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Tactics in fast coloured water?

Garlic spam fished on straight lead with a stringer of 3 or 4 freebies cast and leave , been working for me every time trent had been up and coloured
 
I bought some PVA bags and string a couple of weeks back but find the string awkward to use to tie the bags with as it is so fine. I am now thinking I could thread some chunks of spam on the string using a baiting needle.

Should I tie to the lead or the hook? The water I fish is narrow so a gentle underarm cast should save it all coming off.
 
John Newman said:
Someone mentioned "scalding the pellets". What is the method for doing this?
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Put some pellets in a bait box, pour boiling water over them and leave until they have mushed up. Mix with some groundbait or milled hemp plus some liquids as required and use in an open feeder. If the flow is quite fast you can press it into the feeder quite firmly and it will break away gradually and constantly feed the swim.

Stephen
 
I find if you leave the pellets in the water for about a minute then drain they'll be perfect for moulding around a method feeder by the time you reach your destination. I also find that if you leave them for too long then they become mush and yopu'll have to stiffen with groundbait, etc.
 
John Newman said:
I bought some PVA bags and string a couple of weeks back but find the string awkward to use to tie the bags with as it is so fine. I am now thinking I could thread some chunks of spam on the string using a baiting needle.

Should I tie to the lead or the hook? The water I fish is narrow so a gentle underarm cast should save it all coming off.
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High John,

Tie it to the lead preferably, but it's not really important which. As far as the freebies coming off the string, they shouldn't with an underarm swing as you say. However, if you are having issues on that score, use a slightly longer length of PVA string, thread the meat on as usual, then pass one end through the eye of the lead, then tie the two ends of the string together to form a loop. That way, it is impossible for the meat to slide off, even if you do an overhead thump :)

Cheers, Dave.
 
John Newman said:
I bought some PVA bags and string a couple of weeks back but find the string awkward to use to tie the bags with as it is so fine. I am now thinking I could thread some chunks of spam on the string using a baiting needle.
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Hi John, get some PVA tape instead of the string - it's much easier to use if tying off bags with it, although probably better just to thread the spam on to the tape direct as Paul mentioned on the first page. I prefer to tie it to the lead as this concentrates the wieght in one spot and is easier to cast than having a lead and a load of meat cubes swinging about on the end of the hooklink - in your case, with the underarm swing it probably doesn't matter.
 
Just one more to add to the equation of tactics in coloured water is which can be an absolute winner is to deposit a good gallon of hemp/ particles etc into a depression on the river bed. Take the dog for a walk for a good hour, tie some rigs up, carefully prepare your terminal tackle etc. It takes big balls but the rewards can be very ssatisfying. Obviously its not for your local stream....
 
Jon Frisby said:
Just one more to add to the equation of tactics in coloured water is which can be an absolute winner is to deposit a good gallon of hemp/ particles etc into a depression on the river bed. Take the dog for a walk for a good hour, tie some rigs up, carefully prepare your terminal tackle etc. It takes big balls but the rewards can be very ssatisfying. Obviously its not for your local stream....
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I bet it does take big balls Jon...bleedin great balls of bait to get a gallon down there :D

Only kidding Jon, how is it going mate?

Cheers, Dave.
 
Good advice from Jon.
Although the single, large smelly baits undoubtedly work in these coloured conditions, the barbel are hungry, and will really get their heads down if you're able to introduce quantities of bait correctly.
Also up-stream ledgering is an excellent method in these high water situations.
Two anglers walked past me yesterday saying it was unfishable with all the rubbish coming down the river - they didn't know what they were missing - I was bagging up :)
Probably preaching to the converted, but casting upstream, letting out a lot of slack line (I like to have the line dropping more or less horizontally into the river) and waiting for the nod-nod on the rod tip as the hooked fish moves off - can be a brilliant method.
Obviously debris still constantly hits the line, but tends to come up to the surface, and a small flick of the rod tip tends to release it.
If you haven't tried it give it a go - certainly working for me :D
 
Mark Nicholls said:
Good advice from Jon.
Although the single, large smelly baits undoubtedly work in these coloured conditions, the barbel are hungry, and will really get their heads down if you're able to introduce quantities of bait correctly.
Also up-stream ledgering is an excellent method in these high water situations.
Two anglers walked past me yesterday saying it was unfishable with all the rubbish coming down the river - they didn't know what they were missing - I was bagging up :)
Probably preaching to the converted, but casting upstream, letting out a lot of slack line (I like to have the line dropping more or less horizontally into the river) and waiting for the nod-nod on the rod tip as the hooked fish moves off - can be a brilliant method.
Obviously debris still constantly hits the line, but tends to come up to the surface, and a small flick of the rod tip tends to release it.
If you haven't tried it give it a go - certainly working for me :D
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Mark-out of interest (as I really want to give this method a go) how do you feed the upstream swim? Also, does it matter if your mainline is braid or mono (sinking ability I am thinking here)? Cheers.
 
Best way to get a lot of hemp down in a heavy flow is with a big dropper - a gallon is done in 16 drops of a large Fox or Seymo dropper, the former being the better of the two providing the door stays on! ;)

As Jon has said, leave the swim to rest - i tend to carry my rods unmade, so after the bait has been dropped, set the rod up - take your time, tie a couple of spare hooklinks, have a brew etc.
 
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What does a gallon of hemp (dry) weigh? I used to buy it in 25k sacks, and not sure what that equates to, volume wise. In other words, how many gallons do you get from a 25k sack?

Cheers, Dave.
 
David Gauntlett said:
What does a gallon of hemp (dry) weigh? I used to buy it in 25k sacks, and not sure what that equates to, volume wise. In other words, how many gallons do you get from a 25k sack?

Cheers, Dave.
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About 3kg - bit less maybe, i've ran out otherwise would check! So around 8 gallons per sack, or £4/gallon - a lot cheaper than maggots!!!!!! Best barbel attractor in the world and they'll eat it forever - Mr Gaskell will remember one sunny day a few years ago when we fed 2 gallons to a shoal of barbel - just sat watching em for hours and they just kept on eating - they were still looking for more when we ran out.
 
floaters

and with the floaters which you always get,ive been putting em through a liquidiser with a bit of hemp oil and used it for a groundbait plug in the feeder,
 
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