Page 24 - RIFFLE4-flip

P a g e | 23 being and, in the case of protein, its very If you are fishing infrequently or doing mostly survival. However, I think they are both fairly one-off visits to various waters then meat, in my different in the way they attract fish or barbel in opinion, equals the best in results and many is our case. the time it will surpass most baits, the instant appeal being time proven, and, in my opinion, Fats, from my experience, are fairly instant in the fat content being responsible for that much their attraction, possibly because of their make- of the time. Processed meats are the easiest and up they are instantly detectable without the least complicated way of using a bait with high need for the fish to actually eat the food, and levels of fat. Proprietary base mix ingredients therefore in my opinion are far more useful in a tend to have much lower levels of fat than bait than high levels of protein for one-off or processed meat and, from that respect, show infrequent sessions on different rivers or better results when used if fishing a stretch stretches. Protein, it seems to me, is recognised regularly when any barbel is your target - but in only after eating the food. The more it is eaten my opinion no more so than meat in all its the more the high levels (if present) become forms. appealing as a result of that ‘feel good factor’ I described earlier; so appealing in fact, that if So, are you after the big one? Or are you looking only small amounts of food containing these for a session just catching whatever comes your high levels are present, even only every few way barbel-wise? Do you know if there are large days but often enough to educate a barbel that numbers present, or just a few? These are things it’s little parcel of food will arrive, eventually a you need to consider when choosing the type of barbel will be willing to hang around and wait bait to use. for it and is likely even protect the area from If you are trying to single out the odd big one others trying to get in on the bait. Of course, from a population then a fairly dedicated that is until a bigger or more powerful barbel approach is needed. As I have said in other arrives and so it goes on. Given time, I am sure – articles, an HNV bait with elevated levels of in fact I know - the biggest barbel – or at least protein, at least above 70% in my opinion, is the the most powerful barbel in the vicinity, will way to go, combined with a pre baiting dominate the area. campaign of ‘very little and as often as you can To achieve that end, it is vital that a programme apply it’, in order to encourage the bigger barbel of minimal and regular baiting is carried out. Too to dominate a swim. much applied into a swim will give the big barbel Another HNV capture – my Loddon PB – 15lb 8oz no incentive to protect the area as there is then plenty of the food to go around. That all takes time and is why HNV baits are best suited to a long term campaign on one stretch of river, and particularly so if targeting the bigger (or the biggest!) barbel in a stretch. Using it as a bait for one-off session will certainly catch barbel because it is a very good bait in its own right; but this will never see it reach its full potential and compared to meat, in the short term, will at best only see comparable results but at a far greater financial cost!