Twenty years ago you’d never had thought of fishing pellets on a river for barbel, but today they’re the go-to bait for many anglers.
Nuisance species such as perch, roach and eels aren’t keen on pellets, so that lets the barbel angler fish in confidence, knowing that when the bite alarm goes off it should be their target fish on the other end.
Pellets can be used on the float, but it’s with a feeder that they work best, fished on a Method feeder or in an open-end where a mixture of micros, 4mm and 6mm halibut pellets are mixed with a little fishmeal groundbait, finished off with a hair-rigged 10mm or 12mm halibut pellet hookbait.
The fishy smell of the pellets draws the fish in, making the feeder effective on powerful rivers like the Trent and Severn.
- MIXING PELLETS
The best catches come to those anglers giving the barbel a mix of pellet sizes to browse over. Invest in everything from micros to big 10mm or 12mm baits.
- METHOD OR OPEN-END?
If your river is relatively slow in pace, a Method feeder can catch but, for strong flows, an open-end feeder can get more bait into the swim on each cast.