Baits

[ron bell]

During a trip to Denmark I mentioned to a business colleage that I was a sea angler. He said his brother was a scientist for the Danish Institute for Fisheries Research, lab. just outside Esbjerg.I was invited to the research lab and spent two afternoons there.Most of the tanks were filled with cod and flounder, a couple of skate and the odd pollack. All the cod were over 5lb and up to 20lb.I asked how did they feed the fish, they did a demonstration. Over the two days all the cod fed no higher than a metre from the bottom. I asked what did the fish prefer, they showed me(I was only watching the cod)a cod will take anything that is in front of it,throw it around its mouth and if it likes it,will swallow it. I asked if the fish had a preference, they said no, most fish especially cod had no preference, they stated the first bait they encountered they ate.They used fish baits, mackeral,squid, worm and crab. The fish didnt defer from their swim pattern.I can only assume thats its not the bait you use, its if you cast the bait in front of the fish.

Ron

[C0DDY]

well i carnt say i can cast that far to denmark,but ere goes,anything on me hook i will try

[Coalycatcher]

very illuminating post Ron. When you say that all the feeding took place at no higher than a metre, was it a case of even feeding within that metre or was it mainly on the bottom but occasionally as high as a metre?

Tight lins,

Geoff

[billfish]

i found a site about 2 years ago but cant find it now i had printed a few sheets on it.
experiments were done using a circular tank so that they could produce a current
in either direction, they had a pipe of only 1mm fed in2 the tank & they were trying
different attractants through the pipe. they tryed alsorts,
but believe it or not the attractants that made the cod go made 4 it was-
attractos
strong- water u have washed your hands in,
conger skin,
nerine worm.
moderate- sponges,
anemone's,
lug worm,
cockles.
weak- edible crab.
hard 2 believe eh lads?

repulsion
strong- spider crab intrails,
butterfish.
moderate- bullhead.

weak- weever fish,
plaice,
blenny.
what u's all think????

[hibbdogg]

(During a trip to Denmark I mentioned to a business colleage that I was a sea angler. He said his brother was a scientist for the Danish Institute for Fisheries Research, lab. just outside Esbjerg.I was invited to the research lab and spent two afternoons there.Most of the tanks were filled with cod and flounder, a couple of skate and the odd pollack. All the cod were over 5lb and up to 20lb.I asked how did they feed the fish, they did a demonstration. Over the two days all the cod fed no higher than a metre from the bottom. I asked what did the fish prefer, they showed me(I was only watching the cod)a cod will take anything that is in front of it,throw it around its mouth and if it likes it,will swallow it. I asked if the fish had a preference, they said no, most fish especially cod had no preference, they stated the first bait they encountered they ate.They used fish baits, mackeral,squid, worm and crab. The fish didnt defer from their swim pattern.I can only assume thats its not the bait you use, its if you cast the bait in front of the fish.)




I would imagine though they (cod) will have there favorite foods at different times of the year. It's like a bear picking at wild berries when there’s big fat salmon running up the river. Were the tanks very big? As they would need to be huge to create a realistic environment so the current wasn’t running the same way constantly. Also if the pumps filters etc are mechanical I would imagine the current will be the same all the time thus resulting in the food being taken at the same place all the time, would be more like a river than the sea . Would have been interesting to put say 5kg of each bait in and see which they liked the best. Just my opinion but still very interesting post nice one.

[cap'nhaddock]

i found a site about 2 years ago but cant find it now i had printed a few sheets on it.
experiments were done using a circular tank so that they could produce a current
in either direction, they had a pipe of only 1mm fed in2 the tank & they were trying
different attractants through the pipe. they tryed alsorts,
but believe it or not the attractants that made the cod go made 4 it was-
attractos
strong- water u have washed your hands in,
conger skin,
nerine worm.
moderate- sponges,
anemone's,
lug worm,
cockles.
weak- edible crab.
hard 2 believe eh lads?

repulsion
strong- spider crab intrails,
butterfish.
moderate- bullhead.

weak- weever fish,
plaice,
blenny.
what u's all think????

This is from Dr Mike Ladles site (http://www.mikeladle.com).... well worth a read. He is a fishing scientist and he knows what he is talking about

[Bass-ic Instinct]

How come i have caught a cod on a plug then. Rather goes against the theory. Although i will agree that they show no bait preferation as they are hungry predators

[dabcatcher]

cod or any fish in that sort of tank will have become accustomed to eating all food items that are put in the tank as quickly as possible or miss out.

in a natural environment they will actually source out a certain food items depending on whats available.

yes at certain times when theres lots of variety available say after a storm they will go along picking up whatever is washed out.

[billfish]

This is from Dr Mike Ladles site (http://www.mikeladle.com).... well worth a read. He is a fishing scientist and he knows what he is talking about

yes thats the 1 m8t:) cheers m8t i could'nt find it again when looking 4 it.

[m.b3]

fish are competing for food in a tank though? it may similate a large shoal of cod in a natural habitat. fish can be fussy on occasions?

[danix]

My personal feeling with any fish, not just cod, is that the bait's effectiveness is in attracting the fish, not necessarily how it looks.
Big bait pennels way work because they diffuse more juice and not just because cod prefer a 'big bait'.
I also beleive that if a fish is coming inshore to feed on x, then x will always be you're best bait even though y and z may catch.

[cap'nhaddock]

most cod I've seen from the Bristol Channel have been stuffed with hard crabs. Others report them being stuffed with shrimp. A big bait attracts crabs, crabs scuttle about making vibrations, cod or bass sense this, comes and swipes crabs and is sometimes caught, sometimes not; this would explain the "swipe" type bites we have all had,the fish has grabbed some crabs off but has not taken the hook. I've heard people say, it spat out a crab when I was unhooking it. Same applies to shrimp/prawns feeding off a big bait. A variation of the self baiting livebait rig ?

[John Mason]

How come i have caught a cod on a plug then. Rather goes against the theory. Although i will agree that they show no bait preferation as they are hungry predators

Cod are certainly predators!

They are not too common around here, but one December night a few years ago I had a tremendous take on a lug bait only to lose the fish in the surf. When the end-gear came in there was a 6" rockling, somehow with a 3/0 Viking inside its mouth, but clearly mangled a bit.

Next night I livebaited the same stage of the tide with another one and after a while the rod slammed over and in came a 6.5lb codling. Classic case of learn by experience!

I hasten to add this has not since been repeated but at the time there was that satisfaction that careful thought into one's angling brings :)

Cheers - John

[billfish]

Cod are certainly predators!

They are not too common around here, but one December night a few years ago I had a tremendous take on a lug bait only to lose the fish in the surf. When the end-gear came in there was a 6" rockling, somehow with a 3/0 Viking inside its mouth, but clearly mangled a bit.

Next night I livebaited the same stage of the tide with another one and after a while the rod slammed over and in came a 6.5lb codling. Classic case of learn by experience!

I hasten to add this has not since been repeated but at the time there was that satisfaction that careful thought into one's angling brings :)

Cheers - John

same thing happend 2 me m8t, only the rockling was'nt mangled, it was bit clean
in half. 1 big hit, i thought i had just hit the kelp on the way in until i seen what was left of the rockling.:)