Fancy baits, who needs them?

[Big Andy]

Expander pellets? My a**e. Having been to a local fishery(Barlow Ponds) I took a selection of baits as I had not fished there for about 2 years. I took 2 pints of maggots, some expander pellets, some dog biscuits and some sweetcorn. I started on float with 3 maggots on a size 16 which gave me some success for about an hour with some decent roach, rudd and bream upto about 1lb. Then it went a bit quiet so I decided to try sweetcorn, the results were amazing. I fished for the next 6 hours on corn and bagged up with bream, roach, small carp, rudd, tench and even a decent perch. So all I have to say is this, why spend pounds on fancy pellets, get some sweetcorn from your local supermarket, frozen is cheapest. 80p for 1.1kg.

 

Tight lines and even tighter purse strings

[chesters1]

bread

[Angly]

I would absolutely agree that some pellets are a little pricey. I worked out that the small tubs of hookable pellets can work out to over £30 per kg!

 

On the other hand, I've found bulk ordered standard coarse or halibut pellets (which I've found can be softened to use on the hook) can be had for £1.04 per kg (coarse), or £1 per kg (halibut).

 

No denying that sweetcorn can be a killer bait though.

Edited June 9, 2008 by Angly

[Guest tigger]

bread

 

 

What the series ?

[Mat Hillman]

Quite agree, I use sweetcorn almost every trip, but I prefer tinned to frozen, I feel the juice from the tin adds a little more attraction (and can be used to dampen some breadcrumb for groundbait)

 

Mat

[rarepleasures]

Since I haven't the room to take much groundbait with me on holiday, I took the advice of AN and cut what little I had with 2 x mole hill soil and added a cup full of fixed size pellets and a few grains of sweetcorn . I got the best session I ever had. I recon having to root through the soil kept the fish in the swim.

[Gone Fishin]

Sweetcorn, bread, luncheon meat and dog biscuits. Balls to Boilies!

[Newt]

It is not so much a matter of 'who needs' but more one of when you might need it.

 

Fish are notional and some days will eat anything while on others, they only want certain things.

 

I like to take a variety and start off trying the cheaper ones, only switching to more expensive if those aren't working.

[loopy]

If you go to your supermarket you can get hundreds of different baits from the humble bread to broth mixes ,flavourings, cereal even bird seed all alot cheaper than from a tackle shop packaged as bait after all how do you think boilees came about

A good tip for sweetcorn is to add yellow colouring, it give the corn a fluorecent sort of glow to it, and of course youve got red, black orange, blue and flavours strawberry, vanella and so on i use a broth and birdseed mix with a touch of strawberry for my pond fish, they love it

[rourke7719]

Expander pellets? My a**e. Having been to a local fishery(Barlow Ponds) I took a selection of baits as I had not fished there for about 2 years. I took 2 pints of maggots, some expander pellets, some dog biscuits and some sweetcorn. I started on float with 3 maggots on a size 16 which gave me some success for about an hour with some decent roach, rudd and bream upto about 1lb. Then it went a bit quiet so I decided to try sweetcorn, the results were amazing. I fished for the next 6 hours on corn and bagged up with bream, roach, small carp, rudd, tench and even a decent perch. So all I have to say is this, why spend pounds on fancy pellets, get some sweetcorn from your local supermarket, frozen is cheapest. 80p for 1.1kg.

 

Tight lines and even tighter purse strings

 

I use frozen as loose feed or to mix in a groundbait but I find tinned are better for the hook, I find they are a firmer grain and stay on the hook better, especially after a long cast.