fake baits

[Leon Dodd]

Hi all,
does anyone on here use fake baits, (caster, sweetcorn, etc.), and if so, with any success? I have used fake casters but always with real ones, never on there own.
Would I be right in thinking that the barbules on barbel can taste and therefore a rubber caster or whatever would not taste of anything and so would not be picked up?

 

[Anthony Pearson]

When you see underwater footage of barbel feeding they take in allsorts, such as gravel etc and spit it out. So I think you'll be safe with fake baits.

 

[Simon King]

Castor, maggot, hemp, corn, boilie.............all work in fake form, best alongside real offerings. In dark as well as daylight. A "must have" for defeating crayfish.
You can use with full confidence.

 

[Jason McAdam]

I have been using fake hemp on the hair with hemp and crushed hemp in the feeder with some success, i have been switching to it during the day when bites have been hard to come by

 

[Martin Stevens]

I have used corn and maggot but as you said always with a real offering. I've had fish on both.

I am thinking of giving glow in the dark corn a go for my night fishing this season. I'll let you know how it goes if I get around to it.

 

[Paul Boote]

To prove a point to a coarse-only pal several years ago, I legered a FAR better and more realistic, self-tied version of one of these (a cased caddis larva) -

- and caught two pretty sizeable barbs within the hour.

PS - over hemp

 

[Paul Monaghan]

To prove a point to a coarse-only pal several years ago, I legered a FAR better and more realistic, self-tied version of one of these (a cased caddis larva) -

- and caught two pretty sizeable barbs within the hour.

PS - over hemp

That caddis looks good to me, but must have a heavy lead underbody using all that deer hair. Got me thinking though and prompted me to get the vice out and play. I've read a fair few of your posts, but I must say that's a good one. Thanks for that.
Sort of course fishing flyfishing cross over. Funny this is how I started to fish as a youngster for shad on the river Monnow before I picked up a fly rod. Seem to remember using a Jersey Herd mostly, until I ran out of them and improvised using pillow feathers and cotton thread.
Hairs Ear or a red buzzer/bloodworm I think would work well also over a bed of hemp or trickle of red maggots.

 

[Michael Hall]

Hi all,
does anyone on here use fake baits, (caster, sweetcorn, etc.), and if so, with any success? I have used fake casters but always with real ones, never on there own.
Would I be right in thinking that the barbules on barbel can taste and therefore a rubber caster or whatever would not taste of anything and so would not be picked up?

Leon,

Fished the Severn today and tried fake casters for the first time. I started with 3 real casters superglued onto the hair and had 5 barbel in the first couple of hours, then switched to three fake casters again superglued onto the hair and had another 8 barbel and 4 chub over the rest of the session.
The fake casters were more difficult to superglue at first but much more durable than real casters.
I will certainly be using fake casters in the future.

 

[Lee Poultney]

I too have caught on fake casters but have trobule keeping them on. I tried gluing but the ferocity of the take took them all off. So I hair rigged them, threading three casters on to the hair and using a match (Martin Bowler idea) to blob the end to prevent them coming off. However, again the bite took them all clean off. I'd hoped to be able to keep the baits on between fish so any ideas?

 

[Craig Wood]

Fish them directly on the hook..

 

[Martin Stevens]

I had four fish on fake caster on Friday afternoon. The first was on two fake caster, the next three on the same plus on glued real one.

I was fishing them on a fluoro hair with no glue or stop. They were on very tightly as I checked them on several occasions. I was using the Drennan ones and baited with a fine needle with a blunt end. I think a sharper needle with a barb would make too big a hole.

 

[Michael Hall]

I too have caught on fake casters but have trobule keeping them on. I tried gluing but the ferocity of the take took them all off. So I hair rigged them, threading three casters on to the hair and using a match (Martin Bowler idea) to blob the end to prevent them coming off. However, again the bite took them all clean off. I'd hoped to be able to keep the baits on between fish so any ideas?

Lee
Try using superglue gel rather than standard glue, thats what I use with no problems on the take, I have caught more than 5 fish on one set of casters. I glued 2 side by side then layed the hair on top of them adding a bit mor gel and then glued the third caster on top, leave for a couple of minutes to set and your away. The benefit of the gel is that you get more glue at the joint and dont skimp on it either.

 

[David Gauntlett]

Hi all,
does anyone on here use fake baits, (caster, sweetcorn, etc.), and if so, with any success? I have used fake casters but always with real ones, never on there own.
Would I be right in thinking that the barbules on barbel can taste and therefore a rubber caster or whatever would not taste of anything and so would not be picked up?

Hi Leon,

The debate over why fish take fake baits has raged for many years in carp fishing circles, and I for one am still none the wiser. Carp also have sensitive barbels that can 'taste' before eating, but they take imitation baits avidly, as do many other fish.

It would make more sense if these were accidental pick-ups, the baits being taken because they were amongst a bed of freebies of the real thing...but they are frequently taken when used as single baits. It would also make sense if they were taken by fish feeding visually, being accepted on sight as the real thing.

However, the fact that imitation baits are taken FREQUENTLY on the darkest of nights, in deep, murky lakes where sight feeding would be absolutely impossible...AND where no natural freebies have been introduced as attractors...that deepens the mystery for me. I have heard it said that the plastics used in the manufacture of these baits give off esters that the fish find attractive. I guess that might be A reason...but as different types of materials are used at times, for differing baits, it can't be THE reason. I am baffled mate

So....I just accept that they DO work, and work extremely well, and so use them with confidence....perhaps that is the key?

Cheers, Dave.

 

[Michael Hall]

Hi Leon,

So....I just accept that they DO work, and work extremely well, and so use them with confidence....perhaps that is the key?

Cheers, Dave.

They DO work.

I have watched some of Bob Roberts DVD's (Barbel ways & days) and they have some amazing underwater footage which show Barbel feeding. What seems to happen is that they take in most of the particles on the bottom and then 'sift out' what they want to 'eat' and blow out the rest...I think the technical term is Gill Feeding!! They cant see what they are picking up and when they start feeding hard they do not seem to check each particle before sucking it up.

So it is not surprising that they take fake baits if they are presented with a pellet / hemp feed as the Barbel will hoover up the feed, including the fake bait, then they feel the feeder and are hooked...bingo..let the fun begin!!!

What would be very interesting to understand though is if they picked up fake baits as a feed (without a hook) would they reject them or eat them? Alas unless someone spends time doing some underwater filming we will never know...but who cares as long as they pick them up!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[David Gauntlett]

Hi Michael,

We are agreed that they DO work, and the fact that they 'hoover' them up as just part of a mass of feed is absolutely understandable. As you say, they take in lots of debri while they are feeding in that way, and blow out/reject what they don't want.

What I am saying is...WHY do they take them avidly when no other feed is present? We know they do, and I have caught fish that way....but WHY they take plastic baits when there are no freebies around them is the mystery to me. They cannot be taking them accidentally, just scooping them up as part of a bed of real food....so WHY do they eat lone, singly presented fake baits?

A mystery...but a happy one for us

Cheers, Dave.

 

[Darren George]

When enterprise brought out their fake maggots / casters, I had a couple of goldfish in a tank. I dropped a fake caster into the tank to see what they made of it.

The fish sucked it in, and apparently chewed on it for a while. Eventually the fish ejected it.

Stones or similar would be spat out instantly.

Aren't the fake baits made using some sort of fish oil to make them palatable?

 

[Chris Jones]

What I am saying is...WHY do they take them avidly when no other feed is present? We know they do, and I have caught fish that way....but WHY they take plastic baits when there are no freebies around them is the mystery to me. They cannot be taking them accidentally, just scooping them up as part of a bed of real food....so WHY do they eat lone, singly presented fake baits?

Is it not similar to a baby, relatively poor eyesight, poor motor skills etc that puts just about everything in their mouth? Fish also have relatively poor eyesight and/or often live in water that isn't crystal clear. Lacking hands, they've often got no real way of inspecting something without mouthing it. I suspect that a curious fish has no way of telling what something really is without sticking it in their mouth. For me, it's the only way that I can explain the effectiveness of zig rigs using bits of coloured foam as "bait". Could be the same for fake baits which do at least have the advantage of looking like the real thing.

 

[David Gauntlett]

When enterprise brought out their fake maggots / casters, I had a couple of goldfish in a tank. I dropped a fake caster into the tank to see what they made of it.

The fish sucked it in, and apparently chewed on it for a while. Eventually the fish ejected it.

Stones or similar would be spat out instantly.

Aren't the fake baits made using some sort of fish oil to make them palatable?

Hi Darren,

Dropping fake baits into a tank of pet fish is a totally different scenario. The fish are used to you dropping food into the tank, so are bound to rush over and take the fake baits in. It is interesting though that they chewed them over for a while, whereas they rejected stones and the like instantly. Having said that, I suspect that the 'chewability' and texture would account for that, even if no other attraction is present in fake baits.

The original fake maggots, casters, pellets etc. were not flavoured deliberately in any way. Some (but not all) fake baits are now flavoured during the manufacturing process. I recall reading an article somewhere by the owner of Enterprise claiming that that was in response to customer requests...despite the fact that the unflavoured original baits worked very well without deliberate attractors or flavours being added.

Cheers, Dave.

 

[David Gauntlett]

Is it not similar to a baby, relatively poor eyesight, poor motor skills etc that puts just about everything in their mouth? Fish also have relatively poor eyesight and/or often live in water that isn't crystal clear. Lacking hands, they've often got no real way of inspecting something without mouthing it. I suspect that a curious fish has no way of telling what something really is without sticking it in their mouth. For me, it's the only way that I can explain the effectiveness of zig rigs using bits of coloured foam as "bait". Could be the same for fake baits which do at least have the advantage of looking like the real thing.

Hi Chris,

I understand your point that taking stuff in is the only way fish have of testing items for edibility. However, if the fake baits have no intrinsic attraction in themselves...then why are they selected for an examination in the first place? On a deep, murky lake/river bed in the dead of night, with no moon or any light whatsoever...they can't have been identified by sight can they? And I really cannot accept that fish test absolutely every item they find on the bottom...it would take them all night to cover a few square feet

So...in that sort of situation, and in the case of the original fake baits, where NO deliberate flavours/attractors have been added...what is it that draws fish to them...often quite quickly after introduction?

In the case of Zig rigs, I suspect it is because they are usually relatively high up in the water column, silhouetted when fish swim below them in particular...which is possibly also why black foam works better than pale colours, particularly at night.

But that STILL leaves the question of why fake pellets/castors etc. on the bottom seem to be sought out by fish

It's not really important...the fact that they are is all we really need to know It's just that it does my head in wondering why the hell they wan't to eat bits of inert, unmoving plastic laying isolated on the bed of a lake/river

Cheers, Dave.

 

[Lee Poultney]

Then technically we could catch without any bait if a fish sucks all and sundry in before ejecting the rubbish. It would save money!