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P a g e | 21 naturally. If you wanted to do that, why not give of preoccupation. The fish we feed are not them natural food and dispense with all the constrained to eating only what we may offer it complexities? Worms, snails and so forth are and if it’s nothing more than the nutritional very appealing to a barbel, and very digestible! I value (using formulated bait) of what it can find am being serious by the way! They are excellent naturally there’s no real incentive to seek it out options! The downside is they are most and eat it, other than possibly any curiosity attractive when used in large quantities and value which likely will not last very long. they are not very selective. I would not state that by trying to copy the The advantage to us in formulating our own bait nutritional profile of a barbels’ natural food you is the ability to elevate the levels of those will end up with something totally unappealing, compounds within a food that the barbel find but I doubt that it would be a blindingly good most attractive, giving such strong signals of bait. You must not lose sight of the fact you are nutrition that the barbel knows instinctively that not trying to feed the barbel per se’, you are it will do very well by searching this food out by trying to catch them and to that end a bait is just following the scent, and then eating it; hopefully that - a bait! Talking formulated bait, in my out competing its’ natural food, not just in its opinion we must consistently offer the barbel initial attraction, but finally in what I believe is those compounds within its natural food that it the nitty-gritty of it all, providing it with that all finds most appealing, but in higher levels. Levels important ‘feel good factor’ that it will at which it could not hope to find in anything remember time and again. other than our bait, so making our bait something which is much more desirable to eat I think many anglers get hung up on feeding the than anything it can find naturally. barbel a balanced nutritional profile, and trying to emulate that – would you even know what it These, of course, are the fats and proteins which is? Moreover, how you would identify it? To do are absolutely essential to its survival and why so you would have to copy some very nature has given these ingredients such an complicated protein structures. Factor into this appeal to barbel and all fish. Why just these two that, in common with any wild creature, its diet – fats, and proteins? is probably quite varied, alters from season to These two elements are the ones which are season, and even from river to river, and I very most valuable to the barbel. In the case of much doubt that it would be possible. protein, it is absolutely vital to its survival and In my opinion, it is just unnecessary. Of course therefore I believe these two factors are we have to feed them, but not to the point of absolutely vital to a good barbel bait. forgetting the purpose of our bait, which is to Fats are used preferentially for energy. They are attract a fish and convince it to eat it in stored by their bodies for that purpose so the preference to anything else available to it. And barbel has reserves to call upon, should they be of course, to convince the fish that the bait is needed. This is why I believe fat is so important safe to eat! If I wanted to feed fish as a hobby I to a barbel, especially with the onset of winter, would take up koi rearing! A captive fish will eat and though far less food is being eaten because what its keeper gives it because that is all it is of its metabolism slowing down, it must ever going to get, the purpose of the food is to maintain reserves for energy even though much promote good health and attractive features, less is being used. If no fat is available, and the something that may concern us in the bigger barbels’ reserves drop too low, protein will be picture as anglers, but certainly not to the point