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Is it still ok to just use pellets?

2kg of pellets is quite a bit of bait but as John says, how long is the session, how big is the river, how many times is one casting out using two rods with 6oz feeders, how are the fish responding. Just measure the weight of the bait which goes in there Dave extrapolate from there.

With respect to my 5kg mix, this would last for continuous 36 hrs Trent fishing - its the general proportions which are most important. I always take about 5kg of mixed bait as there is nothing worse than having to ration despite the fish having it? Any left overs is either taken home to be frozen or thrown in if I know I'd be back in the following 24-48 hours. Any idiocy there Dave? Sound like normal angling on the mighty Trent to me.

When I was wrapping a golf sized paste ball around my pellet, using two rods on the Trent in summer, it is very easy to get through two 3 pint maggot boxes of pellet paste, possibly greater than 2kg, in 4-6 hours of fishing. When I fish this paste style, absolutely no freebies go out. Using paste so generously, again, does that demonstrate idiocy?

I am surprised at your comment David at making such a broad statement without qualifying what you mean.

Cheers, Jon
 
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OK, i was referring , there was a post on here some years ago, how he saw someone pour about 2kg of pellet into one swim in one go.

about pellets as well, high oil ones, i never feed,but i still think there is too much pellet going into our rivers, no wonder the pike are getting a taste for them.
 
Fair comment Dave - that would be hideous for most rivers & behaviour that I could not condone. Probably the Trent would handle it tho - river 60 yards wide, devoid of anglers, plenty of barbel, bream, chub & a good flow. But it that context, unnecessary.

Agree with the oil content considerations too. I was never happy with using a pellet paste base for a cage feeder mix & so would always encourage the use of something else, especially the use of seeds & alternative carbohydrate based binders - I like the idea of getting the oil & protein content way down from that of neat pellets.

Thanks for the reply Dave.

Cheers, Jon
 
Paul Matthews said:
Serious question !
Tiger Nuts !?
Discuss !!!!!
Click to expand...
Funny you should mention tigers as i recently had a discussion with quite a well known Barbel angler about them after saying i was going to give them a little go this coming season. Now barbel seem to love any bait that carp love and tigers are one of the all time great carp baits. Instantly attractive and only need to be used in small amounts so maybe ideally suited to a roving sight fishing approach where you can see the fishes reaction to them. I know i will be giving them a good go this coming season as a change from the pellet on occasions.

Jez
 
Tiger nuts, used carefully are ok, used inconsiderately and uncaringly are fatal
if you want to persist with them then try fermenting them for a week or two in the cooking juice:eek: phoar the pong takes yer breath away but it certainly pulls carp in, personally i wouldnt want to see them used for barbel
as i have witnessed far too many carp fatalies because of them....j.w
 
in answer about sweet flavoured baits milk based boilies with fruity flavours did very well on a southern river a few years back....j.w
 
Tiger Nuts

Chufa or Tiger nuts - tubers of an aquatic sedge plant - hence its not a true nut. Grind them to release more sugars & oils (30% oil content & being very high in omega's), high in converting sugars, digestive tonic, appetite stimulant, carminative, diuretic, very proven carp bait containing a wide profile of essential amino acids, minerals & vitamins.

As you've highlighted in part John, I have had amazing catches by using sweetened, soaked, boiled & fermented tigers (grounded) in my base mixes.

Cheers, Jon
 
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Ask a simple question and you get 15 new recipes, it's all too much for me. I'm going to use pellet, caster, bread and maybe meat and the odd boilie. Anymore and my head will explode. Jon maybe you could try fluff chucking or Tench fishing to take your mind off things :D
 
Ah, the enviable position of choice... Thought that with respect to bait would be good?
 
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John Walker said:
Tiger nuts, used carefully are ok, used inconsiderately and uncaringly are fatal
if you want to persist with them then try fermenting them for a week or two in the cooking juice:eek: phoar the pong takes yer breath away but it certainly pulls carp in, personally i wouldnt want to see them used for barbel
as i have witnessed far too many carp fatalies because of them....j.w
Click to expand...
Dont worry John, i have used tigers for over 20 years and i know how to use them.
 
Originally used whole tigers on the Nene for river carp in the late 80s. Great results, no previous bait introduction on my part & no pester fish. I had not heard of any barbel being present on the mid Nene in those days, so I am not aware whether barb's would be selective like bream & chub to tigers. Not that one has to do this as its an instant bait, but are you going to introduce them in small handfuls for a couple of weeks Jeremy or if you can observe feeding, jump straight in?

In those days I was amazed how this little crunchy thing had any pulling power.

Cheers, Jon
 
Going to jump straight in and observe the fishes reaction to them as i'm to far away from the planned water to bait up on a regular basis. Like you i never found the need to prebait with them as they were an instant bait. Will only be using maybe 12 baits or so max in a swim as never had to use more than that while after carp.
 
On the sweet bait thing, A guy i know well took 5 or 6 barbs including two 11's from the Derwent in the last month of winter on................tutti fruiti boilies!!

they out fished worm and pellet paste on the other rod, intresting me thinks?
 
Used to catch plenty of barbel on pineapple and tutti bolies when chasing river carp many moons ago, quite a few on 12" pop ups as well.
 
Fair comment on the quantities introduced. Wish I had the opportunity to see barbel on the Trent - to date I have never seen a barbel naturally behaving in water & that's a shame.

I like the idea of getting the fish on a new bait for a couple of weeks & tigers in the quantities we introduce is a perfect bait to place amongst our other free offerings. Because of its nutritional value, the fish, if interested, will very quickly realise its value so lowering their inhibitions. Soaked prior to boiling in CSL or molasses - lovely.

Cheers, Jon
 
Richworth Tutti Fruiti's were the 1st bait I ever used Leyton at Sheepy Magna (Atherstone, nr Tamworth) when old Eric was the owner. Proper Yorkshire man to a tee!

All fishmeals I reckon can benefit from the additions of fruit flavours. Scopex is one of my favourites but I have not tried to fish for barbs with this yet.

Cheers, Jon
 
They love maggots soaked in scopex, also squid liver and scopex boilies catch barbel..........
 
Jon,

had a few fish from the Trent on esterberry boilies last season - no prebaiting but the baliff for the stretch in question told me he was catching on both fruity boilies and Tiger Nut boilies. ;)

regards
Richard
 
Lets play MYTHBUSTERS.

John Walker said:
"Tiger nuts, used carefully are ok, used inconsiderately and uncaringly are fatal".

"personally i wouldnt want to see them used for barbel
as i have witnessed far too many carp fatalies because of them....j.w"
Click to expand...

This could form the beginings of a reasonable debate. There are loads of these myths kicking around in angling and in my experience few of them stand up to scrutiny.
This is not meant as a personal attack on anyone but I have quoted john's post as it is typical of the sort of knee jerk reaction many of us are guilty of.
With that said, I wonder John, would you mind expanding a bit on your post and answering a couple of questions?

Are you suggesting raw tigers are a problem? If so what are you basing this suggestion on and do you have any evidence to support this assumption?

You talk of fatalities due to tiger nuts, how were the fish killed? Were the fish autopsied by an expert to determine the cause of death or was it just fishermans gossip round the lake?

Bearing in mind that a tiger nut is the tuber of an aquatic plant and will form part of the natural diet of the fish where it grows wild why would they need to be cooked?

For the record I do soak and cook my tigers as I feel it probably makes them more attractive to the fish but I would have no problem fishing them raw. There is also actually plenty of evidence from the Koi breeding world to suggest that they might even have a beneficial effect on the working of a fishes gut and if we believe that fish will seek out the food which is most beneficial to them then that could be the reason for their effectiveness.
Far more dangerous in my opinion is the overuse of high oil pellets, these are designed as a short term, high growth factor feed for commercially grown fish, i.e, trout, salmon, halibut etc and are proven to cause long term damage to the the internal organs of cyprinids, in particular the liver.
 
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