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boilies or bust

Neil Partridge

Neil Partridge

Senior Member
well ive just sorted everything out & im ready now (barring a flask & a few munchies) & ive decided to fish boilie all the while on the first day.
now as ive tried n tried to catch on one, so if i dont have a fish im gonna throw the bl**dy lot away:mad:
 
Neil Partridge said:
well ive just sorted everything out & im ready now (barring a flask & a few munchies) & ive decided to fish boilie all the while on the first day.
now as ive tried n tried to catch on one, so if i dont have a fish im gonna throw the bl**dy lot away:mad:
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Save them for the Autumn.

Pile in the maggots. :)
 
simon,
thanks for that mate but regardless of the time of year every time i fish, (3 times a week at the very least) i still cant catch on one, its driving me around the twist
 
I've been using a certain type of boilie for the past couple of seasons. For some strange reason they work very nicely on my local river Swale but aren't particularly good on the Trent. Other folks that I've given some to try have had more success with them on the Trent than I have.:(
 
martin,
all manner in every size 10-16mm, from banana nut, octoplus n squid,white shellfish to frienzy halibut, ive got loads n loads of them & tried them all.
its getting to be joke.
i took my nephew to the severn last year, he a carp boy, 1st time on the barbel & bang 2-8+s within his first 2 hours. that was on nash halibut frienzy
 
I'd find one you really have the most confidence in and stick to it. Then vary the size to suit the conditions. Don't think I'm saying don't use other non boilie baits, but if you're determined to use them stick to one. It cuts down on the variables.

I started last season on the backside team barbel after reading about them on here. When they arrived there was something I didn't like about them. Anyway used them for a trip and blanked. I just wasn't confident with them. Next trip out I used the same on one rod but tried a dynamite red fish on the other. I caught one fish and it was on the red fish. I had a bit more confidence in it even before fishing but that just upped it. I stuck to that one boilie and caught every trip.

I guess what I'm waffling on about is don't use a bait you have no confidence in. Boilies are convenient to use but it's not convenient to blank every time!

Finally look at your presentation. How could you refine it? What was your nephew doing you weren't? Being a carp boy maybe he was used to using them and his presentation was better. I think some people use a hook that's much too large when using boilies. I never go larger than a ten and my usual size is twelve. If the hook's strong enough that should be fine.
 
Neil Partridge said:
well ive just sorted everything out & im ready now (barring a flask & a few munchies) & ive decided to fish boilie all the while on the first day.
now as ive tried n tried to catch on one, so if i dont have a fish im gonna throw the bl**dy lot away:mad:
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don't put all yer eggs in 1 basket, take some meat and pellets, change it if the boilies aint working.
 
martin
thanks mate, i am confident with them, ive seen umpteen fish caught on them, i actually gave my nephen the ones he caught on. i know the rigs etc. its just im going round the bend with not catching a barbel on one, i've caught carp, bream & chub on them, i had a bream on the severn at coalport on one whilst barbel fishing.

david
i will be taking other baits with me as ive decided now ive waited long enough to go it would be silly to use only one bait but ill give it a while before changing over though.
 
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A quality freezer bait should catch from the outset.
I would crush the shelf life for feed and use someting I know catches (See Hinders, Bankside, Nutrabaits or CCMoore catalogue for suggestions - plenty of barbel in their catalogues caught on their freezer baits).
A quick search through the Forum pages will produce many threads with suggestions on what catches.
I roll my own with baits tailored to certain rivers as I found slight tweaks to a specific recipe can produce better results.
 
Neil,

Don't put too much bait in with boilies in Summer. Single hooker (a half-boilie is good too) with a small pva mesh/bag. Short stiff, stealth hooklink (6" +/- last inch peeled back), short hair, strong sharp hook, 2 or 3oz lead, Bolt-rig/free-running, set your rod up at an angle to the bait, backlead and tighten up so the tip just curves. Set your clutch/baitrunner and wait.

If your watercraft is right, you should score.

I don't know what river you're on, but I've taken this to new rivers and caught once I've found the fish. the only thing is in clear conditions, they usually won't take boilie/pellet til dusk and the hour after.

That's why I'd fish maggot/hemp in the day if I wanted to catch, but didn't fancy waiting for hours and hours for a bite, particularly at the start of the season when you've got to get there early if you want a decent swim.

These days I don't bother with barbel til Autumn, which cuts a lot of expense (and waiting!) out. :)
 
No worries mate. I'm not necessarily the right person to take advice from, my catches hardly set the world alight!

I would say that it's unnecessary to go for a freezer bait if you want immediate results. Apart from the Team Barbel I've never had any trouble catching barbel instantly on a new shelf life. Who knows, if I tried freezer baits instead my catch rates might rocket. I'm a bit doubtful about that though.

I do tend to stick to dynamite's range after doing well on them a few years ago so I can't comment on other brands.
 
There,s so much choice, find one you have confidence in and stick to it, be aware that manufacturers do change recipes, making apparently the same bait, but with different ingredients to cut costs usually, but it can make what was a killing bait into yet another also ran, rarely improving it!!!
if all else fails, spam stays the same, so does sweetcorn!
peter
 
If you can find it , cheesy spam , or the now ultra scarce garlic spam . Best of all early season ,worms , they are switched on to them all the year round , however so are eels , perch , tommys , ......
 
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