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Natural baits

Caught a couple of barbel on minnows - both fish early in the season and between 7 and 8 lb.
Watched a couple of barbel 'charging' through a dense shoal of minnows and one (6lb ish) turned around a took what seemed to be an injured one. This in a couple of feet of clear water and no more than 10 feet away.
Baits off the surface - frequently see barbel nudging cabbages dislodging freebies that were resting there.
 
I've used cooked mussels for tench and carp for many years. An excellent bait in the margins under a float. Not tried it on rivers, but will give it a go . In warmer months it definitely attracted eels on stillwaters and I would guess minnows would rip it apart on rivers.
 
I've not tried minnows yet but it would appeal to my favourite method of fishing : freelining (with maybe a lightly leaded hook).
I was once wading mid-river in the Teme, freelining into a deep channel on the far side. Casting upstream, a barbel rose from the depths, and took a matchbox sized lump of meat within 6" of the surface. The barbel didn't twist or roll ... one second the luncheon meat was on its nose, the next second it had vanished into the barbel's mouth, which was heading back down to the depths. Fish on!!
 
Has anyone tried freshwater shrimp, caddis larvae , or anything else you find under stones in the river? In between showers tonight I thought id turn over some rocks and see what’s lurking, lots of shrimps and various larvae, leeches etc. found a small bullhead too. made me wonder if a shrimp or two would work as well as a maggot on a small hook?
 
Matt Shipley said:
Has anyone tried freshwater shrimp, caddis larvae , or anything else you find under stones in the river? In between showers tonight I thought id turn over some rocks and see what’s lurking, lots of shrimps and various larvae, leeches etc. found a small bullhead too. made me wonder if a shrimp or two would work as well as a maggot on a small hook?
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I reckon all of those mentioned will catch if presented correctly mate 👍🏻
 
The problem with using a bait that is naturally found in abundance within the river bed is that it becomes a needle in a haystack of similar food signals. I'm guessing you would need to be eyes on with a fish in that the bait can be delivered from hand to gob.
 
Not really natural but was thinking of trying cooked mussels, just recently some clips on youtube as to their effectiveness with carp.
 
Matt Shipley said:
Has anyone tried freshwater shrimp, caddis larvae , or anything else you find under stones in the river? In between showers tonight I thought id turn over some rocks and see what’s lurking, lots of shrimps and various larvae, leeches etc. found a small bullhead too. made me wonder if a shrimp or two would work as well as a maggot on a small hook?
Click to expand...
 
All of th
Matt Shipley said:
Has anyone tried freshwater shrimp, caddis larvae , or anything else you find under stones in the river? In between showers tonight I thought id turn over some rocks and see what’s lurking, lots of shrimps and various larvae, leeches etc. found a small bullhead too. made me wonder if a shrimp or two would work as well as a maggot on a small hook?
Click to expand...
All main diet for most species so yes of course, that's why bait companies replicate such attraction in their baits. It's just not very convenient having to forage for bait.
My local river have a huge amount of mussel below a weir, and Chub and Barbel feast on them at night, in the summer it's little more than 18'' deep. All fish need this type of diet to maintain muscle and bone structure, our offerings are merely a drop in the ocean.
 
Matt Shipley said:
Has anyone tried freshwater shrimp, caddis larvae , or anything else you find under stones in the river? In between showers tonight I thought id turn over some rocks and see what’s lurking, lots of shrimps and various larvae, leeches etc. found a small bullhead too. made me wonder if a shrimp or two would work as well as a maggot on a small hook?
Click to expand...

My mate was catching well on the Trent last week using the dynamite hemp+snails (small snails) with a couple of them on a pellet band or hair.
 
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