Hemp and caster

[Dave Taylor]

Dave never posts anything but good sense in my opinion, but I have to agree with Neil: £30 is crazy money for a bait for just a session, no matter how good it might be, why not persevere with micro pellets or tares as previously suggested?

What would I do with the 30 packs of arti. casters that I've stashed Nick?

Still cheaper than a green fee.

PS Me? Good sense? Good job some of my fishing buddies don't post on here!!

 

[Alex Gowney]

It all depends on the circumstances. If you have limited time to fish and are travelling a long way then £30 for a very successful day can be a bargain. Imagine spending £25 on fuel but neglecting to take hemp and casters, blanking, and seeing others bag up on the stuff . As many have pointed out though, you need to be fairly sure the fish are there.

I went armed with three pints of maggots today only to find the river up and coloured, much to my surprise, and much better suited to meat. Unfortunately the eels were out in force again and the bait wasn't in two minutes before they were on it. I thought there was a scarcity of eels? Not on the W. Avon, that's for sure.

 

[Dave Taylor]

It all depends on the circumstances. If you have limited time to fish and are travelling a long way then £30 for a very successful day can be a bargain. Imagine spending £25 on fuel but neglecting to take hemp and casters, blanking, and seeing others bag up on the stuff . As many have pointed out though, you need to be fairly sure the fish are there.

.

Agree with you there Alex.
I always order my casters before an Avon trip,..and hope that the conditions will suit.
I know some good local lads will fish other baits and use local knowledge to catch, but I have such confidence in H&C because it usually outfishes all other baits if you are on the barbel.
I love clearwater barbel fishing, and theres nothing like hemp and caster or maggots to get those fish to drop their guard and come out onto the gravel.
If I were local, it would be the occasional treat though.

 

[Nick Clark]

I wouldn't know where to start chucking that amount in. I'd probably not, instead I'd come home and forget and then... one day open the bucket and have murders indoors. Even now I have to explain why there are so many bluebottles about the house.. Castors & hemp does do the business, I guess the bigger/posher the river the bigger the tab.

You're: all right Dave. Keep yer arti's.

 

[Nick Clark]

Mind, I've got to get up in 4 hours time and take my sad little bag of pellets I bought in June out for another trip. Wish me luck.

 

[Dave Taylor]

Mind, I've got to get up in 4 hours time and take my sad little bag of pellets I bought in June out for another trip. Wish me luck.

Ah, sounds like good value there Nick.
At least you won't end up with 'Agincourt arm' with all that baitdropping!
Tight lines mate

 

[David Gauntlett]

Do they know the way by now and follow you to your swim Nick

Cheers, Dave.

 

[Neil Smart]

I guess what's crazy to some isn't to others. I bet my bait bill per match is close to that + entry fees on top of that etc.... People will spend what they can afford to at the end of the day. Maggots, casters and worms are fantastic baits though, and I certainly wouldn't show up without them. They've got me an envelope or two this season already!

Well I guess for match fishing it might be justified, but that's why the Joker was banned in that only the anglers that were sponsored could afford the bait bill, putting the ordinary Angler at a disadvantage.

Sure maggots and casters are a good bait, but they are somewhat of a quick fix too, and having them feed on the 'caviar' of baits is making them a bit 'picky' too, and for those without deep pockets again a disadvantage.

Spending as much on bait for a single session that is a third of the total food bill for the average family to me seems a bit cock eyed, and whilst I might be able to afford it occasionally I wouldn't be able to feel OK with it.

I guess if we just fed 'em with hemp and tares, hemp and tares would catch as much as caster.

 

[Nick Coulthurst]

Whether or not the H&C route is worthwhile or not depends on a number of things, how wealthy you are, how long you've been barbell fishing for, how often you go fishing, and how much catching large numbers of fish matters to the enjoyment of your session. In summer I generally fish once a week and catch between 3-10 fish a session on my hemp and crumbled boilies, and that's plenty enough for me. Forking out £20 on bait is not going to increase my enjoyment, so I don't bother. My outlook might be different, however, if I fished on a different venue, fished less often or were newer to barbel fishing.

Nick C

 

[Hugh Bailey]

I'm on the case with this - planned for Monday or Tuesday. Wimped out a bit on the casters but will add more maggots / hemp.

Am having nightmares tying hooklinks and supergluing fake casters on them - have caster stuck to me, hooklinks stuck to table, fake caster stuck to various family members.

Is it important which glue you use - the one I have seems to run all over - i hope it wont smell / look dodgy on the fake casters.

Also - do you glue them in clumps or ,in a line like on a hook?

Apologies for multi questions.

 

[Dave Taylor]

I'm on the case with this - planned for Monday or Tuesday. Wimped out a bit on the casters but will add more maggots / hemp.

Am having nightmares tying hooklinks and supergluing fake casters on them - have caster stuck to me, hooklinks stuck to table, fake caster stuck to various family members.

Is it important which glue you use - the one I have seems to run all over - i hope it wont smell / look dodgy on the fake casters.

Also - do you glue them in clumps or ,in a line like on a hook?

Apologies for multi questions.

Hugh,..put the glue away!

Use a baiting needle [ carefully !! ] as shown in the pic.
Just form a loop in the end of a length of braid [ no need to tie it ] and slide the arti's up the line.
Then just knot them in a tight bunch and snip the tag of the braid.
Slide your hook down the braid and tie a knotless knot, job done mate.

The hole in the rubber caster caused by the needle will close back up and the arti will be tight on the braid.
All the best
dt

 

[Hugh Bailey]

Nice one Dave - thanks!

This is sort of where I got to in the end - I am using flurocarbon - so I used a bating needle & threaded a few on each hook-link. Had to start sorting out dinner so will continue tomorrow getting set up.

Have also taken heed of your advice and will head to a stretch with a bit of form - I'd prefer to go somewhere a bit less "industrial" but I know there are fish in this bit so at least it will give me a chance to see if I can get it to work where there are definitely fish. Can then try in the more remote areas where the swims are a bit quieter.

 

[Dave Taylor]

Nice one Dave - thanks!

This is sort of where I got to in the end - I am using flurocarbon - so I used a bating needle & threaded a few on each hook-link. Had to start sorting out dinner so will continue tomorrow getting set up.

Have also taken heed of your advice and will head to a stretch with a bit of form - I'd prefer to go somewhere a bit less "industrial" but I know there are fish in this bit so at least it will give me a chance to see if I can get it to work where there are definitely fish. Can then try in the more remote areas where the swims are a bit quieter.

Don't want to start a whole new fresh debate here, but unless you are using a finer hair line, I find fluro gives an unnatural presentation.
Arti baits are normally buoyant, which counteracts the hook weight, a stiff hair would in my opinion render any buoyancy redundant.
Even on a relatively fast river like the H. Avon I will rub some ''Drop'em'' on the braid to pin it down and prevent a buoyant bait from wriggling about in the current. You can't do that with flurocarbon.
Mind you there are a mind boggling choice of hook link materials out there nowadays which are supposed to whistle up the fish of a lifetime!
Good luck
dt

 

[Hugh Bailey]

Bugger. I read an article about inline feeders that was going on about fluro. I have no idea about this. I have some braid hook-link material - I'll tie some up on this. :-(

I

 

[Dave Taylor]

Bugger. I read an article about inline feeders that was going on about fluro. I have no idea about this. I have some braid hook-link material - I'll tie some up on this. :-(

I

Don't flaff about on my account Hugh, plenty of guys swear by flurocarbon.
I just happen to prefer braid.
The only drawback with using uncoated braid is that you can get a wrap around on the cast.
I get round this by tying up some small pva stockings with a few 3mm pellets in and leave a long tag. I then simply use that tag to tie the bag around the neck of the inline lead and nick the hook into it. No worries after that.

 

[Alex Gowney]

I tie some .75 breaking strain mono to the hook, form a loop, pull it through the rubber bait with a baiting needle and simply put the caster back through the loop. A bit fiddle but a very fine presentation with the natural casters glued to the rubber one and, surprisingly, it doesn't,t come off or snap after very fish. Generally it's easier to tie the loop and attach the artificial then tie to the hook at whatever hair length you want to use.

 

[Hugh Bailey]

Gave it a go today on the Wey.

Wimped out a bit on the casters - 3 pints + a tin of hemp. Used a massive Fox dropper I bought years ago to dump it all in , then tackled up & waited (for about 1.5 hrs).

Tried the fake casters for 2.5 hours without anything - the odd large pull that resulted in nothing. To be honest I lost confidence in the bait and changed over to maggots. Plenty of silver fish, then a take which result in a broken hook-link. Stepped up a bit and connected straight away with a barbel of maybe 5.5-6lb - Yaay! It works!

Lost 1 more before being plagued with predators - perch to over 1lb and pike taking silvers. Of the 3 Pike 3 I landed, one was a good 10-12lb, but unfortunately didn't really count as it had come unhooked but I netted it anyway.

All in all a good day - 8 species including the target.Will use the remaining bait tomorrow.