Bulk halibut pellets

[Paul Rogers]

At least pellets were designed as fish food. Maggots, hempseed, luncheon meat etc were definitely not. Surely, chucking in a kilo of pellets is far better for the fish than a gallon of maggots or hemp (or a couple of tins of meat).

I shall continue to use pellets (catching plenty of barbel)

and if you have no idea of how many fish are in front of you! then you will be leaving a large amount of bait which has the rsik of going off. Small low stocked fisheries are not the place to heap in pellets. It spoils everyone's fishing.

 

[Clive Kenyon]

I think that many anglers don' t understand that pellets were designed for fish farming, not angling. The ingredients of the pellet is purely to achieve maximum growth quickly at the cheapest price AND for fish that have no other food supply. The 35% protein content is way above what fish encounter in a natural situation.

 

[Alex Dalton]

I think that many anglers don' t understand that pellets were designed for fish farming, not angling. The ingredients of the pellet is purely to achieve maximum growth quickly at the cheapest price AND for fish that have no other food supply. The 35% protein content is way above what fish encounter in a natural situation.

And salmon farms in Scottish lochs always have a large area where their is no life around them from what the fish excrete , makes me wonder when the Trent staycation brigade are piling in the bait

 

[Gerry Giles]

And salmon farms in Scottish lochs always have a large area where their is no life around them from what the fish excrete , makes me wonder when the Trent staycation brigade are piling in the bait

WHAT ???
every time I have been to Ullerpool in Scotland I take my inflatable and drift alongside the cages and its a massive hotspot not only are the escaped fish hanging around for feed time all the rockling cod are there if you can get to them thru the hoards of mackerel that is
I have never failed to catch my dinners in an hour of drifting its a food magnet for all the fish in the area after the feed that drops thru the cages the EXACT opposite of what you THINK is the situation


some of the comments on this thread are just laughable melodramatic tosh !!!

 

[Clive Kenyon]

WHAT ???
every time I have been to Ullerpool in Scotland I take my inflatable and drift alongside the cages and its a massive hotspot not only are the escaped fish hanging around for feed time all the rockling cod are there if you can get to them thru the hoards of mackerel that is
I have never failed to catch my dinners in an hour of drifting its a food magnet for all the fish in the area after the feed that drops thru the cages the EXACT opposite of what you THINK is the situation


some of the comments on this thread are just laughable melodramatic tosh !!!

Aren't those cages situated in the mouth of the bay north of Ullapool? It seems to be the farms situated in lochs where there aren't sufficient tidal currents to disperse the waste. WWF and other reputable organisations have flagged concerns for this situation.

 

[Rich Lowe]

Rich; no the fish farmers wouldn't be out of business; just make less profit. And saying it isn't harmful; have you not seen the pictures of the salmon or trout etc in the cages.

Hi Paul,

I said if used in sensible amounts and stored correctly I think they are safe. I fish the Dee and the Severn, and probably use 3-4 handfuls of pellet on an average day session.

You mentioned farmed salmon reared in cages, I totally agree, its not good. On the rare occasion we buy salmon we try to avoid farmed fish. Out of curiosity a quick Google search shows that the average salmon consumes about 2% of its body weight per day in pellets. Their usually culled around the 5.5kg mark, so based on this each fish could be consuming around 100g of pellet per day.

There's a salmon farm near Norway apparently that houses up to 200,000 fish in a farmed pen. Maths was never my strong point, but I recon that's around 20 tonne of feed per day!! Their waste alone can't be good for the environment - Scary stuff

I'm pretty certain my 3-4 handfuls once a week isn't going to cause any issue. Some could argue we are part of the global problem by buying pellet, and I accept that, but used sparingly I honestly don't see an issue using them on the venues I fish.

All the best

 

[Jim Ufton]

So chucking in processed pig is ok then,,,,,,,,

 

[Stephen Crowhurst]

I think the idea of blaming hali pellets is a bit like blaming the issues around battery hens on layers pellet. The intensity of the farming and its effect from pathogen to nutrients is a result of practice.

Speaking from decades of fish keeping frozen (ie natural feed) is to condition or solve picky eating. It’s filled with nutrients like Phosphate but it’s nutrient poor in other areas. I’ve got a far better prospect of a healthy fish that not just eats but maintains body weight feeding pelletised feed.

At the end of the day, wether it’s pets or fishing were all just piggy backing off the expensive R&D that goes into aquaculture to put food on the table.

 

[Paul Rogers]

So chucking in processed pig is ok then,,,,,,,,

The difference is Jim; luncheon meat; if again used sensibly; only 6oz of meat used in a day; not kilos of the pellets

 

[Clive Kenyon]

Stephen, what you say is true for your situation. You pick the pellets that maintain the health of the fish over time. Same with the analogy of layer's pellets. Halibut pellets were never designed for the use that anglers put them to. They are designed for young fish that have no other means of food to grow as quickly and cheaply as possible. Given that most pellets are likely to be used for older, mature fish it is not representative of their dietary needs. Which can be seen from some of the photos of giant carp captures. And from the shorter life that these fish have.

 

[Paul Rogers]

I think the idea of blaming hali pellets is a bit like blaming the issues around battery hens on layers pellet. The intensity of the farming and its effect from pathogen to nutrients is a result of practice.

Speaking from decades of fish keeping frozen (ie natural feed) is to condition or solve picky eating. It’s filled with nutrients like Phosphate but it’s nutrient poor in other areas. I’ve got a far better prospect of a healthy fish that not just eats but maintains body weight feeding pelletised feed.

At the end of the day, wether it’s pets or fishing were all just piggy backing off the expensive R&D that goes into aquaculture to put food on the table.

Stephen; isn't it! the pellets are what create the waste produced by the farms; which if the information is correct... is what is killing the river Wye

 

[Paul Rogers]

Stephen, what you say is true for your situation. You pick the pellets that maintain the health of the fish over time. Same with the analogy of layer's pellets. Halibut pellets were never designed for the use that anglers put them to. They are designed for young fish that have no other means of food to grow as quickly and cheaply as possible. Given that most pellets are likely to be used for older, mature fish it is not representative of their dietary needs. Which can be seen from some of the photos of giant carp captures. And from the shorter life that these fish have.

Clive. Yes we can choose pellets that maintain health; used in the prescribed! levels. BUT, the shops selling pellets as bait don't care, nor do the anglers who wish to catch at any cost. Many anglers are not educated enough to store their bait pellets; particle etc;

 

[Jim Ufton]

Speak for yourself paul, if i use 6 feeders of pellet a session thats it, usually its two casts on each rod , just because others put loads in don,t tar everyone with tne same brush, and again with processed pig , how much "meat" forms part of what your putting in and how much is crap ,,,, 6oz times lots of anglers is is still lots of processed shite ,unless you think there's only you useing it,,,,,,,

 

[Jim Ufton]

Used sensibly works with pellet just the same,,,,,

 

[Stephen Crowhurst]

Stephen; isn't it! the pellets are what create the waste produced by the farms; which if the information is correct... is what is killing the river Wye

Literally chicken an egg though isn’t it. If you had 10 chickens per acre you could feed as much as you pleased, 10 per square meter, even under fed there producing too much waste. The animal is immaterial it’s the intensive nature of the activity.

In terms of excess nutrient input, farm run off and improper processing of sewage will make the feed input from anglers immaterial. Be interesting to compare a tonne of pellet with a discharge. I’m not saying it’s right, I’m just say that feed os feed it’s application that’s key and you want to concern yourself on something you’d be better focusing on the burning building than a match.

 

[Steve Lewis]

I think the "answer" to this, and what everyone - even those who are arguing discussing the point - is saying is that too much of ANY non-natural bait is "a bad thing".

As I said earlier in the thread, I've always only ever used a single piece of meat on the hook and only change it when it's gone or if it's been attacked by tiddlers - aside from anything else it's way too expensive to be using as loosefeed as well, but as a roving angler where I'll move to the next swim after 20-30 minutes using any kind of loosefeed or groundbait is an unnecessary waste in that situation (in my opinion). IF I was to decide to stay put in one swim, maybe two, all day then I'd still only be using a single piece of meat and would probs use maggots as loosefeed and maybe some kind of low-food groundbait purely as an attractant. Maybe - MAYBE - a handful of the tiny pellets every couple of hours.

I'm also one of those that subscribe to the idea that too much loosefeed, even during times when the fish are ravenous and in a feeding frenzy, reduces the chance of your hookbait being selected. Even if I could afford limitless pellets/boilies/whatever, I still wouldn't pile it in like most of the carp anglers tend to.

 

[Neil Sanger]

Hi Matthew i have always used these guys
https://bulkfishpellets.co.uk/

 

[Mike Hodgkiss]

Worms anyone ?

 

[Mark Kingston]

Worms anyone ?

I do eat too much and often have been told I must have worms. But nothing as of yet

 

[Mike Hodgkiss]

I think the "answer" to this, and what everyone - even those who are arguing discussing the point - is saying is that too much of ANY non-natural bait is "a bad thing".

As I said earlier in the thread, I've always only ever used a single piece of meat on the hook and only change it when it's gone or if it's been attacked by tiddlers - aside from anything else it's way too expensive to be using as loosefeed as well, but as a roving angler where I'll move to the next swim after 20-30 minutes using any kind of loosefeed or groundbait is an unnecessary waste in that situation (in my opinion). IF I was to decide to stay put in one swim, maybe two, all day then I'd still only be using a single piece of meat and would probs use maggots as loosefeed and maybe some kind of low-food groundbait purely as an attractant. Maybe - MAYBE - a handful of the tiny pellets every couple of hours.

I'm also one of those that subscribe to the idea that too much loosefeed, even during times when the fish are ravenous and in a feeding frenzy, reduces the chance of your hookbait being selected. Even if I could afford limitless pellets/boilies/whatever, I still wouldn't pile it in like most of the carp anglers tend to.

Sometimes I think Barbel angling is slowly going the way of Carp fishing where anglers are chucking in far too many free offerings than are required . Call me old fashioned but I thought ' groundbait ' was designed to attract fish to the table as it were, not leave them in a Mr Creosote like stake [ Monty Python , Meaning of Life film ]. I have met anglers after Barbel who have lobbed in more pellets / boilies in a session than use in a season .I think there are some anglers that feel the more the feed they introduce the better their catch rate will be, which in my opinion is tosh . Meanwhile the fish get more corpulent , some of the Barbel I have seen pictured are clearly no stranger at the tuck shop counter with their bloated stomachs .They need to follow their more athletic migrating fellows and swim some it off !