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Best winter baits.

Jon Young

Jon Young

Senior Member
Sorry if threads been done to death in past but what baits do you guys go for over the winter?
I don't fish a great deal for barbel over the winter because I'm a funny one when it comes to being hot/cold so generally stay in the comforts of my home in the winter. Used to fish for carp in winter before dropping off the sydi I was on but doing that my tactics didn't really differ from the summer except for less free bait.
Most of the joy I've had with barbel in winter has come from lobs/maggots combo but not the cheapest and easiest option if you just decide to get up and go fishing.
Pretty much used meat as bait since a member on here advised me on another forum of how he was targeting the big girls in the summer. Works a treat In summer but do you guys stick to meat or switch to boilies or paste or other?
Obviously I'm not after your secret baits/tactics but just after your opinions and suggestions on what's worth trying.
Cheers
Jon
 
Lobbies work well for me when there's a couple of feet on. Big lump of garlic spam in the slack water too.
 
Brought myself 23 tins of garlic spam the other week. I do like the lobs but just not really practical for me in a last minute decision to fish situation.
To be fair I've been a bit lazy lately. Had a few good chances to get out for few hours but just couldn't be bothered in the end. Just hate it when them temps start to drop. Takes me too much motivation to get out. Always love it when I do though. You get the nice slippery banks now the rivers dropping for me to slip on my arse
 
Like you I do not fish as much as I should when it gets cold. The banks of the Yorkshire Derwent get really slippery, that's my excuse.
I buy cheap luncheon meat in tins, cut the contents into 3 big pieces put in a plastic bag with a teaspoon of garlic powder and a teaspoon of sausage sizzle.
Give it a shake and put in the freezer. The flavours get absorbed. Then just get a couple of bags out the night before and you are ready to go.
Cheap, smelly and effective.
 
Lobbies USED to work well for me, but since the crays became the new river bed on my river, you may as well throw an empty hook out to start with...cos it would be within about thirty seconds anyway :mad:

Now, garlic spam is what does the job. It gets whittled away for sure, but a big enough lump can last a surprisingly long time and smells strongly in high water.

Unfortunately, you do get a lot of false bites if crays are an issue, so it's a bit like big bream fishing in a lake...you have to sit on your hands and wait until something dramatic happens bite wise.

Cheers, Dave.
 
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For me when the weather is mild like it is at the moment, I stick to my summer bait but less free offerings more smelly ground bait mixed with hemp & glug.
When the weather turns really cold & the water is low & clear flavoured maggots but when the water is up & coloured flavoured meat.
 
Hiya Jon,

Maggots and worm are my top scorer for winter when the river clears out a bit. Obviously when it's fills up it's usually back to a lump of flavoured meat with a very small stringer of freebies. You don't really want to be giving them much in the colder months which is where the calorific value of maggots help out.
If you can't be bothered with mucking around just stick a boilie wrapped in paste out and sit on your hands for a while.
No right or wrong approach really, you've just got to find a feeding barbel. Pack light and keep moving. I get bored and smoke far too many cigarettes when I'm just hanging around waiting for something to happen so like to keep moving...helps keep you warm too!
 
Summer baits work the same in winter except the flavour/smell leak off is less effective in colder water which is possibly why more visual baits like maggots work well. I haven't caught a barbel on bread but some people really rate it and it may be worth a go although I think if a barbel is feeding and confident it will pick up whatever is in front of it.
 
I have lots of opinions to night so I'll go for the cg74's chilli/ halibut and ellipse paste......going to try it tomorrow on the Cherwell, stole a bag of him a year a so back, defrosting now.
 
Jason Bean said:
I have lots of opinions to night so I'll go for the cg74's chilli/ halibut and ellipse paste......going to try it tomorrow on the Cherwell, stole a bag of him a year a so back, defrosting now.
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You obviously have more faith in it than he does Jase, seeing as he begged every scrap of T1 in my freezer not long ago :D
 
I thought I'd be a bit dynamic today and mixed some Krill powder with the hemp to bait up a favourite swim. I intended to fish krill boilies but in a weak moment opted for ' spam in a krill marinade' ( without the chips) when I eventually fished it later on.
I did end up with a couple of mid size barbel but the eels!
Note to the Anguilla Club,...give it a go ..they love it!:eek:
Couldn't really regard that as a winter trial though, I've fished colder evenings in August!
 
Simon Lush said:
You obviously have more faith in it than he does Jase, seeing as he begged every scrap of T1 in my freezer not long ago :D
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I would have begged the T1 if I had known you had some you didn't want Simon :D Not sure the stuff Bank Bug are going to produce after Mark's demise will be the Real McCoy. We shall see.

Cheers, Dave.
 
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