Comments on: Flooded river barbel fishing http://www.questbaits.com/blog/flooded-river-in-winter-give-it-a-go-you-may-be-pleasantly-surprised/ Thu, 29 Jul 2010 08:13:54 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.9.1 hourly 1 By: Pat Gillett http://www.questbaits.com/blog/flooded-river-in-winter-give-it-a-go-you-may-be-pleasantly-surprised/comment-page-1/#comment-1490 Pat Gillett Tue, 19 Jan 2010 22:11:34 +0000 http://www.questbaits.com/blog/flooded-river-in-winter-give-it-a-go-you-may-be-pleasantly-surprised/#comment-1490 Hi John, Good to see the blog articles reaching far and wide. The colder weather will probably put the cats off the feed, but the perch should still be willing to have a go. If the water is coloured i would suggest bunches of worms or small live baits and if the water is clear try small spinners or rubber baits aswell as giving the worms and small live baits a go. Good luck and let us know how you get on. All the best, Pat Hi John,
Good to see the blog articles reaching far and wide.

The colder weather will probably put the cats off the feed, but the perch should still be willing to have a go.

If the water is coloured i would suggest bunches of worms or small live baits and if the water is clear try small spinners or rubber baits aswell as giving the worms and small live baits a go.

Good luck and let us know how you get on.

All the best,
Pat

]]> By: John http://www.questbaits.com/blog/flooded-river-in-winter-give-it-a-go-you-may-be-pleasantly-surprised/comment-page-1/#comment-1487 John Tue, 19 Jan 2010 11:45:17 +0000 http://www.questbaits.com/blog/flooded-river-in-winter-give-it-a-go-you-may-be-pleasantly-surprised/#comment-1487 Hey pat- Im in philly here it's been about 45 - to 55 degrees this winter in the warm weather on our rivers we get cats and perch will they bite in the cold and what's the best cold weather bait for em? Hey pat-
Im in philly here it’s been about 45 – to 55 degrees this winter
in the warm weather on our rivers we get cats and perch will they bite in
the cold and what’s the best cold weather bait for em?

]]> By: Pat Gillett http://www.questbaits.com/blog/flooded-river-in-winter-give-it-a-go-you-may-be-pleasantly-surprised/comment-page-1/#comment-136 Pat Gillett Sun, 24 Feb 2008 16:58:47 +0000 http://www.questbaits.com/blog/flooded-river-in-winter-give-it-a-go-you-may-be-pleasantly-surprised/#comment-136 Hi Aaron, Being West Midlands based the Thames is not a river i have fished but bait wise i would recommend the 15mm frozen special crab boilies with matching paste as i have had good results using these on the four rivers i have fished over the last couple of winters. I generally chop the boilie down to around the size of 10mm pellet and then cover this in paste so it is the size of about a 16mm bait. I will then attach three half boilies on a pva stringer. This is very effective when fished in conjunction with a largish feeder (i use the large Drennan oval feeders) which is filled with 4mm pellets. I cut one end off the feeder and plug it with a mix of white fishmeal and brown crumb. This allows for a slow release of the pellets. It is important not to put too much feed in this time of year. With this in mind make sure you have enough lead on your feeder to comfortably hold bottom. Add extra lead if need be. I will often leave the feeder in the swim for an hour at a time this time of year especially in swims that i know. Regarding stretches to fish one of the best ways of locating barbel / carp is to check match results. Another is to ask in local tackle shops. Also just walk the banks of various stretches a few times and you will see for your self what is going on. One of the most important factors this time of year is getting the timing right. You are looking for a rise in river temperature preferably with some rain water coming in. This weekend and the next couple of days would be ideal with going much warmer after a cold snap. Any water temperature of above say 5.5 degrees C as long as it is not falling and i feel i have a decent chance of catching. My area of Severn Trent has a river line you can ring which will give you river levels and temperatures, I'm sure there will be one for the Thames (again ask in the tackle shops). I generally fish from lunchtime into dark for 2 or 3 hours as i find this can be the most productive time(probably due to it usually being the warmest part of the day). Although saying that if the river is high and coloured you will have much more chance of catching during daylight. A good way of getting to know a stretch is to fish it in favourable conditions but only fish each likely looking swim for say 45 minutes until nyou have found some fish. One or two casts with the feeder / biolie paste combination should be all you need in each swim. good luck Pat Hi Aaron,
Being West Midlands based the Thames is not a river i have fished but bait wise i would recommend the 15mm frozen special crab boilies with matching paste as i have had good results using these on the four rivers i have fished over the last couple of winters. I generally chop the boilie down to around the size of 10mm pellet and then cover this in paste so it is the size of about a 16mm bait. I will then attach three half boilies on a pva stringer. This is very effective when fished in conjunction with a largish feeder (i use the large Drennan oval feeders) which is filled with 4mm pellets. I cut one end off the feeder and plug it with a mix of white fishmeal and brown crumb. This allows for a slow release of the pellets.
It is important not to put too much feed in this time of year. With this in mind make sure you have enough lead on your feeder to comfortably hold bottom. Add extra lead if need be. I will often leave the feeder in the swim for an hour at a time this time of year especially in swims that i know.
Regarding stretches to fish one of the best ways of locating barbel / carp is to check match results. Another is to ask in local tackle shops. Also just walk the banks of various stretches a few times and you will see for your self what is going on.
One of the most important factors this time of year is getting the timing right. You are looking for a rise in river temperature preferably with some rain water coming in. This weekend and the next couple of days would be ideal with going much warmer after a cold snap. Any water temperature of above say 5.5 degrees C as long as it is not falling and i feel i have a decent chance of catching. My area of Severn Trent has a river line you can ring which will give you river levels and temperatures, I’m sure there will be one for the Thames (again ask in the tackle shops). I generally fish from lunchtime into dark for 2 or 3 hours as i find this can be the most productive time(probably due to it usually being the warmest part of the day). Although saying that if the river is high and coloured you will have much more chance of catching during daylight.
A good way of getting to know a stretch is to fish it in favourable conditions but only fish each likely looking swim for say 45 minutes until nyou have found some fish. One or two casts with the feeder / biolie paste combination should be all you need in each swim.

good luck
Pat

]]> By: aaron http://www.questbaits.com/blog/flooded-river-in-winter-give-it-a-go-you-may-be-pleasantly-surprised/comment-page-1/#comment-126 aaron Fri, 22 Feb 2008 12:11:39 +0000 http://www.questbaits.com/blog/flooded-river-in-winter-give-it-a-go-you-may-be-pleasantly-surprised/#comment-126 What's the best bait for carp and barbel in the Thames this time of year? 22/02/08.....What line and good spots along the Thames? What’s the best bait for carp and barbel in the Thames this time of year? 22/02/08…..What line and good spots along the Thames?

]]> By: Pat Gillett http://www.questbaits.com/blog/flooded-river-in-winter-give-it-a-go-you-may-be-pleasantly-surprised/comment-page-1/#comment-27 Pat Gillett Thu, 31 Jan 2008 07:43:56 +0000 http://www.questbaits.com/blog/flooded-river-in-winter-give-it-a-go-you-may-be-pleasantly-surprised/#comment-27 Hi David, I have never caught or really heard of carp being caught on the flooded rivers that i fish. Then again i still tend to try and fish where there is a decent flow as i am targetting barbel. Has Roy says in his comment it could be that the carp have moved into the backwaters etc. It may be different in coming seasons though because with the severe summer floods that we had a lot more carp have escaped into the river systems, this could make for some interesting fishing on places like the lower Severn. It could well be that it becomes like some stretches of the River Trent with numbers of large carp on certain stretches. Cheers, Pat Hi David,
I have never caught or really heard of carp being caught on the flooded rivers that i fish. Then again i still tend to try and fish where there is a decent flow as i am targetting barbel. Has Roy says in his comment it could be that the carp have moved into the backwaters etc.
It may be different in coming seasons though because with the severe summer floods that we had a lot more carp have escaped into the river systems, this could make for some interesting fishing on places like the lower Severn. It could well be that it becomes like some stretches of the River Trent with numbers of large carp on certain stretches.

Cheers,
Pat

]]> By: roy van goor http://www.questbaits.com/blog/flooded-river-in-winter-give-it-a-go-you-may-be-pleasantly-surprised/comment-page-1/#comment-24 roy van goor Wed, 30 Jan 2008 08:49:32 +0000 http://www.questbaits.com/blog/flooded-river-in-winter-give-it-a-go-you-may-be-pleasantly-surprised/#comment-24 Hi, I have caught several carp in flooded lands, next to rivers when they get out of bounds.. Carp seem to get out of the strong drift and go onto the flooded area’s..where there is calmer water Often they are hooked on only 3-4 feet of water…where normally cows are feeding.. Greetz roy Hi,

I have caught several carp in flooded lands, next to rivers when they get out of bounds..
Carp seem to get out of the strong drift and go onto the flooded area’s..where there is calmer water
Often they are hooked on only 3-4 feet of water…where normally cows are feeding..
Greetz roy

]]> By: David http://www.questbaits.com/blog/flooded-river-in-winter-give-it-a-go-you-may-be-pleasantly-surprised/comment-page-1/#comment-21 David Tue, 29 Jan 2008 23:16:18 +0000 http://www.questbaits.com/blog/flooded-river-in-winter-give-it-a-go-you-may-be-pleasantly-surprised/#comment-21 Do you ever contact any carp in these conditions Pat? Do you ever contact any carp in these conditions Pat?

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