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Sitting it out on a single bait

I’ve watched on occasion them cruise in pick up a few mouthfuls then bugger off. At that stage I’m thinking they have too much choice, chance to be picky, if that had been a single or just a few baits the competition might of pushed them to take “the” bait. That’s happened to me countless times. The hopping from swim to swim tends to attract the wrong fish.
 
If it's a biggish lump of meat I think a big fish might nudge it then bugger off, but return, and again - until they pluck up the courage. Or if not courage it's giving in to their temptation.

Try it. Place a ferrero rocher on the coffee table in front of you but just out of reach. How many times might you push your hand towards it before you finally grab and munch :D

If the fish doesn't feel resistance it'll just mosey around, and at some point you observe the indications and tighten up, and whoosh.
 
I must admit I don’t use meat. This was because early season I’d do ok on it then it would take a dive. Fish just swim straight past it, no feeding response at all. Shame as it’s a convenient bait and everyone seems to rate it but me,
 
I use a decent size cube of meat with no freebies 99% of the time the last few years. Can never bring myself to sit on it for too long though cause always get the feeling it’s come off if not getting any bites. Only time I’ll leave it out a while is if I know I’m definitely cast in the right spot. I do fish middle Severn though so normally plenty of fish about
 
I'm onside with Paul on this one, .... that is fishing without changing my hook bait for the whole session - not to be confused with fishing a single hook bait, and no loose feed or free offerings - something i never do anyway even in mid winter.
The only reason as Paul intimated is it necessitates re-casting which from the point of view of trying to single out the bigger stamp of Barbel is a no no for me ! If i have got it right, and succeeded in attracting a big Barbel into the swim i'm certain .... that at best recasting will not help me one bit in persuading said Barbel to take my bait, at worst it'll likely spook it, in fact i'm convinced of it, worse still many's the time i'd never even be aware of it.
Of course many rivers are now plagued with Crayfish, The Loddon where these days see me fishing most of the time has them especially in the upper reaches, but the lower sections are not so bad, and nowhere near so bad as say the Kennet.
My answer as many have, is to make my hook baits much harder, harder than i prefer, but it seems to work, and i do wrap with a stiff paste.
A few times i've reeled in and seen the claw marks on them, but they seem not to be able to destroy them, but i do think it's likely only the odd crayfish, that probably gives up and turns to the much easier option of munching on my freebies, which i do leave soft, i doubt even my hard boilies would survive the hammering from dozens of the little B's.

In saying all that if i were fishing for numbers of Barbel, not really caring about the size i might catch, as i did in years gone by then i'd probably opt for a feeder approach, and then yes periodically change my bait, and possibly every cast if using meat ... why not ? however even then if i were loose feeding i'd probably opt for a bait like Pepperami and not bother changing it , unless the Crayfish were present.
So from the point of view of my Barbel fishing and the challenge i love to set myself of targeting the big ones, is all about loading the odds in my favour .... true for all of us whatever type of approach we use ! and therefore recasting is absolutely out unless i absolutely have to, and therefore goes without saying changing my bait is out to, unless i have to recast, and then why not ? Though i see it as a necessity rather than a preference to do it.
 
The only difference here is that if you live close (ish) to a venue and you can put a small amount of feed in regularly over a few days then you can use a high(er) quality bait and hopefully attract fish into the swim. None of this "piling in kilos" that mags seem to advocate, almost as if they are sponsored by bait companies? shock horror, surely not? :eek:

Ian's two articles are well worth a read

Targetting bigger barbel
and Targetting bigger barbel - part 2

Since I only fish once a week I can't attract fish into my swim this way, so I rely on bait placement and the knowledge that fish do swim in the margins, especially in dusk/darkness. They (the barbel) don't always follow the script - in fact very often they don't so it's another blank - but when they do it makes it all worthwhile :)
 
Funny how we all see it differently, and then fish accordingly. I think those that use a single hookbait catch the odd fish because they don’t overbait, and it’s all the fish have in front of them. Those that bait and wait often catch most at dawn, and dusk if they are on bigger baits (I’m generalising here) . The guy that builds a swim slowly ( like with Trotting) often catch all day, with a build up at dusk time. Just my views on what I see, and mostly talking to others on the bank.

In summer or anytime really, I’m not an early riser so when I arrive and ask about the fishing many of the bait and wait guys have taken a fish. I know I have missed one key time. If I only fished this way, I’d not start until an hour before dusk. However as I bait a swim slowly through out the day, I’m fairly confident I’ll get a few after an hour or so and often enough it works for me. I’m fishing small baits on small hooks 16s mostly.

Rich.
 
I suppose a huge amount depends on the river your fishing. Me personally I’m waiting for one or a few fish to arrive, they often appear to be very transient and hard to hold over a bed of bait.
 
How often do we catch a fish, early on, probably first cast, and then struggle. To me it's poor water craft, and I have not just taken enough time in settling the feeding fish before introducing a hook bait. I might get away with than on a bigger River like the Severn but not on say the Warks Avon. Of course regular feeding will concentrate the Barbel's minds, and will be less likely to spook. However on pressured waters the very act of 'feeding' can ring alarm bells, and for me this is where the single bait and wait approach can score.
I have seen Barbel scatter for their lives on the Teme, when loose feeding corn, and the visible corn will remain untouched, but will be mopped up in the night. Hemp is less likely to spook, as I suppose is small amounts of small pellet

Of course all the above can be nonsense, and probably is, because there are always times when the rule book is torn up and for no apparent reason you can't stop catching, despite making no real efforts as far as 'water craft' is concerned. One particular session I recall, (they are indeed rare) I was fishing the Warks Avon, doing nothing but loose feeding 14mm halli pellet and using the same on the hook, with a lead, and in a couple of hours I had six good Barbel and six good Chub, in the afternoon in bright summer sun. The fact that it was the days when there were a good head of Barbel in the river must have made them very competitive.
 
I think it is definitely venue dependent. I also fish the Loddon which is a lower stock but bigger average fish venue. Generally I won't have a bite before at least 4 hours of my rig being in the water.

On the other hand - The amount of times I've recast after a gut feeling that the rig wasn't sat right and had a take within minutes is starting to mount up.

As I've said before - there are no rules in barbel fishing. You have to just do what works for you on your venue and after a few seasons now on the Loddon my catch rate is increasing with the method I've stuck to. So I won't be doing anything different this season.
 
Neil Smart said:
How often do we catch a fish, early on, probably first cast, and then struggle. To me it's poor water craft, and I have not just taken enough time in settling the feeding fish before introducing a hook bait. I might get away with than on a bigger River like the Severn but not on say the Warks Avon. Of course regular feeding will concentrate the Barbel's minds, and will be less likely to spook. However on pressured waters the very act of 'feeding' can ring alarm bells, and for me this is where the single bait and wait approach can score.
I have seen Barbel scatter for their lives on the Teme, when loose feeding corn, and the visible corn will remain untouched, but will be mopped up in the night. Hemp is less likely to spook, as I suppose is small amounts of small pellet

Of course all the above can be nonsense, and probably is, because there are always times when the rule book is torn up and for no apparent reason you can't stop catching, despite making no real efforts as far as 'water craft' is concerned. One particular session I recall, (they are indeed rare) I was fishing the Warks Avon, doing nothing but loose feeding 14mm halli pellet and using the same on the hook, with a lead, and in a couple of hours I had six good Barbel and six good Chub, in the afternoon in bright summer sun. The fact that it was the days when there were a good head of Barbel in the river must have made them very competitive.
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Neil,I always did best on the Wavon when resting the swim 30-60 mins after each barbel bite. Introduce a small pva bag of free offerings,then just.....WAIT.
 
I'm a big advocate of keeping casting to a minimum. Every time you cast, you alert the fish to your presence and if you're after big fish that will most likely be a big factor. I think you need to know your water and population though and when the fish are most likely to arrive and feed. If we're talking the W Avon, I had a number of multiple catches last summer but this came from moving to new stretches. Don't underestimate the effects of pressure on feeding habits and tactics. Might be of interest here
 
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Luke. Do you think it could be that your waiting for fish to past you. Do they live where your fishing, or travellers to that swim? I'm only asking not criticising. I use to fish a swim I thought the barbel lived in, but found they actually lived under s steep bank some 20 years past, not the tree I was fishing. Hence the bait smell would bring them to me. But with a single hook bait, I could have been their all day. Just a thought, question.

Lee. With you all the way, even on big rivers like the Trent. The splash brings dinner, but also danger, hence the long wait at times. I try to fish with as small a lead as possible too, and even fish in the edge if it's not too clear. Something getting more difficult on a ever-clear river Trent.

Rich.
 
Richard Barrett said:
Luke. Do you think it could be that your waiting for fish to past you. Do they live where your fishing, or travellers to that swim? I'm only asking not criticising. I use to fish a swim I thought the barbel lived in, but found they actually lived under s steep bank some 20 years past, not the tree I was fishing. Hence the bait smell would bring them to me. But with a single hook bait, I could have been their all day. Just a thought, question.

Lee. With you all the way, even on big rivers like the Trent. The splash brings dinner, but also danger, hence the long wait at times. I try to fish with as small a lead as possible too, and even fish in the edge if it's not too clear. Something getting more difficult on a ever-clear river Trent.

Rich.
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It may be that the fish are just passing but that's fine by me!

Some of the bigger fish are definitely residents to the area and certain fish have been caught 2-3 times by myself and friends over the last 3 seasons from the same couple of swims.

For me it's about trying different things and different stretches/swims and then learning from the results. Last season was my most successful ever and I stuck to one rig, one bait, one method. It worked all season so I didn't change it. I took it to different venues, swims and it worked and I'll keep using it until it stops working or I can't get the bait etc.

Now that I have my tactics, I'm starting to learn what swims/stretches produce better in different water/weather conditions and it's starting to pay off. Don't get me wrong I still blank more than I catch but it's improving.
 
I did well on the lower Severn using 35mm catfish pellets. I used them with 2 on the hair and a couple on a stringer. Even had a big Barbel after a canoeist fell out of his canoe in my swim on a hot sunny day.
On the Dorset Stour and Hamps Avon , where the water is clearer my golden rule was to bait swims lightly and keep watching until I found feeding fish. My biggest out the Stour was caught this way , I located a big Barbel and watched for about 2 hours , steadily throwing in 5 pellets at a time. Once I noticed the Barbel was feeding confidently , I lowered my rig in . I actually watched the Barbel take the bait , and a nice 13lb Barbel was soon in the net.
 
Craig Wood said:
I did well on the lower Severn using 35mm catfish pellets. I used them with 2 on the hair and a couple on a stringer. Even had a big Barbel after a canoeist fell out of his canoe in my swim on a hot sunny day.
On the Dorset Stour and Hamps Avon , where the water is clearer my golden rule was to bait swims lightly and keep watching until I found feeding fish. My biggest out the Stour was caught this way , I located a big Barbel and watched for about 2 hours , steadily throwing in 5 pellets at a time. Once I noticed the Barbel was feeding confidently , I lowered my rig in . I actually watched the Barbel take the bait , and a nice 13lb Barbel was soon in the net.
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35 mm x 2 and 2 on a stringer, like your style Craig, that should deter the snotties. It goes without saying big baits, huge baits can work , a large piece of Spam in the margins approx 3''x 3'' does catch, ask John Care this was witnessed by me on a a quiet session a couple of seasons back when he went for the subtle half a large tin approach and of course caught.... I just can't bring myself to go that big, of course the old timers have always done so, much prefer to 'match the hatch'
 
Neil Smart said:
35 mm x 2 and 2 on a stringer, like your style Craig, that should deter the snotties. It goes without saying big baits, huge baits can work , a large piece of Spam in the margins approx 3''x 3'' does catch, ask John Care this was witnessed by me on a a quiet session a couple of seasons back when he went for the subtle half a large tin approach and of course caught.... I just can't bring myself to go that big, of course the old timers have always done so, much prefer to 'match the hatch'
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Yes it kept the snotties off the bait ! I started with 24mm up to 30mm and the snotties still had them but not the 35mm ! ...Luncheon meat seemed to attract eels nibbling away on a big piece of meat . Caught a fair few in the daytime as well on 35mm baits..
 
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