Last season I managed to catch a few nice barbel from the River Trent and River Ribble, beating my Ribble pb with a fish to just over 12lb and catching an amazing 27lb sturgeon from the Trent. Unfortunately, the weather destroyed the last few days and I have been itching to get back on the rivers in search of those bars of gold.
My preparation started a few months ago and its time for the finishing touches. There are 2 main elements to my bait preparation, hopefully this will help you put a few barbel on the bank this season.
Hookbaits:-
Pellets – I get a pot of the 14mm pre drilled halibut pellets and pre drilled 8mm halibut & krill pellets, then add half a pipette of the essence of garlic oil. Give them a really good shake and seal the tubs, the garlic oil stinks! A month later I add the same amount of garlic oil again.
Boilies – I also get 3 pots of the Smokey Jack hardened hook baits making up. One I add the tuna liquid, the other two I add the SJ food dip with one pot getting a coating of the Antarctic Krill powder.
This just gives me options and sometimes a different hook bait can switch on the barbel to feed.
I also love to wrap my hook baits in the SJ paste, just to gets the flavour in the water and around the hook bait. Don’t get me wrong the baits work straight out the pots as well.
The majority of my barbel over the last few years have been on either 2 x 15mm or 2 x 20mm SJ boilies wrapped in paste. I might not catch the numbers but I am trying to target the bigger barbel.
PVA mesh bags:-
The other thing I do is make up a mix of 2/4/6mm pellets, 12mm boilies and boilie crumb all soaked in several doses of the Smokey Jack particle and pellet syrup. Just keeping mixing every week or so, to ensure the liquid gets on all the bait. I then put this into pva mesh, making up various sizes of the mesh bags, place in sealable bags and add some hemp oil. The mesh bags will then last weeks providing they don’t get wet or exposed to the sunlight.
I have been fishing for Spotted Fin for several years now and the range of bait is immense, the quality second to none and more importantly in today’s climate at a very competitive price, plus free delivery on orders over £50. Check out the website and look at the Spotted Fin range.
Remember the Spotted Fin Team are always available via the social media platforms if anyone needs help or advice on baits or the different angling disciplines. Tight lines for the 2023/24 river season.
