Pellets for Barbel in Winter

[Garry Howell]

Hi - just after peoples opinion as to the effectiveness of pellets in cold weather - most of the carp fisherman seem to stop using them, might be wrong but I think I read they don't break down as quick - could they cause harm? I know that I stop feed my koi in low temps.

 

[John Care]

I had 22 barbel in 4 sessions last December, on the Lower Severn; all on pellets.

 

[Terry Simner]

Barbel will eat the same things in winter as they do in high summer, if on offer... just maybe not so much. There's a lot spoken about using reduced fat content in cold water but .....

 

[Cliff Turner]

yes they def still work in winter

 

[Terry Harman]

4 or 5 6mm pellets glued to a hair

 

[Richard Isaacs]

Oily baits are less effective in colder water temps regarding the release of attractiveness from the bait but from my experience barbel certainly don’t find them any less tasty at a particular time of year.
There is an awful lot of nonsense on the bank spouted about baits for barbel and in my honest opinion the worst thing you can do is carry loads of different types lacking real confidence in any one in particular. I actually don’t use pellets at all. Not because they aren’t any good as we all know they are brilliant but because my confidence is at 100% With another bait and there is no need to change.
Pick a classic, use it, catch on it, gain confidence in it and stick with it. I make my own boilies now and have absolute confidence in them because barbel absolutely love em

 

[Ian Lovett]

I caught plenty of barbel last winter on pellets. In fact I couldn't catch on anything else! Not even maggots. On three occasions I had to change from maggot to pellet to catch. After that I only used pellet. The size of pellet was sometimes important.

 

[Graham Elliott]

Ian. It certainly is.

 

[Steve Roffey]

All my recent barbel have come to pellet, offered worm and boilie on the second rod each time and they've been ignored.

 

[Richard Parsons]

Ah....memories.....the old T7 salmon elips. Never has a pellet used by so few landed barbel desired by so many.

 

[Garry Howell]

Doe anyone change to low oil pellets - or do you just stick with what you use in the summer?

 

[Ian Lovett]

I've tied both high and low oil pellets and caught on both. On some days one type of pellet or size is best and on another it's something completely different. I carry lots of small packs of various pellets and experiment on two rods. It keeps you busy on a cold winter's day when nothing is happening!

 

[Alex Dalton]

Pellets and dumbells all last winter , might be a repeat this winter shall have to wait and see.

 

[Julian Peacock]

Hi Garry,
Indeed, they will not break down as quick in the cold temperatures of winter.
I’m certain that they are just as attractive to barbel as they are in summer.

If you don’t mind, the question I would ask is, ‘are today’s pellets better than yesterday’s?’.
In theory, they should be.
My experience suggests otherwise. The salmon pellets of 20 years caught everything that moved near them and the hi amino trout were sensational as a carpet feed. Both long discontinued and sorely missed.

 

[Ste Whybrow]

Oily baits are less effective in colder water temps regarding the release of attractiveness from the bait but from my experience barbel certainly don’t find them any less tasty at a particular time of year.
There is an awful lot of nonsense on the bank spouted about baits for barbel and in my honest opinion the worst thing you can do is carry loads of different types lacking real confidence in any one in particular. I actually don’t use pellets at all. Not because they aren’t any good as we all know they are brilliant but because my confidence is at 100% With another bait and there is no need to change.
Pick a classic, use it, catch on it, gain confidence in it and stick with it. I make my own boilies now and have absolute confidence in them because barbel absolutely love em

That is definitely true,when I first started barbel fishing if I blanked on a certain bait I would be straight down the tackle shop and buy up the latest so called super bait,I eventually realised I was spending way to much money on boilies pellets etc,so looked at my diary counted up what I’d caught the most on and use that which is krill boilies with matching paste

 

[Ash Gould]

Chilli powder and boiling water are essential additions to pellets in winter, imo.

Use a pellet and chilli powder based paste for hook wraps too.

Feeder of pellet mush and a small paste wrapped hookbait is a magnet to most species. Ive fluked some nice roach and dace when doing this in the past.