PAUL GARNER Easy-to-make paste bait
It’s deadly for roving your local rivers for big chub and barbel...
AS THE end of another river season hurtles towards us, hopefully there’ll be time for just one or two more short sessions before the shutdown. With the days lengthening and water temperatures slowly rising, this is a time of year to really savour, and I like to spend it roving around on my local river in search of a few chub and perhaps the odd barbel.
To hedge my bets for these two species, paste will be my bait of choice, enabling me to stay mobile and fish each swim for no more than about 45 minutes.
If a fish is at home, this is easily long enough to get a bite and, if not, I can quickly move on to the next spot and try again.
Priming spots
If the swims are not too far apart, I like to prime the next one I plan to fish with no more than 10 pieces of paste. This gives the bait 45 minutes to work its magic before I quietly lower a hookbait into the swim. Often bites can be almost instantaneous, as the fish, already on the lookout for another easy meal, quickly find the hookbait.
Look for spots where the bait is likely to settle. The edge of a crease line is perfect, as the bait will come to rest in the slower water. This is where the chub will naturally rest up too – out of the main current, but close enough to nip into the faster water to grab a meal.
Potent paste
If chub were my sole target then good old cheesepaste would be perfect for this style of fishing, but as I like to hedge my bets and hopefully pick up the odd
“The bait should be slow-sinking, and easy for the fish to pick up...”
barbel too, especially if the water temperature is rising, then I will use a fishy paste that’s brilliant for both species.
The bulk of the paste I favour is made from boilie base mix. A good alternative is to use fine breadcrumbs, which will make a simple, sticky paste. Either way, bind the mix with an egg rather than water, because this will produce a tough bait that will last around an hour on the hook without breaking down.
To give the paste a little more pulling power I add a tin of anchovies in oil. These ocean-dwelling fish might be small, but they pack an almighty punch, with a really strong and salty taste that both chub and barbel really love.
You can use other fish, such as tuna or krill, but anchovy is my favourite when the water temperature is still on the rise.
To mount the bait, I like to mould a thumbnail-sized nugget of paste around a small piece of cork attached to the hair off the back of the hook. The finished bait should be slow-sinking, and so much easier for the fish to pick up. The rough surface of the cork also gives the paste something to stick to, so it will stay on better. Remember to always keep the hook-point exposed, as this will help you hit more bites.
There are dozens of ways you could spend your last river trip, but the mobile approach is a great way of searching for a special fish at this time of the year, and I think it is a fitting way to toast the end of another river season.