Prebaiting for Comizo Barbel!

Today we started our long term pre-baiting for Comizo barbel. We have set our objective on Comizo barbel of the 10kg caliber and we have 3 weeks to make the baiting campaign and do fish it!

I have tried to get information about the best method to use in order to pre-bait (long term) for Comizo and Barbel in lakes, it’s no easy to find this info, so we are using a mix of methods tried and tested for carp, mixed with plenty of hemp and some ideas of our own.

It was as cracking day in too many ways, and a joy in comparison with the carp battle we had yesterday (I spent too many hours up a tree due to a certain error). Today’s high temperatures & brisk wind combined making as my Mum would say – «a day to be alive», from start to end the day remained spiritually «alto», and the added visit from an Osprey overhead did wonders to peg happiness on the roof of the sky above us..

On ground level we were pre-baiting, and very content with our sloppy fish mix! The mix made consisted of the old chestnut classic hemp, added to this was tuna, sardines, cat-food, and cream. The idea of the mix was to put a strong signal in but not bait. The lake it’self I have fished before with some success. Campillo is about 100 acres and stuffed full of Barbel. We used a large (perfect for the job) Starbaits spod rocket – to lance our liquid to a range of about 50m in 5m/6m of water next to a deeper channel.

I am really confident with the liquid slop bait.

When fish feed naturally they create a cloud on the lake bed, in my mind presenting an artificial cloud full of liquidized food, has got to wet fish appetite!

We tested our cloud slop groundbait mix at close range on the bankside, and it was the dog’s, our observation of the cloud’s longevity and column lasted forever!

So while clouds in the sky were not happening, several liters of cloud was going in the water column. It was our first pre-baiting session on the water and one to be continued tomorrow as we make our 3 week long pre-bait..

The water temperature bankside measured 12 Deg C. I believe with this temp. fish are fresh on the move, I say this because of what I have seen on other waters here. Most of which are not fished (during winter), I think this element plays a part in explaining slow reactions and catch rates. The lack of food going into all Spanish waters in comparison with the UK could effectively create a temporal «shut-down», for the species. If no-one was putting bait in, the fish can switch off, it makes sense. At least that is a theory I feel holds well at this time.

Fish in the UK on the other hand have constant quality bait going in 24/7 all year round, so while there’s food to be had and with convenience fish will eat. The other thing to think about is the stomach, if your stomach had been practically frozen and shut-off for 4 months, how would you feel? You might not want to eat a prawn cocktail, beefsteak and chocolate fudge cake, first off. Your nose would however function and involuntarily you would smell an interesting cloud drifting in the water.

I hope that our liquid fish smell washed over those Comizo today, if it did then stomachs might start to trigger, to promote the search for food, that’s the crude version and basic theory behind our fish liquid food mix made today, and some…..

Well, tomorrow I will be out there again, never far away.