Ive set myself a little task this year, 
which is to catch winter barbel. I fish the river Tees, which is the second most northerly river containing barbel in the country and the most northerly, is only about 20miles up the road. Being in the northeast, our winters certainly aint warm but it has to be said, over the years, as with most places the winters are becoming a tad milder.
Generally speaking most people up here switch off angling for barbel around November and turn there attention to other species, last year I tried fishing all the way through to the end of the season for barbel, with no success. The barbel up here, seem to disappear from the match returns in the colder months, but Im working on the premise that they have to feed sometime. This year Im determined to put more effort in and with the things that Ive learnt over the course of this season, I feel a lot more confident of at least putting a bait somewhere near a barbel.
Which brings me to the subject of this thread, Im a great fan of boilies, pastes, etc, they have served me very well this season, in fact Ive had a fantastic season so far, much better than I had ever hoped for, I dont just put this down to bait, most of it has been location but certainly the bait has played a substantial part.
Im looking for a new bait for the cold weather conditions, this bait needs to be as attractive as possible, in fact I would like it to stimulate a feeding response in condition that perhaps arent ideal. I want to be able to use this bait from November all the way till the close of play, although Im guessing that it may be necessary to tinker with it during that period of time to maintain its effectiveness. I cant commit to any mass pre-baiting programs, nor do I wish to and will be fishing once or twice a week, on a stretch of some one and a half miles long. Now Im not expecting anyone to come along and tell me exactly what I need or give away any secrets, Im just looking for some guidance, so that I can decide on a bait that could works for me but that I have a degree of confidence in. If you wish to PM or email me that would be great, I know this is a complex issue but any snippet of information would be invaluable to me, so that I can build up a picture of what I require.
My first thoughts on this matter were, what do barbel need nutritionally at this time of year, what are they feeding on naturally? I know that during cold water condition they lie dormant for long periods without feeding, but they must use up energy in keeping there position in the current, certainly in flood water. So that energy reserve must become depleted at some stage and would require replenishing, so a bait with a high and easily processed energy content would be a good starting point, perhaps. As I understand it, the best source of energy is unsaturated fat and second to that carbohydrates, but I have no idea which source of energy is more suitable for cold water. Also Im guessing that any bait requires a good protein content, for tissues repair and the production of eggs in female fish, but what sort of protien is easiest for the fish to convert in low water temperatures.
Now we get on to the subject of attractors, as you may have guessed there are huge gaps in my understanding of this subject as a whole, so if Ive missed anything please do point it out. From what I have read, attraction in cold water is down to the solubility of the ingredients used, i.e. the more soluble the better. So Im guessing that fish oils serve little purpose as far as initial attraction in concerned, until the bait has actually been sampled in any quantity by the fish, also oil based flavours probably arent suitable either. So as far as I know, that leaves alcohol based and sugar based flavours, Ive read that combining these 2 types of flavour can have impressive results, Im not sure why, but Im assume it has something to do with the fact that the alcohol base is more soluble in water and the sugar base tends to linger more. Then there are the natural attractors, like betaine etc, would it be worth overloading my baits, or just hookbaits, with natural attractors and keep any flavour levels on the low side, is it worth adding a liquid food as well, or should I leave it out and use it as a dip for instance or to soak my baits in it. Anyway thats about as far as my knowledge on this subject extends, any help would be greatly appreciated. I know there will be some of you saying that Im over complicating the issue and that meat works fine but this is just something that interests me and Id like to expand my knowledge.
Cheers
Rich
which is to catch winter barbel. I fish the river Tees, which is the second most northerly river containing barbel in the country and the most northerly, is only about 20miles up the road. Being in the northeast, our winters certainly aint warm but it has to be said, over the years, as with most places the winters are becoming a tad milder. Generally speaking most people up here switch off angling for barbel around November and turn there attention to other species, last year I tried fishing all the way through to the end of the season for barbel, with no success. The barbel up here, seem to disappear from the match returns in the colder months, but Im working on the premise that they have to feed sometime. This year Im determined to put more effort in and with the things that Ive learnt over the course of this season, I feel a lot more confident of at least putting a bait somewhere near a barbel.
Which brings me to the subject of this thread, Im a great fan of boilies, pastes, etc, they have served me very well this season, in fact Ive had a fantastic season so far, much better than I had ever hoped for, I dont just put this down to bait, most of it has been location but certainly the bait has played a substantial part.
Im looking for a new bait for the cold weather conditions, this bait needs to be as attractive as possible, in fact I would like it to stimulate a feeding response in condition that perhaps arent ideal. I want to be able to use this bait from November all the way till the close of play, although Im guessing that it may be necessary to tinker with it during that period of time to maintain its effectiveness. I cant commit to any mass pre-baiting programs, nor do I wish to and will be fishing once or twice a week, on a stretch of some one and a half miles long. Now Im not expecting anyone to come along and tell me exactly what I need or give away any secrets, Im just looking for some guidance, so that I can decide on a bait that could works for me but that I have a degree of confidence in. If you wish to PM or email me that would be great, I know this is a complex issue but any snippet of information would be invaluable to me, so that I can build up a picture of what I require.
My first thoughts on this matter were, what do barbel need nutritionally at this time of year, what are they feeding on naturally? I know that during cold water condition they lie dormant for long periods without feeding, but they must use up energy in keeping there position in the current, certainly in flood water. So that energy reserve must become depleted at some stage and would require replenishing, so a bait with a high and easily processed energy content would be a good starting point, perhaps. As I understand it, the best source of energy is unsaturated fat and second to that carbohydrates, but I have no idea which source of energy is more suitable for cold water. Also Im guessing that any bait requires a good protein content, for tissues repair and the production of eggs in female fish, but what sort of protien is easiest for the fish to convert in low water temperatures.
Now we get on to the subject of attractors, as you may have guessed there are huge gaps in my understanding of this subject as a whole, so if Ive missed anything please do point it out. From what I have read, attraction in cold water is down to the solubility of the ingredients used, i.e. the more soluble the better. So Im guessing that fish oils serve little purpose as far as initial attraction in concerned, until the bait has actually been sampled in any quantity by the fish, also oil based flavours probably arent suitable either. So as far as I know, that leaves alcohol based and sugar based flavours, Ive read that combining these 2 types of flavour can have impressive results, Im not sure why, but Im assume it has something to do with the fact that the alcohol base is more soluble in water and the sugar base tends to linger more. Then there are the natural attractors, like betaine etc, would it be worth overloading my baits, or just hookbaits, with natural attractors and keep any flavour levels on the low side, is it worth adding a liquid food as well, or should I leave it out and use it as a dip for instance or to soak my baits in it. Anyway thats about as far as my knowledge on this subject extends, any help would be greatly appreciated. I know there will be some of you saying that Im over complicating the issue and that meat works fine but this is just something that interests me and Id like to expand my knowledge.
Cheers
Rich
