ground bait

[dr bacardi]

hi,is it ok to mix up groundbait the day before you are going to use it?going to my local venue tomorrow it will be my 6th time and hopefully i will catch something this time ..funny thing i have no patience but seem to find some for fishing

[BoldBear]

hi,is it ok to mix up groundbait the day before you are going to use it?going to my local venue tomorrow it will be my 6th time and hopefully i will catch something this time ..funny thing i have no patience but seem to find some for fishing

Yes it should be OK to use the following morning but it will be much heavier to carry if already mixed.

Common mistakes when mixing groundbait is to use too much water and making it too stodgey. Ideally it should just be damp enough to hold together after squeezing in the hand. (with no lumps).

Edited July 23, 2008 by BoldBear

[dr bacardi]

Yes it should be OK to use the following morning but it will be much heavier to carry if already mixed.

Common mistakes when mixing groundbait is to use too much water and making it too stodgey. Ideally it should just be damp enough to hold together after squeezing in the hand. (with no lumps).

ok thanks,dont have far to carry stuff so will give it another go tomorrow.watch this space

[maxaldo]

Yes it should be OK to use the following morning but it will be much heavier to carry if already mixed.

Common mistakes when mixing groundbait is to use too much water and making it too stodgey. Ideally it should just be damp enough to hold together after squeezing in the hand. (with no lumps).

 

Would the ground bait not dry up anyway and justy end up being at square one again? , also, i don't understand what the reason for wanting to prepare the goundbait before hand is lol, its not an harduos task and it takes a few minutes and will be fresh. I'd also like to add on top of that, that when mixing ground bait, you should really only use the water found at that particular fishery, taking in tap water or bottled water can effect the living condtions and the overall effectivenes of the groundbait (apparently, but i dont know how true this is )

[Dan Dan]

Mixing groundbait should be the second thing you do when you get to your swim (after setting your chair up!) By the time you've got everything else ready, it should be the right consistency, if not you can add more water

[dr bacardi]

ok,will mix it when i get there just wanted to save time so i can get fishing

[lutra]

I always try to mix a bit before i go, I find it takes about 30 minutes of being damp before its just how i like it. so i dampen a bit up before i go and just perfect it when i get there.

 

If you like your method mix sticky so it will stay on when you have a big chuck, try mixing some up and putting it in the freezer for next time you go. Seems to be much stickier when its been frozen.

 

As for this only using water from the place you are fishing, i use rain water when mixing at home as i don't fancy the idea of putting tap water with chemicals in it in my ground bait, although I don't know if it would make much difference. One thing fish don't seem to like is ground bait with a different Ph to the one they are swimming in, so this is one good reason for using water from the water you are fishing at when mixing ground bait. However having said what the Ph of your ground bait mix is will be strongly governed by what it was before you added any water. The Ph of a ground bait is widely thought to be one of the reasons why some work better on some waters than others, as not all ground baits have the same Ph. Maybe we should take a Ph test kit fishing with us?

[cobra]

I always try to mix a bit before i go, I find it takes about 30 minutes of being damp before its just how i like it. so i dampen a bit up before i go and just perfect it when i get there.

 

If you like your method mix sticky so it will stay on when you have a big chuck, try mixing some up and putting it in the freezer for next time you go. Seems to be much stickier when its been frozen.

 

As for this only using water from the place you are fishing, i use rain water when mixing at home as i don't fancy the idea of putting tap water with chemicals in it in my ground bait, although I don't know if it would make much difference. One thing fish don't seem to like is ground bait with a different Ph to the one they are swimming in, so this is one good reason for using water from the water you are fishing at when mixing ground bait. However having said what the Ph of your ground bait mix is will be strongly governed by what it was before you added any water. The Ph of a ground bait is widely thought to be one of the reasons why some work better on some waters than others, as not all ground baits have the same Ph. Maybe we should take a Ph test kit fishing with us?

i mix my ground bait up the night before if you add flavours it makes it better when its had time to ferment also if your using sweetcorn mix with the liquid out of the tin i found it is a killer

[Anderoo]

You can mix it the night before no problem - in fact most top match anglers (who know more about groundbait than anyone) often do this. I'm not a top matchman, so I mix it on the day. It's one of my first jobs so it has time to absorb all the water and get that lovely fluffy consistency.

 

Interesting comments about Ph - ideally should groundbait be the same Ph as the lake water? Do different fish respond to higher/lower Ph levels?

[lutra]

Interesting comments about Ph - ideally should groundbait be the same Ph as the lake water?

 

Thats my understanding of it

 

 

Do different fish respond to higher/lower Ph levels?

 

Don't know. Most of the UK coarse species i can think of seem to have a good range of waters with different Ph's that they can be found living in. I think its the sudden change in Ph they don't like. I fact i seem to recall tipping a bag of lime in a river is one technique salmon poachers have been know to use to kill them so they can just scoop them out.