Boilies or Paste ?

[Paul Deans]

Is there any point in boiling baits rather than just using the boilie paste as feed and hook bait?
We tend not to leave a bait out for hours when barbel fishing, and the paste that I use seems to last a couple of casts with ease.
Also in boiling cant the bait loose some of its ability to attract or leak attraction.

Just some thoughts!

 

[Bob Gill]

Depends to a certain extent on the fishing conditions and whether crayfish, minnows and other critters that want to whittle away your bait are active. In such conditions (and others) I use a boiled bait (sometimes shaved) with a paste wrap - more attraction with something more likely to be left on the hook.
Cheers
Bob

 

[Paul Deans]

Thank you for your reply Bob.
The boilie thread running at present certainly has brought up some interesting views.

For my own education Bob, your views on the following would be most interesting.

I have in the distant past used trigga boilies, which the chub seemed to find irresistible apart from that pellet and paste.

I have a sample of the sticky baits krill in a dumbbell shape, and quite fancied having a pop with these plus the paste, or paste on its own.
Is this bait used much for barbel, or is it still quite new on the scene as regards acceptance or being judged on results ?
Again, thank you for your reply.

 

[Bob Gill]

Paul - Trigga Boilies and paste will catch barbel no problem. I personally prefer the Trigga Ice version which can be used for all year round - no doubt the ordinary Trigga will catch but having a version which is optimised for colder conditions saves having a change.. Used this bait to great effect in the past and on waters where I've used it has been instant.

One of my fishing mates uses Sticky Baits Krill in all forms (usually paste wraps) and has caught quite a few barbel on it.

There are a few other consistent catchers.
Hope this helps,
Cheers
Bob

 

[Paul Deans]

Once again Bob, thank you very much for taking the time to reply, you are "old school" Also, you built the most beautiful pair or rods for my fishing mate Andy from Knaresborough maybe two years ago now. All being well I shall be in contact for one myself before the end of the summer. Pure craftsmanship.

 

[Mark Swaby]

Paul after catching Barbel for nearly 40 years, i still cannot answer that question,it can come down to what the fish want on the day.If you fish two rods,one on paste the other on boilie from the same mix, one day all the fish you catch will be on the boilie rod,another day every fish will come to the paste rod,even if you move the rods around.Its what makes fishing more interesting,if we knew all the answers the fish would be too easy and we would soon get bored.I tend to use very soft boilies and always have a small amount of paste with me as a change.

 

[Andrew Boyne]

Trigga is a Chub magnet! Like Bob I prefer Trigga Ice for Barbel, used all year round. Got on to Sticky Bait's Krill last season and had my best season ever in terms of numbers of fish per session - really rate it as a Barbel bait. Prefer to fish paste as a hookbait rather than a boilie but we don't have crayfish issues here yet.

 

[Paul Deans]

Thanks Andrew, that gives me a bit of confidence and I need it! Question if I may, do you feed boilies crushed, whole, or feed pellet with a boilie hook bait ? Also, an opinion, if the fish haven't seen/fed on a boilie before, do you need to pre bait ?

 

[Andrew Boyne]

Hi Paul, If the swim I'm fishing is within range of a bait dropper I'd feed mainly hemp with just a few hookbait samples in each dropper load. Out of dropper range I'd fish a groundbait feeder with a few hookbait samples trapped between the groundbait. If fishing boilie I have most confidence in small baits, Trigga Ice 10mm or Sticky's 12mm Krill. To present a similar sized paste bait I hair rig a piece of Enterprise mini corn on a short hair and wrap the paste over it. A bit of cork or similar would do the same job. No need to pre bait as both have instant attraction.