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Dropper vs loose bait

A

Andrew Leishman

New Member
Gents,

After recently finding my love for Barbel fishing after a life time of carping its been brought to my attention that dropper feeding seems to be the more chosen method to pre-baiting, is this purely for accuracy or is to prevent spooking any potential fish within the vicinity, also is this method used more commonly for shallower swims rather than deeper??

Tight Lines..
 
Andrew Leishman said:
Gents,

After recently finding my love for Barbel fishing after a life time of carping its been brought to my attention that dropper feeding seems to be the more chosen method to pre-baiting, is this purely for accuracy or is to prevent spooking any potential fish within the vicinity, also is this method used more commonly for shallower swims rather than deeper??

Tight Lines..
Click to expand...

Bait droppers are just a very effective means of putting free offerings where you want them on the river bed. They can be used prior to fishing to set up a swim, or throughout a session to keep a flow of ,... say maggots or casters trickling through. I sometimes use a dedicated bait dropper rod to feed maggots through a deep swim when I'm trotting for barbel when loose feed may be going over their heads.
There're best for close range swims really, and if used correctly should cut the surface like a knife causing little disturbance. For swims that are a bit of a chuck, open ended feeders can be handy to lay down bait, and there are things like pva to introduce freebies around a hook bait.
It really depends on what bait you are using, strength of flow and depth of swim,... sometimes a few boilies or pellets introduced by hand is all you need, but you can't beat droppers for laying down a tight carpet of hemp.
 
Although I have caught barbel "on the drop" using a "dinner gong" 5oz feeder crashing in like a housebrick(!), there is a train of thought that spooky barbel are scared of the (even small) splash of a dropper and particularly the thunk vibration it makes on the hard (gravel) river bed especially if used several times. Even if you bait and wait it might not work if the fish has swum half a mile away and stays there! However I think the faster and deeper the flow, the more important it is to get an amount of feed on the bottom via a dropper where the barbel usually feed rather than hand feeding loose items which the stream takes over their heads. So I would normally use a dropper but would think carefully before using one for spooky fish particularly in a small river subject to heavy angling pressure. Alternatives mainly for ledgering include using (long) PVA bags or stockings, stringers, "pellet lead", Nash Ballmaker etc. On slow flowing rivers like the Thames some anglers even get their spods out!
 
Thanks for those 'very much' informative responses, these will be both bared in mind and utilized in my approach to baiting, and just whilst we're on the subject is their a preferred dropper within the barbell anglers circle that's tried and tested to be most effective and to not act as the 'dinner gong' mentioned in the latter post?

Thanks Gents
 
I rate the Dinsmores feeders which are based on the Thamesley droppers which are no longer in production. They are plastic and make less noise than the metal Seymo droppers which are the next best ones (but noisy on the retrieve). There is an issue with the door falling off but this is easily remedied by tying it on with some strong braid.

There is an art to bait dropping, not just in terms of timing and judging the amount of bait, but also accuracy and minimising disturbance. The trick is to underarm them out with a flat trajectory, feathering the line down with your fingers so the loaded dropper makes a v.gentle 'plopping' sound rather than crashing in. Pin-point accuracy (especially distance) is v.important, I improved my accuracy by practicing dropping in the back garden by trying to land it in a bucket from varying distances after watching how Stef Horak (baitdropper master) could repeatedly land a dropper on a sixpence from 30 yards in a crosswind.

Unless fishing in flood conditions I wouldn't venture barbel fishing without one and a bucket of hemp.
 
I got a cheap set in black metal, sm, med and large from Ebay. Cost less than a tenner delivered. No bits falling off to date. No way would i use the large with an Avon rod
 
Dave Taylor said:
Agreed Joe,.... when Thamesly stopped making their droppers i made a load on similar lines at work. As you say, the flap would ping off if attacked by pike so I made mine with a stainless steel hinge pin which worked a treat.
The Dinsmore type are fine and I'm glad someone is making that pattern nowadays.

https://barbel.co.uk/site/vbulletin/forum/members/picture.php?albumid=490&pictureid=5958

Pic of Thamesly (top) Dinsmore and my copy...:)
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I like the look of your copy Dave - neat work. If you are ever selling any then please let me know. ;)

And yes pike - they love baitdroppers don't they?!
 
I'm with Joe, i also dont go out without a dropper and a load of hemp, especially in deep swims. I've got a mix of droppers myself, but the Seymo teardrops are the best ones, but like Joe says the doors fall off, so i drill mine and pop-rivet them on before use.

The seymo one are like rocking horse sh*t though. Ive only got two left now.
 
Joe, I didn't make them on a commercial basis and gave quite a few to mates who, at that time, like me were pining for the old unavailable Thamesly.
I heard at the time from a tackle dealer that Thamesly were reluctant to sell the copyright and tooling on. Seems as though there are a few lookalikes now though. ( ref Anthony's post).
I don't go fishing without a couple in the bag.
I made a half pint version for hemping nearbank swims but they were just to unwieldy, ... even on a broomstick rod, and the last thing you want to be doing is dumping a load of hemp in the wrong place at the start of a session!:eek:
If we ever meet up on the bank you've welcome to an old DT bespoke model;)
 
Andrew dont be put off by the noise of a large heavy dropper going in on a larger type river mate, the barbel know thats a pile of feed coming in and it dont take long for things to quiet down and fish to feed mate, the big symos are real heavy when full but zooms down to the riverbed before dropping its load but you need a powerful rod to cast these out more than 25 yards, you knowyour freebies are gonna hit the mark safely and accurately without spreading out, they only usually scare small river barbel and even those eventually connect the splash with dinner on the table;)
 
Thanks Dave - I will hold you to that :)

I can imagine a half pint would be v.unwieldy - but handy for those swims where the dropper can be lowered at a rods length.

I actually use a (3.75lb) stiff marker rod and marker braid for baitdropping, which for a dinsmore/thamesley sounds like overkill but it works very well, you can really feel the dropper hit the bottom and the stiffness of the rod tip helps to underarm it out further and more accurately.
 
Yes Joe,... far better to use a rod that's pokey enough for accurate casting.
The problem I found with larger droppers ( and I do use them on occasion) is that the bigger the surface area the heavier the weight has to be to counteract the kiting effect. This meant that the half pint model needed 3 oz of attached lead to drop straight down in strong flows and deep swims.
I've watched shop brought banjo types kite 6 feet across the swim and often land on their side and not opening.
Simple remedy is to replace the existing little lead with a more suitable inline jobby.
The teardrop versions are less inclined to kite but a Thamesly type will go straight down because the weight to surface area ratio is perfect.

I'm surprised none have mentioned not to bounce a dropper in fast flows ( for the uninitiated) which would mean your freebies,... especially maggots,. will end up in the harbour!
 
This is all great information and I'm nearly all set for my first dropper feeding experience, just one last question, what's the best type of rod to use with a dropper? I'm thinking maybe one of my 3lb carp rods for the rigidity..
I'm currently off shore in the north sea and unable to stream videos due to server blockers so gutted I'm unable to watch that link but will be straight on it once I'm able to do so, so thank you for the post, it looks really interesting!!
 
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