balanced feeder

[chris mc]

most anglers I see on the Avon fishing for barbel these days use a bolt rig, bite alarms and Donkey chocking pellets, They set up sit back have a kip, drink a few beers and wait for the fish to hook its self.

 

Were's the skill in that?

 

 

HaHa i hate the sight of bight alarms/bivvies on rivers ,bit of a hypocrite really as I'm prepared to do it on still waters.

[Guest tigger]

most anglers I see on the Avon fishing for barbel these days use a bolt rig, bite alarms and Donkey chocking pellets, They set up sit back have a kip, drink a few beers and wait for the fish to hook its self.

 

Were's the skill in that?

 

 

 

I've just tryed out the bolt rig but no bite alarms and just the one rod. I just cast out as normal, watched the tip as normal but had the baitrunner on. I found it great entertainment and the fish where hooked perfect in the lips. No beer either, only a flask of tea/coffee. Alcohol and fishing don't mix in my book.

[Guest Rabbit]

Neil, when do you strike at a trembler bite? I've been told I've got to sit on my hands cos I tend to strike too soon. I'm told you mustn't strike at the little pulls and knocks. So I guess a trembler is something specific?

 

its a difficult one John, I have missed a fair few bites this season, and I am still trying to work out whats happening. I have had trouble with chub picking off the pellets from the hair, they seem to be very good at doing this, and have learned I think that they can ''pick your lock'' so to speak.

We have to remember barbel have to position themselves over the bait, which will nearly always result in the tell tell tremble, that would tell me that a barbel is positioning his head over the bait OR it could be Mr CHUBB ''picking the lock.''

I do believe that barbel are bit more 'rig aware, once bitten twice shy, and perhaps feel around the bait a bit more than they used to, resulting in this twitch. That is a pretty bold statement ..but carp do it, and that is why the anti eject rig is so important nowadays...so if we apply the same principle to barbel fishing, and we do with the hair rig, but we need to perhaps look at the hook pattern as well. I have asked around a bit and had a lesson with a tackle dealer last week, he advised that to use a off set hook is a much better pattern than a straight shank. The off set hook will catch more readily when the fish feels the hook than a straight shank. thats the theory, and I have tied some of these hooks on a hair to see if they work, and if it ever stops flooding here I will try it out.

Point is you cannot bend a thick wire drennan specimen pattern hook, so I have a thinner Mustad size 10 Method feeder hook pattern which is more pliable. I was also advised to close the gape of the hook a bit.

So this I hope will be the answer to those missed bites John and we would be well advised to not share with anyone, we can have all those lovely barbel to ourselves.

[Guest Rabbit]

Neil, I speak from limited experience, but surely, if you balance the feeder, you should get drop backs if you are fishing across and even slightly downstream, assuming there is some bow in the line.

 

By the way, I forgot to say - congratulations to Anthony on his 12lb barbel!

 

Yes I agree, even down stream, but only on a small number of occasions in my experience, with upstream it would seem that most if not all bites are pull backs, in that the lead / feeder would be positioned in a way that a fish pick up on the bait would release the tension on the tip, as opposed to pulling the tip around, as fishing downstream in a conventional manner.

Another worthwhile point to ponder is the size of weight/feeder, I always try to use the lightest weight I can get away with, I fiddle around until I feel happy that the chosen weight is just holding bottom, the bites will be less of a tremble and more of a pull round, but of course you will not have the 'bolt' effect, as with a heavier weight.

Thanks re Anthony and his 12 apparently the bite nearly took the rod in!! on a 3/8 oz bomb, so just perhaps I could be right, well until the next time perhaps

[The Flying Tench]

Thanks, Neil. I'll be interested to hear how the new hooks work.

 

But I still don't quite understand what a trembler bite is. Presumably it's a bit different from the little knocks (and big knocks!) that everyone seems to say you should ignore?

 

Except Martin Hooper in an article in the Collins Complete Book of Coarse Fishing 1992: 'It's essential to hold the rod, feeling for bites with the line between your finger and thumb. Bites are rarely savage, rod-wrenching affairs. This is particularly so with larger fish and on heavily fished waters. The bites are often tiny plucks - more akin to dace bites than anything else.'

 

and 'Often barbel bites are extremely fast and shy. The angler who puts the rod on a rest misses nearly every bite before he has even cleared the rod rest.'

 

Not what the folks on the Kennet say! Who knows?