anglers targeting the bigger fish generally avoid feeder tactics, so are you saying they're all wrong?
 
Sam
PVA nuggets are a complete waste of time in running water.They will just float in the current until it drops off and then your rig could end up anywhere..
 
When i used too fish the Severn you wouldent go far wrong using the feeder, but you were mainly catching the smaller Barbel in their large shoals say up to 9lb and occansionally 10lb..If your setting your stall to catch the bigger girls 11lb+ i found firstly generally speaking the bigger Barbel were not with the big shoals and alot of the time they were very close in and out of the main centre channel..I think if you want too target the bigger Barbel then the pva mesh route is probably the better option but locating the bigger ones is the hardest and most important factor to consider..Yes the middle Severn is starting to produce some big Barbel with 14lb fish being caught most seasons, but if you want to fish exclusively for the bigger ones then you must start looking towards the lower severn around worcester simply because there are not so many small Barbel in big shoals..When i used too fish the lower Severn i had some very big Barbel from down there but i also had alot of blanks and the best route was too reguarly prebait a few swims and fish them and yes at times you start to question yourself especially when your not catching for weeks and weeks, but then when you get that big Barbel all the blanks become a distant memory..;)

Craig, you echoed my thoughts there.

Though when on the lower I'd still avoid using pva unless trying to mask my hook. Typical lower Severn scenario; nearside margin 10' deep in normal conditions, river 10' up, so 20' to get your pva down, so with the flow and depth by the time your rig had hit the bottom and settled/straightened, the pva is long gone.
 
Sam
PVA nuggets are a complete waste of time in running water.They will just float in the current until it drops off and then your rig could end up anywhere..

Would they float with a piece of shot just above the hook ? Pop-up style. I'd only use them to mask the hook not as an indicator to where I am.
 
Craig, you echoed my thoughts there.

Though when on the lower I'd still avoid using pva unless trying to mask my hook. Typical lower Severn scenario; nearside margin 10' deep in normal conditions, river 10' up, so 20' to get your pva down, so with the flow and depth by the time your rig had hit the bottom and settled/straightened, the pva is long gone.

But for those hell-bent on using PVA doesn't making mesh ones up with an oily mix and leaving them a while increase the melt time ? Think I saw it on a Korda DVD. That was stick mixes though thinking about it. Oh well the idea's there :eek:
 
I used to thread my pva sticks down the hooklength with short hooklengths so the weight of lead took everything down also my pva sticks had plenty of oil in them so as to make the breakdown time longer..In floodwater i used method feeders with the hook buried in the method mix, caught me some very nice fish using this method in floods..Believe it or not some of lower Severn stretches have ledges down the side averaging 5 to 7ft some times even shallower..The shallow ledges produced some very big Barbel for me but they took a hell of lot of work to find them!!!..I was convinced the bigger Barbel were feeding on these shallow ledges and my hunch paid off with several very big Barbel gracing my net..Some of them i was catching on cat fish sized baits fished over large beds of hemp and small pellets even in daytime with the sun blazing..;)
 
Sam,

Those nuggets are no good for the river mate and would take too much weight on your hooklength to get it too sink quickly..Pva sticks with plenty of oils is what i would suggest Sam..
 
Sam,

Those nuggets are no good for the river mate and would take too much weight on your hooklength to get it too sink quickly..Pva sticks with plenty of oils is what i would suggest Sam..

Thanks mate, I'll give that a try next time instead of bags when I'm fishing in weed :)
 
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