hiya,

whats the best bait/flavour to use to catch these fish. They are all contained in a river I will be fishing.

Bream ( big shoals if they are around )
Chub ( not loads of them )
Barbel ( not loads of them )
Carp
Roach
Perch
Ruffe
Eels ( Yes I enjoy catching BIG eels )
Tench ( few and far between)

What sort/size baits should I use and what about baiting.

Very deep swim ( 13ft - 16ft ) and have had minimul success with maggots. Worms caught the odd perch but not what im after really. A nice mix bag would be good.


Hope you can help me out

Joel

[ 25. August 2004, 06:34 PM: Message edited by: J.K ]

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I've just got back into coarse fishing after an absence of nearly 30 years (been sea/fly fishing), and my recent trips have all scored very well with luncheon meat. Caught rudd, carp and tench, and its known to catch barbel and chubb. Not sure about the others but worth a try. I bait up with something to attract the fish but don't include the hookbait, that way the fish see it as something special. Might not work on your water though, but good luck anyway.

thanks .. meat doesnt really work. I have tried believe me lol.

thanks for your input though.

Just had a though mabey a nice piece of bread on the hook

If meat is not catching eels then I would suggest they are not there, I would look for somewhere shallower at this time of year.

Certainly on the rivers I fish the deeper swims are a waste of time in summer and autumn.

If meat is not catching eels then I would suggest they are not there, I would look for somewhere shallower at this time of year.

Certainly on the rivers I fish the deeper swims are a waste of time in summer and autumn.

Fishing below the weir I catch fairly easily .. have never blanked or failed to catch an eel,chub or barbel !!

Above the weir however it is very hard which is why I am trying to crack it.

Simple Maggots! I know you said that you have had minimal sucsess on them but I would be 100% confident that it is either your feeding or presentation that is the problem and not the bait.

FEEDING-is amassive subject which would require several articles to cover thouroughly but as a starting point may I sugest the following - If you are float fishing try the "little and often" method of loose feeding.Every time you trot the float down throw in 20-30 maggots on the same line as your float is going down,dont just throw them in front of you though.Take into account the depth and speed of the water to estimate how far down the swim your maggots will be when they reach the bottom you can then control this by throwing your maggots further up or down stream.Fish will be gradually drawn into the swim.Try and keep it as regular as possible.

However if the swim is as deep as you say I would try feeder fishing.This will make it easier for you to fish and also help with the feeding.There are two main types of feeder one for use with just maggots and the other with grounbait.Regardless of which you choose the basic method is the same.Cast to the same place each time.For the first 1/2 dozen or so casts just wait for the feeder to empty and then wind in.This is just to get the start of a bed of bait down.The more acurate your casting the tighter and usually better the bed will be.The feeder is not just an acurate way of putting bait around your hook but also regulates the amount of feed you are introducing ie every time you get a fish you rebait!The quicker you are catching the quicker the feed goes in.

PRESENTATION -Another massive and equially important subject but initially dont worry to much about shotting paterns or length of hook links.Look first to the basics of using the corect size hooks and line.For a mixed bag of fish I would sugest on the float a size 18 hook to 1.5lb nylon and on the feeder a size 16 to 1.7.You can always go lighter/smaller if you are struggling for bites and go a bit heavier/bigger if you get bigger fish move in.

A bit simplistic but give these a try then tell me maggots aint good for a mixed bag!

For the Bream,Roach and Carp try loose Feeding sweet corn with flavoured sweet corn with vanilla essence for hook bait,may have results in your unnamed river.
Regards,

[ 25. August 2004, 09:53 PM: Message edited by: medwaygreen ]

Deffinatly a feeder job .. thanks budgie it didnt really cross my that mabey I was doing somthing wrong but I was lol

I tend to use a bunch of maggots on a 14 (normally works lol) But I will try scaling down a tad.

Also .. mabey I could try open feeder with ground bait with pellets .. maggot .. corn aproach too.

Thanks y'all

You have already said you can catch below the weir but struggle above it.
On any weir there will be alot more fish below than above, this is especially true in the summer as the water will contain more oxygen, in the winter it is a natural food trap.

Just remember that there may not be as many fish above the weir as you think.
I would try a groundbait feeder to get some brown crumb and a few bits of loose feed down to the bottom.
In that depth of water and above a weir where I take it there is a fair amount of flow you are going to need a medium size feeder and may have to add extra lead to hold bottom.
If bites are very few and far between it could be due to over feeding or under feeding.
You will have to experiment.
If you need to get little feed to the bottom mix mole hill dirt with your groundbait or use the dirt on its own to plug in a little bit of loose feed.
This will add colour and smell to your swim but give the fish very little to feed on and on occasion get drive them nuts!

Or you could use a bomb with breadflake, worm etc and fish it static or twitch it through the swim.