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Chickpeas and other cheap alternative baits

E

Etienne Harvey

Senior Member & Supporter
Hi everyone, I've been wondering if anyone has tried using chickpeas or other cheap supermarket particle baits with any success for barbel. I know carp love them, so surely barbel will too. These days everyone uses pellets and boilies and I'm sure sometimes the fish especially ones that have been caught before are associating these baits with danger. I'm going to try chickpeas on my next outing and see if I can winkle out a barbel or two. So if you've used chickpeas or other cheap supermarket particles please let me know.

Thanks Etienne
 
Have a look at Cookies Fishing Capers on YouTube. He does a lot of fishing for barbel with meat on one rod and chickpeas on another to compare.

Has a couple of vidoes showing how he flavors them and dries them out in an air fryer too
 
Well thank you very much Daniel, my thoughts on chickpeas as a bait looks very promising. I can't wait to give them a try. It may well give me an edge. Only time will tell.

Thanks Etienne
 
There is a school of thought that maintains Barbel will eat almost anything if you fish the right swims in the right place etc. Maybe an over simplification? If you fish over hemp I think there is some truth in that maybe? Personally though I always use a good proven bait and in sensible quantities it isnt expensive. I've seen the YouTube vids in question. He enjoys himself and is successful so good luck to him. Same to you!
 
I have to admit years ago fishing a commercial carp fisherie, I put on a jelly baby sweet just to see if they would work and sure enough I caught. So yes fish will eat most things. Also I'm not worried about the cost of baits, as I've always had much success with worms and natural baits but will use pellets and boilies. i should of worded my post differently, my bad. I was just pondering the idea of where fish are heavily under pressure and most people tending to use the same old baits like pellets and boilies whether using chickpeas or other not used baits may give me an edge. Just food for thought
 
Etienne Harvey said:
I have to admit years ago fishing a commercial carp fisherie, I put on a jelly baby sweet just to see if they would work and sure enough I caught. So yes fish will eat most things. Also I'm not worried about the cost of baits, as I've always had much success with worms and natural baits but will use pellets and boilies. i should of worded my post differently, my bad. I was just pondering the idea of where fish are heavily under pressure and most people tending to use the same old baits like pellets and boilies whether using chickpeas or other not used baits may give me an edge. Just food for thought
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Etienne. Famous Carp angler Rod Hutchinson swore by sprouted chickpeas. Soak them until they germinate then boil. They are supposed to be more attractive like this. If you are interested in experimenting with particles try and get hold of a copy of Rod's book 'the Carp strikes back'. I think it is still available. His other books Rod H's Carp book and Carp then and now also have much on particles. 👍
 
Etienne Harvey said:
I have to admit years ago fishing a commercial carp fisherie, I put on a jelly baby sweet just to see if they would work and sure enough I caught. So yes fish will eat most things. Also I'm not worried about the cost of baits, as I've always had much success with worms and natural baits but will use pellets and boilies. i should of worded my post differently, my bad. I was just pondering the idea of where fish are heavily under pressure and most people tending to use the same old baits like pellets and boilies whether using chickpeas or other not used baits may give me an edge. Just food for thought
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I once fished for 2 days solid, tried everything, pellets, boilies, etc, all the things you would expect to work on a river, not a touch. At last knockings, i tried a single grain of corn, and yes, you know what happens next. :)👍
 
Very interesting about using pre sprouted particles, i will definitely be trying that out. A quick Google search and I've found the carp strikes back has been reprinted in a paper back edition for £18.95, not bad seeing as the original hardback is going for about £100.
Sweetcorn is a great bait, I always have a tin in my car boot as a just in case nothing else it working fall back. Many species love corn.
 
Chickpeas are soaking now as im going to try pre sprouting them for a try at the weekend. I'll post back with my findings. I'm going to prepare some plain and some with flavourings just to see if theres any difference in attraction. Hopefully the river Wye will gain some height with the rain we've been having, always found it fishes better then.
 
I soak my chickpeas in tomato soup with garamasala added, and also add sodium benzoate food preserver in the soaking stage . They seem to last several months in the fridge, and also freeze very well .
I have had Tench, Carp, Roach , Bream and Barbel on the above .

David
 
Thanks for the recipe David, all tips are gladly welcomed. I've got a few things to try flavouring my chickpeas with like turmeric, hot paprika, garlic granules and some fish sauce to start with.
 
It's a bait that I've been mulling over to use for a few seasons now....

The only reason I haven't gone into it, is that the local rivers I'm associated with don't hold the numbers of barbel or Chub to experiment with. There is a thought of course, that if there's a fish within a swim, then you'll likely to catch it providing you've not clumsily spooked it on the approach.

If and when I get to use them as bait I'd be fishing them alongside hemp, or partiblend.

Good luck! On that river you should raise some interest as you've the numbers on it. 😊😊👍
 
Etienne Harvey said:
Very interesting about using pre sprouted particles, i will definitely be trying that out. A quick Google search and I've found the carp strikes back has been reprinted in a paper back edition for £18.95, not bad seeing as the original hardback is going for about £100.
Sweetcorn is a great bait, I always have a tin in my car boot as a just in case nothing else it working fall back. Many species love corn.
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It's a very good read and quite funny in many places. Rod was famed for his writing style. He was a pioneer in many areas of Carp fishing, particularly the use of particles. Another book that has quite a bit on particles is 'Carp fever' by Kevin Maddocks. These old books were at the forefront of the emerging Carp scene as we know it. It is debatable whether 'spilling the beans' ( very apt) was a good thing though because look at what it has become! Before the likes of Rod and Kevin and a few others Carp fishing was a minority sport and very secretive. When I caught my first Carp in 1972 nobody would talk to you. You were on your own! Now look at it! 🤣🤣
 
I like a good book as I'm from a time before the Internet, that's how I learned to fish. Well and the help of a good neighbour that took me under his wing so to say. I'd scour jumble sales and car boot sale that my parents would take me to for anything fishing related. Mr Crab tree and the young angler were my go to reads. Carp fishing has turned into a monster in my eye's and although I will go fishing for them now and again my true love is river fishing. On the stretch of the Wye I've mostly fished there are reports of some massive river carp which I would love to catch as a river carp is a totally different animal to a still water carp. I've had the pleasure of hooking into something once while free lineing meat that just powered away down river at such a rapid rate of knots and was totally unstoppable before unfortunately smashing off. I'll never know forsure what it was but hopefully one day we'll meet again.
 
Etienne Harvey said:
I like a good book as I'm from a time before the Internet, that's how I learned to fish. Well and the help of a good neighbour that took me under his wing so to say. I'd scour jumble sales and car boot sale that my parents would take me to for anything fishing related. Mr Crab tree and the young angler were my go to reads. Carp fishing has turned into a monster in my eye's and although I will go fishing for them now and again my true love is river fishing. On the stretch of the Wye I've mostly fished there are reports of some massive river carp which I would love to catch as a river carp is a totally different animal to a still water carp. I've had the pleasure of hooking into something once while free lineing meat that just powered away down river at such a rapid rate of knots and was totally unstoppable before unfortunately smashing off. I'll never know forsure what it was but hopefully one day we'll meet again.
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Last October on a flooded Stour I hooked what I thought was a very big Barbel but really I should have known it wasn't. Too fast. It was a 20 plus Common Carp which gave me some real trouble in a river pushing through hard.
 

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Too be honest I've never tried tiger nuts but I don't see why they wouldn't work. Tiger nuts have been used by carp angler's for age's but to my knowledge lots of fisheries on lakes ban them because they take so long to break down and if you have angler's poring them into a lake they will end up poisoning the water. Not so much of a problem on rivers what with the constant flow.
Andrew that's a beautiful fish, nice and lean. I bet that was fun on the pin.
 
Etienne Harvey said:
Too be honest I've never tried tiger nuts but I don't see why they wouldn't work. Tiger nuts have been used by carp angler's for age's but to my knowledge lots of fisheries on lakes ban them because they take so long to break down and if you have angler's poring them into a lake they will end up poisoning the water. Not so much of a problem on rivers what with the constant flow.
Andrew that's a beautiful fish, nice and lean. I bet that was fun on the pin.
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No. I've not used them but I know people that have. I think all these particles will work but I have just never found the need. Yes. It was fun and games alright Etienne! 😀
 
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