Korda Krusha
It is coming to the time of the year, as we approach the clocks going back by an hour, where I think the seasons fully change from autumn into winter. With this in mind I thought I would share a couple of my thoughts on winter barbel baits.
Throughout the autumn months I would say that for most anglers a pellet of some description is probably the most popular of hook baits. Now as the water temperatures continue to get lower and I have much more faith in a boilie and/or paste as my hook bait.
Over quite a few years now I have continually found that as the water temperature drops below about 7 degrees centigrade the pellet hook baits become far less effective. With this being the case I will vary rarely use a pellet as hook bait after about November.
To get the most ‘pulling power’ from my boilies I like to over flavour the outer layer of the bait by putting some liquid flavour in a freezer bag (about 5ml to 50 baits) and then freezing them again. I also boost the paste in the same way. Using the Quest Baits Special Crab freezer baits in this way has brought me a lot of success over the last few winters. With this in mind Shaun came up with the Barbel Chops and paste, which already have boosted flavour levels.
If I am feeder fishing I still like to use a pellet mix (I have done well on the Quest Baits Mini Pellet Mix on the few
Lower Severn Double one of many to fall to the method
occasions I have managed to get on the river this season), but I will also add about 25 % of broken/crushed boilies to each feeder load to try and achieve a good strong flavour trail. These can be produced at home and frozen for future use, or with the aid of the mini Korda crusher whilst out on the bank. I have been thinking about trying to glug these bits / crumbs to almost create a kind of boilie ‘rubby dubby’ which would really get a flavour trail going.
By experimenting with the amount of holes that you block off in the feeder (and the consistency of the gound bait you use to plug the end) you can achieve many different rates of feed to suit the conditions you face. For example if the you don’t expect the barbel to be eating much then block off most of the holes and stiffen the mix thus giving a slow release. I like to leave the bait in for anything up to 2 hours in tough conditions and if I reel in to find the odd small pellet or boilie crumb in the feeder, then I know I have got the release rate right.
I will also add 3 or 4 half baits by way of p.v.a. stringer on each cast to get a more instant trickle of bait going in and hopefully get the barbel searching for more.
So if you fancy some cold water barbel fishing through the winter then be prepared to fish slightly differently to the way you have through the summer and autumn and I am sure you will reap the rewards.
Cheers,
Pat Gillett
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