The Traditional Fisherman's Forum

As a kid I would often fish a local park lake and not being close to a tackle shop for maggots, I would often experiment with baits such as sweetcorn, chickpeas and other tinned beans and pulses usually dictated by what I could "acquire" from the family kitchen.

This lake had many elder trees growing around it and in late summer they would be covered in the dark berries was it was Mr Crabtree who told us they would catch big roach particularly where they overhang water?

Well what did he know! I cant remember catching anything has anybody else been successful?

I can't say I've ever thought of using them until this thread started up. Think I'll give it a go though.

Well I'm trying them this Sunday on the wye. Is it cheating to mix them with hemp?! Think i'll try them just on thier own first, and after not catching for an hour or two start feeding with hemp!!! St.

I take it they sink?

They do sink SK

Hope so!!

Any way of critically balancing them???

Ok, I'll get my coat!!!!

Ha ha haaaaaaaa!

I remember being told by Grand Union canal roach anglers that elderberries are very good hookbaits used in conjunction with hemp as loose feed, as well as on their own. I did catch a few roach with them, but I found it difficult to co-incide trips to good roach waters with availability of ripe berries. I even bought a litre of formaldehyde with the intention of preserving some (and things like minnows and gudgeon deadbaits) but never got around to trying it. Not sure if the smell would put the fish off anyway.

My most memorable elderberry incident was on a local pond. This quarter-acre puddle was spring-fed and despite its Lilliputian scale held about fifty really stunning carp - proper torpedo liners and golden commons. However, it was also quite heavily fished by all and sundry, mostly us local kids. The upshot of all this attention was that the carp were extremely cute, and knew all about the dangers of bread, worms, maggots and sweetcorn. A concentrated baiting programme with a new bait would probably have worked, but apart from some unsuccessful experiments with sultanas I didn't try very hard; I now know I was being too narrow-minded and conventional.

However, one late August evening I arrived for a short session. The pond was bordered by a high brick wall on one side, behind which was a patch of wasteground. Next to this was a large house, and over the wall hung an elderberry bush, laden with ripe berries. I thought I'd gather a few berries to try, so plucked half a dozen heads and shoved them in my pocket. I crept up to the pond and watched to see what might be happening. Usually, the only signs of carp would be the occasional swirl out in the middle, in the thick beds of Elodea. Sometimes however the carp would patrol the more open water, though the pond had to be free of anglers who shouted and stamped and splashed about. On this day I saw I was alone.

Better still, I saw swirls close in under the bank. It was open grass at this point, with no cover at all. I sat well back from the edge and cautiously set up an Avon rod with five pound line and size eight hook. I then crept forward and scattered a handful of berries two feet from the bank, near where the fish had shown themselves. It wasn't long before I spotted some more activity, so I put three or four berries on the hook and simply lowered it in. I laid the rod on the grass and attached a piece of silver foil for an indicator.

It wasn't long - ten minutes maybe - before the foil twitched and slid to the rod. I picked it up and struck. There came a tremendous pull as a carp shot out from the margins and speared itself into the weeds twenty yards away, before I could even get to my feet. By the time I'd recovered the fish was well and truly stuck, and my efforts to shift it caused the line to part. I couldn't believe it. It was the first carp I'd hooked that summer. I sat down, smoked a cigarette to calm myself, and watched the pond, though I didn't expect to see any more carp that evening. I was wrong; they were back in the margins only a few minutes later. I retackled, this time with eight pound line and a size six hook, and vowed that, should I be fortunate to hook another, I would hang on.

Another handful of berries was followed by a hook loaded with six of the biggest. Rod down, foil on, wait. Not long though - another run, strike, hold on tight and ping! The line broke. I had never experienced such power from a fish before - even though I'd had them up to ten pounds in the past. These carp averaged about half that, but were really built for speed. I retackled - this time with my carp rod, twelve pound line and a size four hook - and once more threw in some berries followed by the hookbait. However, this time nothing reappeared for an hour or more. I began to think I'd blown my chance, and was considering moving to the opposite side where the water was deeper. Then the foil shot through the grass and the rod top jerked down. I grabbed the butt just in time and held on, the rod bending down to the corks and the line squealing off the clutch, even though I'd screwed it down tight. The fish made three incredible lunges - each time taking several yards in the blink of an eye - then the rod sprang back and I almost fell over. The hook had pulled. Three carp hooked and lost in a little over two hours, after nothing for months. It was enough to make me want to jump up and down on the rod.

I've never tried elderberries for carp since. Perhaps I should...

What a lovely write up Gloucester :thumb: