• You need to be a registered member of Barbel Fishing World to post on these forums. Some of the forums are hidden from non-members. Please refer to the instructions on the ‘Register’ page for details of how to join the new incarnation of BFW...

Hemp and Tares

R

Richard Booty

Senior Member & Supporter
I've got the chance to fish a stretch of a chalk stream that's reputed to hold some decent Roach. It's quite fast flowing water and there are lots of little sluices and weirs, and it's also rammed full of trout. The only slight problem is that I'm only allowed to use 'vegetable' baits - i.e. no maggots, worms, casters etc.. The obvious baits would be bread or sweetcorn, however in my experience both are exceptional baits for the trout as well... I've read about using hemp and tares for Roach but never done it myself. Any tips?
 
When using that combination I only use tares on the hook and feed small amounts of hemp every 30 seconds or so. It can take a while to get them going but once they've switched on they're often very bold.
 
It's a great combination Richard. Chub as well as roach are suckers for a tare.
As Gavin mentioned,..feed a few grains of hemp regularly and use the tares exclusively as hook bait. I prefer to fish a float rig that is shotted down to leave a minimal visible tip, and also pair up the shot to prevent false bites.
I might consider quiver tipping breadflake in conjunction with a small cage feeder for the roach,...you may even pick up a bonus grayling using that approach if they are present.
 
Definitely going to bring a feeder rod with that in mind. My concern is that it's small stretch that only sees coarse anglers very occasionally and in my experience trout can be ludicrously suicidal on bread-flake and (to a lesser degree) sweetcorn.

What sort of hook size and pattern would you go for? 14/16? Just nick the hook in the tare or bury it? Also I would assume that you'd fish it on the drop?
 
When cooking the tares put a small amount of bicarb in with them it will turn them darker, also when cooking keep checking them as its easy to overcook them making them to soft.
 
I use Kamasan B5 11 wide gape pattern ...18 for hemp...16 for tares and 12 for flake. Simply side hook a tare feeding it around the bend of the hook,..hence the wide gape.
It's as well to experiment with shot patterns and adjust the rig according to how the fish are having it. Could be on a slow drop or just on or off the bottom.
I mentioned shotting a float well down,....if you want to present a very finely shotted rig however,...leave an inch of tip showing and wait for the sail away bites which can't be confused with a shot bite.
Hope that makes sense!
Although I've had Rainbows to over 7lbs on static corn from the river, I've found that trout tend to be more attracted to a moving bait,...but certainly agree with you that when they're in the mood anything will do!
Btw, Dynamite frenzied tares aren't too bad if you don't fancy cooking you're own.
 
Stewed wheat is another grain but its getting colder and grain baits work best in the warmer months.I would target the trout with big bits of flake in the morning whilst noting the swims you get knocks/taps on the float in (roach unable to take a large bait).You can either cut the bait size down then and there or return in the afternoon and target those swims and other roachy looking swims hopefully without too much trout issues. Buy some decent bread punches Drennan or fox in the larger sizes and feed liquidised/seived bread
 
Mark Swaby said:
Stewed wheat is another grain but its getting colder and grain baits work best in the warmer months.I would target the trout with big bits of flake in the morning whilst noting the swims you get knocks/taps on the float in (roach unable to take a large bait).You can either cut the bait size down then and there or return in the afternoon and target those swims and other roachy looking swims hopefully without too much trout issues. Buy some decent bread punches Drennan or fox in the larger sizes and feed liquidised/seived bread
Click to expand...


http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/10pcs-Hol...2a7e8d9&pid=100623&rk=2&rkt=6&sd=361394694959
 







Having just fished a very similar location it pays to keep an open mind.

Last time I caught roach to 2lb plus on caster feeding hemp.

This time the trout (about 15 of them, including this one)
were relentless.
My pal fished the last hour with finely mashed bread feed and small flake on a size 14 and caught a few trout but also 10 roach between 1.4 and 2lb.
 
Without wishing to put a damper on your hemp and tare ideas, I personally have never had much joy on tares in the colder months. But saying that I have caught on just hemp.
Personally bread would be my prefered bait.
 
Hemp and Tares didn't work..... Not a bite.

Bread worked, mainly for the trout, but also for Chub, Bream (!), Dace but alas, no Roach. Sweetcorn was less effective but stayed in the water longer than bread so at least you stood a chance.

Feeder fishing with mash in the feeder and flake on the hook was hilarious. Massive unmissable sailaway bites caused by the trout grabbing the feeder and swimming off with it. It was only when I stopped thickening the mash with brown crumb that this stopped (although I'm pretty sure that this was because the feeder was empty by the time it hit bottom.)
 
I'm amazed that the dace didn't take the tares, they usually love them. I assume that you were trotting with them, I've never tried feeder fishing with tares on the hook.
 
Was the river crystal clear and did you fish until dark ,those big
chalk stream roach can sometimes only want it for the first hour and the last hour of the day.If there is colour then they will have it all day.
 
The river was fairly clear but had been flushed through with a bit of rain so wasn't in a terrible state. I fished from first light all the way through until dark and actually it was the low-light conditions that produced the fewest fish for some reason. As far as the Dace were concerned they were only in one swim and i didn't fish hemp and tares there. It was an interesting day but the trout were a nuisance!
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top