New bait lures 16lb barbel brace

A HOME-MADE bait called the ‘boilie burger’ has accounted for an incredible run of big barbel from an ultra-tough stretch of the River Dove to a best of 16lb 8oz for Paul Garner.

And this week, the Angling Times columnist has exclusively lifted the lid on the devastating bait which he developed following what he described as a ‘eureka moment’. Using shop bought ingredients his creation has led to the capture of no less than seven double figure barbel.

Due to the large fish that reside in it, the stretch of the Staffordshire waterway comes under a lot of pressure with many anglers recording numerous blank sessions. With this in mind, the Nash Tackle consultant concocted an irresistible paste that he moulded into beefburger shaped lumps before boiling them to create a unique offering.

His innovation certainly paid off as his first bite came no more than eight minutes after casting out his hair-rigged ‘boilie burger’ in conjunction with a simple lead clip system, a 25lb Nash Missing Link coated braid hooklink and a size 10 Nash Gaper hook.

“I knew I would need an edge at this venue,” Paul told Angling Times. “It’s fished by many really good barbel anglers and reports were coming through that many of them were suffering a lot of blanks.

“To try and make sure I didn’t suffer the same fate I created a very simple and different bait that I was confident no one else would be using. The fact that I could simply tear the boiled beefburger-shaped lumps gave me a really versatile, unique offering.

“I’ll admit that at first I was a little dubious about using an ‘untested’ bait on such a challenging venue, but it did my confidence a world of good when I received a bite after just a few minutes. Since then I have averaged a couple of fish, and at least one double, on every trip including one of the river’s most sought after barbel – a fish known as Bullet Hole, which I also had at a lower weight of 16lb 3oz a few days earlier.

“This is a great achievement for me and was made possible because I decided to do something a little different with readily-available ingredients and it’s a trick that anyone can try.”