Bait colour

[Mark Hooper]

I'll throw this one out there????
When using boilies do you think bait colour would make any difference in different light conditions.
Was just pondering it as years ago when I used to fish for carp I used to tip boilies with fake corn the best I found was green followed by white.
Now after talking to a bait Boffin about colour spectrums etc etc n blue is the last colour to disappear in water at a average of 12ft depth, first being red.
So blue baits were rolled and they worked a treat but blew after say 6 month.
So do you think there is place for standout baits in barbel fishing or not
Maybe just hookbaits only?????
Just a thought

Mark

 

[Derek Funcks]

MMmmmmm blue halibut pellets and matching paste.

 

[David Chant]

Random thoughts on bait colour for barbel.

I have always been under the impression that barbel rely more on scent and feel (hence the barbules) than they do on colour. That said, I would think that they would quickly become wary of bright or fluorescent colours and would associate then with danger if ever they are caught on one.

In many rivers and streams one is usually not fishing deeper than say 4 to 6 feet. I am not a scuba diver so I don't know for certain but I expect that most colours are still discernible to some degree at those depths. Deeper than that I would think that the light levels fade so most colours would appear to be one shade of grey or another. As I say, I have no direct experience of these things and stand to be corrected, but I imagine that on the deepest part of our deepest rivers it would be a bit like watching a black and white film.

In conclusion, I would concentrate on getting the bait to smell and feel properly and, as long as the bait is not going to stand out on the river bed, not worry too much if it is dark red or dark green.

 

[Darren George]

When barbel are feeding on the bottom, they suck in items, sort out and eject any inedible bits, chew and swallow remaining food items.

That being the case, why, on some days in some conditions, should bait size be of importance? For instance, a few years ago I had found that on bright days resorting to small pellets can bring results when larger baits fail, even where natural prey items are large.

One possibility is that vision is more important - when vision is viable - than perhaps we think?

 

[Andrew Boyne]

So do you think there is place for standout baits in barbel fishing or not

Mark

Yes, if you are fishing lightly fished waters or where it has not been done before. They will blow over time though - think sweetcorn or meat, both bright baits that barbel become suspicious of if used intensly. Darren raises a good point regarding size though - a small bright spot may be attractive, a large bright bait may not.

 

[Fraser Glover]

I've experimented a bit this season with this, and have had some success (both barbel & chub) on boilies tipped with both yellow, & fluorescent pink, stops. Whether it makes any difference or not is another question...........!

 

[David Gauntlett]

I think a lot depends on the type of water you are fishing. If you are fishing a high stock river, a look at the many bits of underwater footage available will tell you that barbel feeding competitively, where large numbers of fish are troughing anything they can find, then no. They are hoovering...interested only in swallowing any available food before their mates do.

On the other hand, on low stock rivers where you are contending with a few old, 'seen it all' big fish, who have time to examine everything....then any way you can think of to encourage them to want your bait has got to be worth a try.

Cheers, Dave.

 

[Derek Funcks]

Just dyed some prawns blue, and some yellow, gonna fish them on 2 seperate rods, let ya know what happens.

 

[Mark Hooper]

Totally agree with what everyone has said.
I think it may work in clear water say a small hookbait.
Just thought it may be a different as if you remember when plastic bright baits came out for carp people were like that will never work PLASTIC,but now over the years it's accounted for so many bream carp tench etc.
Are we as barbel anglers missing a trick here sticking with the usual bait approach?????
I wouldn't suggest dropping out a bed of bright baits but if you were bait up with a couple of baitdroppers of toned down usual boilies then had a bright boilie in the middle I think it would be interesting watching n gauging the reaction,would they bolt or would curiosity get the better of them?????

Just a thought really

Mark