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Trundling/Rolling meat, The works.

great method, I've been experimenting a little this year and caught my first few fish and I'm hooked now. It does work in coloured water but you have to slow things down and add more weight to suit the flow.
 
Evening chaps , Amazing stuff , over the winter i have invested in all the equiptment to allow me to use this method to its full potential on the wye , i have never seen anybody else rolling meat , however it would seem to me to be a perfect environment to use it .
i have read many articles including Ray waltons , keep supplying the information and hopefully i will get me a barbel on the rolling method by the end of the season !
If anyone wants a day on one of the salmon beats on Ross water let me know as guests are welcome and i would appreciate any help.
 
James.

I might be up for that. I am planning a day on the Wye (I had 4 months there this season) and a day on the Lower Severn before the season ends..............................IF hte weather gets better in time and we can tie up a suitable date.

Cheers

Graham.
 
Does trundling a bait in winter work? or is it just a summer/autumn method?
 
jon, I can assure you it does work in winter but smaller rivers need a little bit more water in. Its a fine balance between the weight of your bait and the line that you let out pulling the bait downstream, if you think about it all that fish feed on generally comes to them from upstream, so its only natural that fish should feel comfortable about something that coming toward them.

andy
 
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If you wanted to trundle a bait under a raft on your side of the river that had to be fished from upstream of the raft how would you go about it as you wouldn't be able to fish a bow in the line would you?

Trevor
 
Trevor, you can do this by feeding a bow of line downstream of the bait and gently lifting the bait to ease it down the swim.
 
Jon,
rolling a bait is a totally absorbing way of taking fish, it pre-dates todays static methods and on the day can and does often out fish a static bait. It teaches you about the swims you fish and indeed as it is primarily a roving technique, the fishery as a whole.
It is my first love when Barbel fishing, high water or low, I learned it on the Severn in swims as described earlier by Steve Williams back in the 1960/70s. I use a fixed paternoster set up by tying a dropper of 6lb line to my 8lb main line, then adding weight to the dropper. In low flows 1 or 2 swan shot rising to 1/2 ounce as current demands, I do the same as Steve, run the bait through a few times on different lines. Don't worry if it hangs up, leave it for a minute to give fish a chance to swing across the flow to investigate. If no one's interested lift the rod and let the bait move down till the lead hangs up again, and so on down the run. If you fish the line too tight to the weight it won't hang up, too much slack and it won't move, it's a trial and error thing.
Meatballs were made for this, if fact they are heavy enough on their own to cast and roll, especially in low clear conditions. As previously mentioned fishmeal paste, Cheese paste, Spam are all excellent and have the advantage that the hook can be buried in the bait to protect the point. I use mono, tried braid didn't like it, you don't need it, mono transmits every thing you need to know, hold the line between left thumb and forefinger and follow the bait with your body as it rolls down the swim. It's almost impossible to describe in text what constitues a bite apart from an obvious pull but interpreting whats going on at the business end is all part of the fun. Good luck with the method, it's like most active fishing techniques i.e trotting, practice makes perfect.
 
Thank you all for very sound advice, even though this week is going to be cold, i can still practice the method. Paul i like the idea of the paternoster rig.

Can anyone give me there opinions of trundling using plasticine?

Thanks to all

Jon
 
Jon,
The advantage of the paternoter is two fold, one if the lead/shot snags the weak link will break or the shot pulls off. Also with rocky or stoney bottom the pivot point of the set up is usually above the snags so you tend not to snag up so much, all of which keeps damage to your main line reduced. When you've tried rolling a bait across and downstream Jon try it upstream, they usually fall for that one, but telling what is and isn't a bite is a bit tricker when upstream rolling as it comes back toward you.
 
Rolling is a great method, I learnt from Ray
Walton when he used to fish the Royalty. It does take a bit of getting used to but well worth peservering. You can of course use it for other species as well.
 
Another great thread, and when its this cold the roving approach is not only covering more water but keeps you warm! Couple of tips I picked up from Ray Walton when I fished the Royalty regularly:

1) Use 30lb green (Whiplash Pro) braid - the rationale for this was twofold in that it was thick enough not to damage the fish, and especially on the Royalty where the weedbeds are quite dense you could pull a trapped bait out without losing the rig.

2) Rather than cut the meat into cubes, break chunks off the big lump as it comes out of the tin and make a more 'ragged' spherical bait - this means the bait both 'rolls' better and is perhaps less spooky to fish who may have negative associations with rectangular pieces of Bacon Grill!

3) If you need to use weight, form the correct weight from non-toxic modelling clay. This material comes in a range of very natural colours which can be 'custom-blended' to be the most invisible in your local river; also because the 'weight' is round, or oval or whatever shape you choose to approach the swim(s), it rolls at the speed you want it to. Last but not least, if the 'weight' gets snagged then it just pulls off the line. This is a really effective alternative to any type of metal/lead weight - and can be placed between 15 - 60 cm from the hook and then simply moulded around the mainline.

Another top 'rolling' angler at the Royalty is Chris Holley - his 'Royalty Rover' range of Harrison based rods are classics. Chris had a different approach to Ray but was equally effective. Chris never used braid, always 10 -12 lb Maxima, and a simple running ledger with a 25 cm hook link. The Royalty is a great stretch for rolling, as the bottom is almost entirely chalk, it's was always relatively clear even after a lot of rain (the best time was just as the colour was dropping out) and the banks are clear for much of the stretch i.e. you can 'walk' as the bait is rolling. An interesting aside is that I know of at least one salmon taken on rolled meat at the Royalty - 12 lbs. Should make those trips to the Wye more exciting!!
 
Simon

Chris Holley is still guiding on the Royalty, the Avon , Dorset Stour, Teame
& WAvon. He has some new rods out in a few months, he is field testing
them now.

Chris has a web page link to Davis Tackle in Christchurch,
it shows an 8lb Chub, one of his customers caught, whilst he was
guiding him, there is some impresive fish their caught by his clients.
 
Michael,

Good to hear Chris is still guiding, he is a superb communicator and not only knows the water like the back of his hand (absolute first principle of angling) but has no problem with sharing his experience. Shall look forward to seeing his new rods - they will definitely be developed by 'one who knows'!! Still miss the Royalty and the great people fishing there though - and the rest of the Avon - ahh happy days!!
 
I cant wait to get some trundling done and to get my first barbel, will be some achievement to me.

The responses have been .

Jon
 
An excellent thread by all & thanks Jon for starting this.

Caught my first barbel on the Trent rolling trout pellet paste as similarly described on 10lb Maxima, and a simple running ledger with a 9-12 inch mono hook link. For the ledger I use small Arlesey Bomb, adjusting the wieght according to the Trent flow. For the bait, it is ground pellet paste no bigger than an inch in diameter, with a drennan super specialist wrapped therein.

Alot of good tricks an considerations written. Thanks lads.

Cheers, Jon

(once was weelo)
 
Can anyone remember the self proclaimed Prince of Paste who used to fish the Trent at Beeston wading out just below the weir and rolling home made pastes for the chub? He once had an article about him in the Angling Times i believe it was.

I can remember watching him one day while i sat on the weir wall and he made it look so easy, it was almost a chub a chuck! 100lb bags weren't uncommon!

I'm sure with the boom in barbel on the river the same approach would now account for more barbel than chub.

Question:

Do you keep on chopping and changing the bait size/ type/ colour until you find something they want?

Trevor
 
Hi Trevor , i remember that article vividly ! I can also remember winning an open match at west bridgford with 40 lbs of barbel between 1 and 2 lbs by bouncing a small bomb with double castor !
 
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