Stewart Bloor

Field Tester

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Due to the worldwide nature of the internet, I'm very much aware that we have all had different winters in terms of the weather. In fact, due to the hemispheres, some may have had the reverse and they're talking about summer. However, for me, living and fishing in the centre of England, it hasn't been a bad winter at all.

Like all of us, my fishing is dictated to by the conditions, and with prolonged periods of mild weather I've been tackling barbel on the River Severn. As we know, and especially so if that's your motivation for checking out the SBS site, bait is a very important factor. It is even more so during the winter months of the year when lower water temperatures present a challenge.

Even when we talk of mild conditions during the winter, it's all relative. It's still winter. The frankfurter sausage boilie has become a firm favourite of mine in recent times for barbel. You can get them from the Eurobase ready-made range and at just 6.20 GBP for a kilo that's fantastic value. Quality bait doesn't have to cost the earth and that's a fact.

As you can see from the photographs, the bait works. Of course, there are other factors involved as well such as watercraft, location etc. Once you've ticked all the boxes though and you've cast out it comes down to bait. As our baits can spend considerable time in the winter especially, while we wait for a fish to show up, you simply cannot neglect the confidence factor.

Like many anglers, I'm also a very keen naturalist as well. The sort of fishing that I do gives me lots of opportunity to engage with the world around. In fact I often say that angling is the perfect platform from which to view the natural world. Due to our mild winter nature has been confused and lots of wildflowers have been putting in an early appearance.

I would say that many fans of SBS Baits are carp anglers and I've also been pursuing them as well this month. The fish that I caught haven't been monsters but then again the venues that I have targeted haven't had big fish in them. Remember, you can only catch what's in there. Regardless of size though, I'm always happy to catch any carp during the winter.

There are a couple of videos attached to this blog and I go through my bait approach etc in those. I like the video approach, it captures so much more than just the written word. However, with my monthly blogs you get the best of both worlds! See you next month and if you're out and about yourself, tight lines!