Bait additives

[terry t shirt]

After an unsuccesful session and a conversation on the bank i realised i was probably putting in

a: To much additive to the groundbait mix

b: mixing innapropriate flavours in the same mix.

 

From this i've decided to look into the world of these additives to groundbait. I've looked at all the various bottles i have at the moment but not one gives an indication of how much to a kilo of crumb etc these are just the liquid ones. When it comes to the powdered i havnt got a clue. So now i'm opening it up for ideas and favourite mixes working on the assumption of plain brown crumb as most bagged mixes already contain all sorts of additives/ flavours.

Edited March 30, 2010 by terry t shirt

[Kappa]

After an unsuccesful session and a conversation on the bank i realised i was probably putting in

a: To much additive to the groundbait mix

b: mixing innapropriate flavours in the same mix.

 

From this i've decided to look into the world of these additives to groundbait. I've looked at all the various bottles i have at the moment but not one gives an indication of how much to a kilo of crumb etc these are just the liquid ones. When it comes to the powdered i havnt got a clue. So now i'm opening it up for ideas and favourite mixes working on the assumption of plain brown crumb as most bagged mixes already contain all sorts of additives/ flavours.

 

Just out of interest what things are you using and adding? I'm not all that keen on many additives preferring to dilute commercial groundbaits with crumb. Recently I have tried using dynamite liquids instead of the commercial groundbaits but it's a little too soon to draw conclusions!

 

Rich

[Anderoo]

I went a bit mad trying to work out flavours. E.g. this topic: http://www.anglersnet.co.uk/forums/Flavours-t684044.html

 

I came to the conclusion that they definitely work if you get the levels right, but still don't know how to get it right by measuring, just guessing. I also still haven't had a definite answer to the question that got the whole thing going, which was:

 

if you add (for the sake of argument) 10ml of liquid flavour to a pint of maggots and throw them in as loosefeed, does it have the same effect as adding 10ml of flavour to 1/2 a pint of maggots?

 

If you add 20ml to 2 pints (10ml to each pint) are you effectively doubling the flavour?

 

It sounds simple until you start thinking about it...

[terry t shirt]

Just out of interest what things are you using and adding? I'm not all that keen on many additives preferring to dilute commercial groundbaits with crumb. Recently I have tried using dynamite liquids instead of the commercial groundbaits but it's a little too soon to draw conclusions!

 

Rich

mainly the squirty bottles, marine halibut , worm ,scopex stuff like that looking on the shelves there seems to be a huge array of flavours. i also have sweetcorn concentrate at the moment its trial and error theory wise. Hence why i'm going to use just plain crum and add the flavours to it.

The amounts i think are the big question as opposed to the actual flavours themselves to begin with.

[Kappa]

mainly the squirty bottles, marine halibut , worm ,scopex stuff like that looking on the shelves there seems to be a huge array of flavours. i also have sweetcorn concentrate at the moment its trial and error theory wise. Hence why i'm going to use just plain crum and add the flavours to it.

The amounts i think are the big question as opposed to the actual flavours themselves to begin with.

 

As Anderoo says it's all a little complicated, are you adding flavour which change the taste of the crumb or a smell that changes it's attractiveness? A lot of 'flavours' smell great but taste awful, which is why I don't trust them! I prefer natural 'flavours' such as liver, glm or fish meal which are likely to 'smell' and taste more like the fishes natural foods. You could try adding other additives such as betaine which is a proven fish attractor and feeding stimulator.

 

As for levels, your guess is as good as mine! I'd er on the side or caution especially as many flavours become deterrants at high levels! Again as Anderoo says does it matter total amount of flavour or concentration? Also think about soluabilities, how long will it take for the flavour to disperse?

 

Final thing, what species are you hoping for? Are they more attracted by smell or sight? If we are talking about where I think we are, EXACT location within the swim is much more important than bait, picking the wrong part of the swim to fish to can be the difference between a blank and filling your boots!

 

EDIT sorry don't mean to sound so preachy! All above just my opinion, probably all wrong!

Rich

Edited March 30, 2010 by Richard Capper

[lutra]

Going back about 15 years i was doing a lot of bream fishing and going over to Ireland regular with a good bunch of lads. With all the prebaiting that go's with that kind of fishing, we went through lots of bait. We all had are own idea's what went in the best ground bait mix, but we grouped together to buy bulk stuff.

 

We all agreed Molasses was good stuff and it was much cheaper in 25 litre's from the farm supplies than little tubes in the tackle shop. So we all found are selves with 5 litre's to play with which meant we started sticking plenty in (a glug in a big bait tub didn't seem a lot). Didn't take us long to all come to the same conclusion that it wasn't a good idea.

 

I still use it now, but only a little dribble to sweeten the water for mixing up with.

[Tigger]

Going back about 15 years i was doing a lot of bream fishing and going over to Ireland regular with a good bunch of lads. With all the prebaiting that go's with that kind of fishing, we went through lots of bait. We all had are own idea's what went in the best ground bait mix, but we grouped together to buy bulk stuff.

 

We all agreed Molasses was good stuff and it was much cheaper in 25 litre's from the farm supplies than little tubes in the tackle shop. So we all found are selves with 5 litre's to play with which meant we started sticking plenty in (a glug in a big bait tub didn't seem a lot). Didn't take us long to all come to the same conclusion that it wasn't a good idea.

 

I still use it now, but only a little dribble to sweeten the water for mixing up with.

 

 

My m8 Steys just come back from Scotland on a bream session. He just used crumb, corn and maggot as ground bait (no additives or flavour) and had over 80 bream between 4 and 5lb. There was talk of aniseed working for bream amongst the Ireland brigade.

[lutra]

My m8 Steys just come back from Scotland on a bream session. He just used crumb, corn and maggot as ground bait (no additives or flavour) and had over 80 bream between 4 and 5lb. There was talk of aniseed working for bream amongst the Ireland brigade.

I used to go over to Ireland on the same weeks each year and fish the same pegs and waters to suss out what was catching as some of the mates would be fishing a match there the following week. Its never ceased to amaze me how different things worked well one year but not the next. There always seemed to be a top flavour or bait, but it never seemed to be the same one from the year before.

[watatoad]

I have been an angler for over 57 years and I have never used an additive other than the hook bait I am fishing with and I have only blanked once in all that time although I am the first to admit there are good days and there are bad days. I am not a fish and have no idea how any additive may smell or taste or cause a local repulsion problem like the various shark repellents used by divers.

 

I have tried various ground baits but inevitably return to crumb made at home from uncut loaves.

 

Maybe I am missing something by not using additives but reading Anglers Net I don't think so.

[Anderoo]

The point of using flavours for me is to create the illusion of food. When I fish places with lots of fish I never bother, because I can just use real food in enough quantites to keep the fish feeding. At low stock waters though I want to make it seem like there's loads of lovely grub waiting there so that when a little group of fish wanders past it's worth their while to drop down for a quick feed. When they get there, hopefully there's not actually much to eat, my hookbait then standing a good chance of being taken.

 

The main additive I use for this type of fishing (tench and bream) is a liquid sweetener which I mix with lake water and use to mix brown crumb. The idea being to get an unobtrusive dusting of crumb laced with flavour over the baited spot. To be honest, I'm not sure whether it has much effect on the tench, which feed best in clear water and daylight, but I have strong feelings that it may help with the bream, which feed at night.

 

As for amounts, 'one good squirt' per kilo of dry crumb seems about right!

 

The crumb is really just there to get the flavour down to the baited spot.

 

Terry, what did you mean by inappropriate flavours? I have done well in the past by using fishmeal groundbait mixed with sweetened water...

Edited March 31, 2010 by Anderoo