Now its turning colder...

[TrevBoy]

can someone tell me how techniques will have to change on a big river like the Trent? Do colder temps mean smaller baits, less gb or more, etc etc? Or do I just carry on as normal and just expect to get fewer fish (or more )

[seph]

Most of my fishing is for Barbel, unless it is too cold then the float rod comes out for the Chub and Grayling.

I tend to feed less and use groundbait with a few boilies and pellets in with it rather than feeding pellet and boilies solely, as I do in the warmer weather. Hook baits will vary depending on the condition of the river, but not too much from what I have been using. If it is up and coloured then meat would almost be my first choice bait. Paste is always well worth using in the winter, I quite often just sit on a big lump of it, it breaks down slowly giving off a trail that fish will home in on, many times this has sorted out the better fish.

[Dick Dastardly]

I tend to go lighter on my hook lengths and smaller on my hooks.Same as Seph I cut back on the amount of feed.

[Bob Bradford]

Location,Location,Location...fish will shoal up in specific winter areas of the river and locating them is key, once located it is good logic not to go to heavy with the feed....afterall the fish are already in your swim, so just give them enough to stimulate their feeding and take it from there, I firmly believe hemp is one of the safest groundbaits to introduce....whatever the conditions, good luck.

[Dick Dastardly]

Thats a very good point that Bobs made.On some waters it is crucial to know/find where the fish are.One small drain I fish it can be down to a matter of 10' difference between catching and blanking for the roach.

 

A lot of my winter piking revolves around finding the much tighter concentrations of silver fish.

 

Try the same as I do and keep an eye on your local matchs to see what pegs the fish are in.

[TrevBoy]

Great tips, thanks. Will get me some hemp and start patrolling the pegs to spot the fish.