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Barbel on the Bread

Nic Costar

Nic Costar

Senior Member
Is it rare to catch a barbel on bread ?

Will a barbel even take bread as a bait ?

Always wondered is it worth giving it ago at this time of the year when the temperatures drop ?

If so, whats the best tactic ?

Nic
 
I'm sure Martin James will be along to share some tips on Bread, me I'd fish a quality boilie wrapped in paste:)
 
I have caught Barbel from the Wharfe on bread in the summer in the evening since pellet and boily have come to the fore never tried it since. I could be missing a trick.

Brian
 
I've got a photo somewhere of a nice double from the upper Severn I took on bread, and I also had a smaller Barbel off some fast broken water on the Middle, while freelining for Chub, with floating crust.
The Barbel took the bread right off the top.....

Steve
 
I`ve hooked a number of Barbel on bread over the years & always when I had thought the water temp was to cold for Barbel & I was targeting Chub . As this has happened to me on the Kennet, Dorset Stour & the West Sussex Rother , surely there must be some mileage in using bread deliberately for Barbel !
 
FIRST barbel I ever caught took . . . a piece of breadcrust! In the 40 years since then I've never had another barb on bread, despite using the bait extensively, for other species, on rivers with plenty of barbel around. So no, I don't think it merits any special attention as a barbel bait. Having said that, bread is a supremely useful bait since almost every species will accept it at some time or other.
 
Used to pick them up regularly on the Kennet at Hambridge during the summer.

Used to wander about looking for fish, once found the Barbel would often take a small piece of flake on a size 10 or a small lob when they would shy away from boilie pellet or meat, often during the hottest part of the day.

The rig I used was well complex, hook tied on to a 6-8lb hooklength, then a BB, AAA or Swan shot depending on flow.
Then free line the bait through the swim.

To be honest I have had far more Barbel on Maggot, Caster, Worm, Bread, Tares, Elderberry and Hemp than I ever have on Boilies or Pellets.

I have used Meat a lot, but then again I have also done well on raw Sausage and Belly of Pork too!!

I even had one on a red Rosehip too.

There are so many baits worth a try, you might be surprised if you try something a bit different!!
 
I reckon the bottom line is that barbel will eat pretty much anything that comes along . I have caught them on breadflake , black slug and worm cocktail [ nice ] , dead minnows , I don't think there is anything they wont have a shufty at is it passes before them
 
I've caught barbel on bread since the 1950's, It wasn't only me that was catching on bread, Len Arbery and his mates have caught barbel on bread since the 60's and they still do to this day. I well remember some years ago when Alan Roe joined me on the River Teme, I put him in a hot area with 2 loaves of bread. Lunch time arrives Alan turns up. "Asking if we were going up the pub for lunch" I said "Yes, how many barbel have you had". His answer was nil, not a bite. Are you using bread I asked? No, then that's why your not catching. At the time I was tying on a new hook after losing a fish in a snag.
Having done that I tore off a piece of crust from a fresh loaf, to bait the hook. Alan said "You don't have to put bread on the hook just because of me". My answer was "Its the only bait I have". Having dropped the bait alongside the sedges, I waited all of thirty seconds before I hooked another barbel. Since then Alan has caught barbel on bread, as many other anglers have done. Dick Walker said " A fish will eat anything unless its taught not too" Bread is just another successful bait. As are pellets, boilies, worms, gentles, sausage paste, cheese and many other food items. As with all baits I reckon the more confidence you have the better will be your results. Its not the best or worse bait. Its just another food item that barbel like. Regards Martin
 
Many thanks for the replies ;)

Interesting, so it's not a myth then Barbel will take bread :)


But will barbel take a bread bait at this time of the year when the waters freezing ? surely a barbel ain't going to chase a moving bait :confused:
 
A work colleague and i used to nip to a free stretch during the lunch hour and while he went and got two lagers i would have a few casts for the resident barbel. I was struggling to get any interest at all while bouncing meat or corn along the bottom when my work mate appeared with the cooling lagers, 'Any barbel?', 'Not a sniff', i replied. 'You need a piece of crust!', he proclaimed while puting together his rod and baiting with a large lump of crust. His crust had not travelled more than 3 yards over the shallows before a strange looking fish came and sucked down the lot in one go. The culprit, a barbel of about 2lb!

I have also heard of good sized doubles falling to flake but these appear to be limited to where ducks and swans get fed. I wouldn't personally target them with bread where i fish at the moment but never say never!

Nic, i dont know if they would chase anything when it is very cold but by the law of averages, if you trot a swim enough times that has resident barbel, eventually you will drift a bait to its nose:cool:
 
My first EVER barbel - more years ago than I care to remember (twas a young teenager at the time) fell to trotted bread - was after chub but was well chuffed!


C.
 
All other members of the cyprinid family like it so there's no reason why not. It's just not used regularly as a bait so we don't hear stories of catches on bread.
 
caught a nice 7lber last aumtmn on my local stour on bread is quite slow would imagine be hard to cast and also keep on hook on bigger faster rivers like the severn
 
Try Mosella Magic Bread, can hair rig it with a bait band and stays on a long time, was dubious at first but now converted
 
Andrew Elliot said:
caught a nice 7lber last aumtmn on my local stour on bread is quite slow would imagine be hard to cast and also keep on hook on bigger faster rivers like the severn
Click to expand...

Bread stays very well on the hook Andrew, so long as it's neither too fresh(crust) or too stale(flake) A big piece of fresh flake will stay on the hook like glue, don't use too small a hook though.
 
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