Not luncheon meat ...

[Peter Wilde]

For years I have been using luncheon meat cubes as my go-to (and reasonably successful) easy bait for shortish sessions after chub and barbel in my local river.

However, this season it has started to attract too many eels. (Nice to see these recovering in numbers, but I would rather not hook any, especially while they are still on the endangered list).

So my question - what other baits would be your standbys for this kind of session? Desirable qualities - traditional (no boilies or hair rigs!), easy to source, easy to use, typically on a rolling leger using roving tactics - so ideally with the whole hook covered, to avoid picking up weed). But less meaty!

I do use bread quite a bit, especially in winter, but it does not produce barbel. Been wondering about cheese, but maybe the eels like that too?

What do you think?

[Wallys-Cast]

There's not much else that eels won't eat Peter.
Prawns would be a good choice for covering the hook and for fish catching capabilities but cheese and bread would be the best bet to try and avoid eels.

Wal.

[Pallenpool]

Now this maybe of the beaten track for TFF inclusion - but if you were doing well with L.M. and the Eel issue is turning you away from this and bearing in mind what Wal has pointed out - Eels will take almost anything! - I would bite my tongue and fish a good length hair rig it may not be of your choice but it will avoid (in most cases) deep hooking an Eel enabling a safe return - I would also up the size of the offering, it never ceases to amaze me the bait sizes Barbel and larger Chub manage to take - sometimes in the name of fish welfare a modern method can pay dividends.

[Olly]

A large lump of paste - whatever you make it from - complies with your request! But avoiding eels - well??

[Dave Burr]

All points covered in the above two answers Peter, I would add that I have caught eels on cheese paste There's no escaping them at times.

It just occurred to me that a sausage meat (salami, chorizo etc) that comes with an outer skin may keep the eels at bay as they often whittle the bait down to bite size.

[Kev D]

Not helpful ,but when we used to fish for eels deliberately below Arundel bridge , cheese out-scored everything as bait!

[Michael]

I actually think it would be harder to name baits that eels dont eat!...

[Old Man River]

As Pallenpool says, maybe stick with larger baits, eels nibble away at Spam , leaving a bait with visible bite marks . To prolong bait life, gently fry Spam for a tougher skin , it will prolong the bait resitance to eel nibbles . Failing that , try a Halibut pellet, they are quite a hard bait, that are readily accepted by Chub and Barbel, but Eel resistant .

OMR

[Aitch]

Pepperami is a good bait... I'm not sure if Eels are partial to it though

[DWW]

Although I have not tried it myself ( I dont mind catching eels ) the use of garlic on meat and in pastes is I am told the perfect foil for eels but does still attract chub and barbel . The use of garlic salt or the liquid garlic pastes are the ways colleagues have used flavourings on meat . The powder or garlic paste is placed in a sealable bag then the meat cubes put in , the bag is sealed and shaken then put in the freezer . On thawing out the flavour is drawn into the meat .
I have used this method with curry powders on meat with great effect .
I have checked my bait fridge and a number of the pre bought pellets and glugs for barbel have garlic in them .
Just be aware that the garlic salt and garlic pastes do cause your fingers to smell of garlic when you are handling the bait , so be aware ! It will keep the vampires away as well as the eels !
Tight Lines !