A Must read for everybody.

[Gateleaner]

This article is pretty ground breaking in my opinion and even if there's an element of truth in it, then I for one will be sparing in freebies and will no longer be bothered by the fact I have never landed a double figure Barbel and will remain content to catch catch 7 and 8 pounders and the odd 9 from the Wye. Healthy lean fish as God intended.

The article has attracted some heated debate too. See end of article.


http://www.fishingmagic.com/features/co ... ition.html

[Davyr]

You certainly do see photos of barbel in the angling press these days that have the typical "boily belly" associated with many big carp.

Unfortunately, some anglers are always going to be persuaded that the more bait they pile in, the greater will be their chances of catching.

I've more often found the opposite to be true.

[Snape]

I would think in pressured areas the fish will be wary of huge amounts of bait and the single bait or a light scattering is more effective.
The article makes a case for serious consideration and with so many anglers claiming they have the fish's welfare at heart with 'safe' rigs, decent handling, unhooking mats and antiseptic etc but what they overlook is they are killing them with feed.

[The Sweetcorn Kid]

The simple fact is that they are NOT carp!! But, it would seem that they are being treated like carp, fed like carp and more and more carp anglers are starting to fish for them adopting the same tackle and tactics as they did for carp.

[SilverBirch]

An excellent well thought out and expressed article from Mr Crouch.

Could not agree more with the detrimental effects of the over feeding fish, the biggest problem that it will fall on too many deaf ears.

SB

[SeanM]

I think Fred is largely right about pellets and I've already noticed that barbel on some stretches of the Yorkshire rivers are becoming wary of significant quantities of pellets. What I will say though is that I rarely use more than a pint (measured dry) in a day's fishing, even on the Trent, and my catches stand in comparison to most.

[St.John]

Lot of truth there. I'm fortunate in that i have access to about two miles of pretty much unfished wye. My very good friend caught a 9 and a half pound barbel. If this fish lived on a heavily fished bit i sure it would have been nearer 12. It had never been caught, was really lean and pit up an incredible fight. Caught on a single hookbait, no loose feed. Incidentally his previous best barbel was 5 pound. Pleased wasn't on it. I have always had more luck with a few free offerings around the hook bait on the wye, and on the teme it's finding your fish and casting to it. Heavy baiting just means every chub from miles around has a proper lunch...no wonder they're so big..

[MGs]

I think Fred is largely right about pellets and I've already noticed that barbel on some stretches of the Yorkshire rivers are becoming wary of significant quantities of pellets. What I will say though is that I rarely use more than a pint (measured dry) in a day's fishing, even on the Trent, and my catches stand in comparison to most.

OMG. A pint. How many are most people using? :o I no longer use pellets. Even when I was, I would use them sparingly. I have had bags of 3 or 4 barbel in the 8-10lb range in a day and used no more than a dozen pellets all day. I always found that it was where you dropped your bait rather than how much you piled in. I used to work my way along the river, rarely spending more than an hour in a swim. On most occasions bites came within 20 minutes of casting.

[SeanM]

Typical scene on the Swale:

Bloke turns up. Sound of the mother of all hail storms as approx half a gallon of pellets is fed. Bloke deploys two rods in ballistic missile formation and sets up a step ladder so he can reach the reel (he is after all fishing at a full 20 yards range and you need to "keep the line out of the water"). Sound of the mother of all cows falling in then ensues at approximately 20 minute intervals as bloke deploys the two small buckets with holes drilled in them, each holding several handfuls of pellets.

For the Trent you need to double the above quantities, at least.....

[Wandering Mark]

I have only caught 2 Barble so far. Both on a single worm freelined on the river Skerne. The first was about 8-12 oz the other 4lb 14oz. I have never seen the point in throwing lots of bait in. Usually a handful of maggots or a couple of broken worms does the trick.