Datum Bericht: 25-01-09
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Over the years I have used various groundbait mixes for the feeder,most of which I would make myself from I variety of different fish meals and crushed pellets. Fortunately there is now a vast range of ready done pellet groundbaits available and one I have had great success with is sonu baits hemp n’ hali crush and I now use this for most of my feeder fishing for barbel. The hemp n’ hali crush is 95% crushed hempseed and halibut pellets and is a very aromatic groundbait which is excellent at triggering barbel into feeding.
I will mix the groundbait depending on conditions. If the barbel are feeding well I will add a lot of pellet to the mix. These are normally a mix of 4mm and 6mm halibut pellets.
If conditions are cold and there is only perhaps chance of an odd barbel I will use the groundbait with no pellet added so I just have a strong aroma in the feeder with little food content to overfeed the barbel.
Copyright © 2009 by Rinko
All Rights reserved
All Rights reserved
My name is Paul Billington and I am from Preston in Lancashire, which is in north west England.
I first began fishing for barbel about 14 years ago and I am now fortunate enough to have a personal best of 15.08 from the river Ribble.
Most of my barbel fishing is done on the Ribble which is situated in north west England.The river is a spate river which begins in the Yorkshire dales and winds its way for 70 miles through Yorkshire and Lancashire before entering the sea at Lytham St.Annes on the west coast of Lancashire.
I first began fishing for barbel about 14 years ago and I am now fortunate enough to have a personal best of 15.08 from the river Ribble.
Most of my barbel fishing is done on the Ribble which is situated in north west England.The river is a spate river which begins in the Yorkshire dales and winds its way for 70 miles through Yorkshire and Lancashire before entering the sea at Lytham St.Annes on the west coast of Lancashire.
The Ribble is full of character and has a variety of different barbel swims ranging from fast shallows to slow, deep pools and bends.It has many underwater features and can be a very difficult river to get to grips with but once familiar with it the barbel fishing can be tremendous.
When I first began fishing the Ribble methods for barbel were what we would call ‘traditional barbeling’ which would involve methods like feeder fishing with caster and hemp or ledgering and freelining chunks of luncheon meat.Although these methods are still very effective today the Ribble underwent a change around 1997 which was the start of what I call the pellet boom.
When I first began to use pellets it became obvious very quickly how much the barbel loved them. Its not often a new bait works quickly but pellets were instant.
The pellets were very nutritious and fish began to put on weight at a phenomenal rate.During the season of 1997 I landed one barbel over 10lb but the following season of 1998 I managed to land seventeen barbel over 10lb in weight!.The growth rate of the fish had practically doubled on their highly nutritious pellet diet.
Back then types of pellet were very limited with fairly standard trout pellet being the angler’s choice. Although these remained effective anglers were constantly striving to give their bait the edge so began to do things like flavour the pellet and make pellet paste which was wrapped around the hookbait for added attraction.
As the popularity of the pellet grew the market responded to this and now they are available in all manor of shapes, sizes and flavours and not only do the barbel still love them but they are a very convenient and easy bait to use.
When I first began to use pellets it became obvious very quickly how much the barbel loved them. Its not often a new bait works quickly but pellets were instant.
The pellets were very nutritious and fish began to put on weight at a phenomenal rate.During the season of 1997 I landed one barbel over 10lb but the following season of 1998 I managed to land seventeen barbel over 10lb in weight!.The growth rate of the fish had practically doubled on their highly nutritious pellet diet.
Back then types of pellet were very limited with fairly standard trout pellet being the angler’s choice. Although these remained effective anglers were constantly striving to give their bait the edge so began to do things like flavour the pellet and make pellet paste which was wrapped around the hookbait for added attraction.
As the popularity of the pellet grew the market responded to this and now they are available in all manor of shapes, sizes and flavours and not only do the barbel still love them but they are a very convenient and easy bait to use.
Even today I still use pellets in some form or another for at least 80% of my barbel fishing.Methods and rigs do alter depending on the condition of the river and I will now go through a few basic rigs that I use with pellet fishing in mind.
My rig consists of the same feeder but often more weight needs to be added. Below that is a tail rubber which the feeder sits on, this gives more protection to the main line under the extra weight of the feeder and the swivel sits neatly in the tail rubber.
A stronger hooklength is required and as the barbel are less line shy in coloured water I opt for kryson mantis gold in 25lb BS.
My hookbaits in floodwater conditions are usually either 8mm or 12mm sonu baits pellet O’s and if I am fishing a straight ledger rig I
I prefer to use nylon hooklengths in clear water which vary from 12-24 inches depending on the pace of the water and the diameter is often the lightest I can safely use in the certain swim.In lower diameters my choice is reflo powerline and if a heavier diameter is required I prefer trilene XL.
Heavily fished for barbel in clear water often shy away for larger pellets so 8mm or smaller is often a good starting point.My favorite hookbaits are sonu baits 8mm pellet O’s which I fish on a hair rig.
Heavily fished for barbel in clear water often shy away for larger pellets so 8mm or smaller is often a good starting point.My favorite hookbaits are sonu baits 8mm pellet O’s which I fish on a hair rig.
When the rivers are running low and clear the barbel can become very wary so a bit of finesse is often required especially if the barbel are heavily fished for. I use a fairly standard feeder rig which involves a preston innovations 50 gram feeder fished free running on the mainline against a korum buffer bead to a swivel.
The pellet O’s come pre-drilled in handy size tubs making them a very easy to use pellet.I also use 8mm hali hookers which are a soft pellet that can be hair rigged just like a standard pellet . Both these baits are fished in conjunction with korum S3 hooks in sizes 10-14.
With the Ribble being a spate river its level fluctuates fairly frequently especially during the winter months when there is much rainfall.
Due to increased flow heavier rigs are often required and in many cases a larger more smelly bait can often bring more barbel.
Due to increased flow heavier rigs are often required and in many cases a larger more smelly bait can often bring more barbel.
will often use a 17mm halibut pellet. Hook size varies from size 10 korum S3 to a size 6 korum S3 for the 17 mm pellet.
These are just my two basic pellet methods which have caught me many good barbel from the Ribble over the years and I hope this has given you a brief insight into how effective and versatile the pellet can be.
'11.08 barbel taken on a 8mm pellet'
'13.07 barbel 1 of 3 doubles taken on a short evening session'
'clear water end rig with smaller pellet and hook'
'heavier flood water end rig with larger pellet and hook'
'one of the Ribbles largest barbel at 14.07'
