Here’s a new Beausoleil baiting package if you want to avoid accidental catfish captures
As a mixed species venue, Beausoleil gives you the option to fish for both specimen carp and massive catfish. If you’ve not fished a mixed venue like this before it may come as a surprise to know that catfish really like boilies and pellets. It’s in fact the best way to catch them here.
Every week, cats are caught “by accident” by carp anglers and while this may be exactly the sort of happy accident that you’re looking for, massive catfish aren’t everyone’s cup of tea. This spring has given me the chance to explore a range of options that are designed to give anglers more choice. To help them catch more of what they want and less of what they don’t. This may be of particular interest if you’re coming as a solo angler or if you prefer to leave the big catfish to your mates.
How I developed the “carp only” method
During the spring, as the water warmed, the catfish woke up and my winter tactics turned out to be a very effective way of catching catfish. While one or two are fun, they can be quite a handful so I looked at ways of avoiding them so I began experimenting with particles.
The most reliable method I found was a single bait fished over a large bed of particles. If I added chops or whole boilies the chances are I’d hook a big catfish or the occasional kitten. I was using our faithful Nutty Banoffee baits which although mainly nut meal based, still contain some fishmeal.
I contacted our bait guru and came up with the idea of swapping the fishmeal content with a high protein maize meal. As I was adding garlic to my particle mix for its digestive properties, I thought some flaked garlic would be the perfect partner for the particles and so they turned out to be.
New Garlic Specials Boilies
We’ve called these new baits Garlic Specials and they are 100% vegetarian. On the very first night I fished with them, I caught three exceptionally rare commons to 36lbs and I didn’t take much convincing that we’d created something special. As the test fishing continued I steadily upped the quantities. As long as I didn’t go too mad with them and load a spot with 100 baits, the big cats stayed away.
Carp Pellets
Following on from the success of the Garlic Specials, I decided to source some high quality, cereal based, 100% vegetarian pellets. After a little trial and error, we settled on some 24% protein pellets, 7.5mm, from Le Gouessant. These are a fully formed pellet with a slow breakdown time compared to other cereal pellets which have a tendency to turn to mush very quickly.
During testing I caught carp very regularly by dotting 20 or so Garlic Specials over a wider zone and then applying 5kg of carp pellets right over the top of the rig. This veggie banquet was of no interest to the catfish whatsoever but I was able to keep the carp coming back for more and more night after night by topping up each spot generously everyday. Now this might seem like a lot of bait and sure if a group of 4 anglers try this it’s not going to work but as long as you don’t use more than 40kg of bait total between you in one day then they will eat the lot. In order to differentiate these pellets form the standard fishmeal pellets we offer, we are calling these carp pellets.
Catfish Pellets
As we now have a dedicated carp pellet, we’ve taken the opportunity to update our fishmeal pellets. The new pellets will be available in 15mm and have been specifically selected for a longer breakdown time which will give the big cats time to find them. We’ve also changed the protein level to 35% to better suit the needs of the catfish.
Particles
As my particle based approach was such a success for me, we will also offer guests ready prepared buckets of particles. This is a good way of keeping a variety of different sizes of food items in the swim at all times to help ensure the carp keep returning night after night.
The Full Veggie Package
The new baits combine to create what we are referring to as the veggie package. A light scattering of Garlic specials combined with a balanced mix of carp pellets and particles. The result is a method of fishing that quite simply transforms the fishing at Beausoleil. No longer will carp anglers be restricted to setting small marginal traps for the carp and live in dread of accidentally hooking a monster catfish. Now, carp anglers can apply bait with confidence to either create new spots or rejuvenate old ones. The routine application of bait is fundamental to success and has enabled me to catch consistently without having to chase the carp round the lake. All the new bait items are available from our bait order form.
