One of the interesting things about barbel fishing through the Autumn and winter is the amount of different baits that can be used to catch them, and how on some days they will favour one particular bait and ignore anything else.

With this in mind it pays to take a small variety of baits with you so that you can in fact change or experiment to find the bait the barbel want whilst you are there. Just because you have a good catch on say pellet one day, don’t become stereotyped into thinking that this method will always catch you fish as the barbel can be contrary creatures at times.

In fact I can think of many occasions over the last few winters where a change of bait has brought instant results. Also when fishing two rods less than 10 yards apart on different baits, i have had as many as six good fish on one bait whilst the other rod has remained motionless.

The list of baits that you can use is probably endless, but below I have listed just a few, all of which I have taken double figure fish with:

  • Maggots
  • Casters
  • Sweet corn
  • Flavoured Luncheon Meat
  • Flavoured Meat Balls
  • Trout Pellets
  • Halibut Pellets
  • Boilies
  • Paste
  • Hemp

Autumn / Winter Baits

I caught my first double figure barbel on maggots from the river Teme in December many years ago and they are a bait which when the rivers are low, clear and cold will probably produce more fish than anything else during daylight hours. However with the cost of this bait it is something I use less and less, preferring to fish in the darkness so that I can use other baits when the rivers are low and clear.

These other baits I am talking about are Trout Pellets, Halibut Pellets, Boilies, Paste, Flavoured Luncheon Meat, Flavoured Meat Balls and garlic hemp. All of these baits will catch on a clear river during darkness and on a high coloured river during the daytime.

Something I have found is that the pellets and Luncheon Meat are very effective at this time of year but as the water temperature continues to tumble through the winter then the Boilies and Paste become a lot more effective and are probably my favourite winter bait. However I will still take a small selection of meat, pellets and meatballs to try if the boilies and paste aren’t working.

I will also over flavour the boilies, the same as I do with the meat. In carp fishing terms you are creating an attractor bait that will emit a high flavour leakage, but will not overfeed the fish. The reason for this is two fold:

  1. When the river is carrying coloured flood water it will be carrying a lot of silt / sediment, leaves and other debris so it is important to give the barbel something they have a good chance of finding. In these situations the fish will not be able to feed by sight so they will have to rely on smell, obviously an over flavoured bait will be easier for them to find.
  2. As the water temperature drops through the winter the barbel will be eating a lot less and so a small strong smelling bait will provide maximum attraction without overfeeding them.

Flavouring Baits

Flavoured meat is a bait that has caught thousands of barbel over the years. Some highly successful flavours are garlic, liver, crab, spices and scopex. My favourite flavour for covering meat has to be liquid liver, a version of which I am trialling for Quest baits at the moment. I tend to add about10ml of flavour per tin before freezing. You can also try adding some fishmeal to dust the baits off for extra pulling power.

Meatballs are a bait that have caught me a number of fish when other baits have failed. To try and make them a bit different to other anglers’ baits I also flavour them. I have found that a liquid crab flavour on these products is a very attractive bait. 5 to 10ml per tin is about the right level. Again I will be trialling a version of liquid crab from Quest baits through the winter.

With the boilies I will add 5ml of flavour to about 50 baits before freezing them. I have done very well using the frozen special crab and am about to try the new Surf ‘N’ Turf which will be available next year. Recently i have been trialling a liquid crab flavour from Quest baits and on the second trip to the Lower Severn i took a cracking brace of 11lb 2oz and 13lb 6oz (pictured), whilst the river was carrying nine feet of flood water.

A couple of guys i know have been successful using the Rahja Spice on the middle Severn when other baits have produced very little and I know the Smokey Fish and the new Surf ‘n’ Turf have been catching quite a few. So again it pays to experiment to find something you are confident in.

Flavouring the above baits couldn’t be simpler, just add your chosen flavour to a freezer bag. ‘Scrunch’ the bag up in the palms of your hands so that the flavour is evenly dispersed then add your bait. Blow air into the bag, close the top and then give a good shake until all the flavour as left the sidewalls of the freezer bag and is on the surface of the bait.

Another good bait for feeding in winter is garlic-flavoured hemp. Especially as something different where the fish have seen a load pellets. This can be achieved in many ways, garlic salt, garlic oil, garlic flavouring or you could simply buy some of the Quest Garlic feast.

Presentation of meat and meat balls

Because of the soft texture of meat and meatballs some anglers have trouble getting these baits to stay on their rigs for any length of time and as such have very little confidence in using them.

To get around this problem I use a soft unwaxed dental floss hair (so it won’t cut into the bait). Then to avoid the bait coming off the hair I use either a piece of cocktail stick or matchstick instead of the usual boilie hair stop as these will not pull into the bait.

By doing the above you should get at least 30 minutes from a meatball (more as the water temperature drops) and meat will last virtually until, it is taken by a barbel or you replace it with another piece.

So there are a few of my thoughts on bait. Find a few that you have confidence in (through experimentation) and never become stereotyped to just the one bait, or it will definitely cost you a few fish.

Cheers, Pat Gillett

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