groundbait

[andyml]

hi folks,

 

i wondered if anyone of you could recommend a cheap but effective groundbait recipe?

 

i have found a good source of ingredients at Percy Chapman's in Twickenham but just need to get a good combination developed.....typically i will be adding sweetcorn and red maggots to the mix

 

I'm quiver tip fishing a large gravel pit for bream between 7~9lbs with the occasional tench showing to 9lbs....

 

ingredients that appealed from their Chapman's stock were..

 

red bread crumb

vitalin

crushed hemp

fishmeal

 

but i'd like to keep costs as low as possible (buying in bulk) but also be confident in my groundbait. i'm also interested in the proportions of the ingredients

 

thanks in advance <')Andy<

[bungral]

Twickenham? You live anywhere near there? Think I shall be fishing there sometime over the weekend.

[gilby]

I'm just using vitalin with micro pellets, some times putting in dead maggots and a little bit of corn.

 

If you use boiling water to mix it the vitalin binds quite well. If you don't want to play around some of the Van de Eyne method mix binds it well.

 

Cheapest place I have found for vitalin are the pet super stores like "pet city"

[Dick Dastardly]

Sounds very much like the stock level of a pit I used to fish on the Marsh.Due to the large amount of big bream in a shoal huge amounts of bait are often required to hold them.

 

I wouldnt bother with hemp as Ive never found it to be any good for bream. A combination of brown crumb,white crumb,layers mash has always worked well for me.The exact proportions of which will depend on the quality of the crumb.Basicly the bulk will be brown crumb and Layers mash with enough white crumb to get the correct consistancey.This will be determined by the fact that you want it to stay together well enough to ball it out but break up on the bottom.To this I add trout pellets ,corn and a few samples of the hook bait (ie dead maggots or chopped worm.) I use dead maggots in the feed rather than live ones as they dont break up the balls of groundbait and also dont burrow into the bottom. My preference is norlmally for worm or bread as a hook bait with sweetcorn a close third.

 

When using sweetcorn you can sometimes dispense with the crumb/mash groundbait and just put in loads of corn.

 

Ive always found it best to put it all in at the start.A typical bream session for me would start by getting to the water round 16.30 mixing up all the feed and introducing it then starting to fish around 1900.Expecting to start getting action around 2000 and it all over by 2330.

 

I dont think bream will tolereate lots of feed being put in over their heads. But if you really feel there is a need to top up the swim with anything other than a feeder on your rig then I would sugest just doing it with sweetcorn.

 

When fishing longer sessions on waters where I expect the action to be mainly at night I still stick to much the same regime but add an extra baiting up around 1000 in the morning.

 

Make sure you are confident about the numbers of fish you expect in the swim at any one time as too many fish not enough feed is just as bad as few fish to much feed.

 

Like I said though from the way you describe the water try first of all with really big amounts.Also try and avoid big moons (night or day).

[singy]

As mentioned already, Vitalin is the one. Get the yellow original variety. Get a sack of micro halibuts (the bream love them) Vitalin is about £8-£9 for 15 kilos, Mini halibuts can be had for £25 per 20 kilo. Use vitalin as is or grind down if you can be bothered. No need to add corn as it's full of flaked maize. Fish a piece of popped up fake maize over the top for a perfect combination. Dirt cheap bait and hookbaits that will last the season.

 

top tips from a tight northener

[andyml]

thanks for some really good advice chaps..

 

it's a very big pit and a steep learning curve for me not helped by a totally different weed growth this year

 

as in all fishing, location is what it's all about....

 

you've helped me on my way with some great groundbait suggestions

 

tight lines <')Andy<

[andyml]

one other question...

 

should the vitalin be re-treated in any way...bolied or soaked?..

 

it seems very dry and as if it might float....

 

thanks again

 

<')Andy<

[rich]

TBH, start off using plain dark brown crumb. Fish dont like feeding over light patches of ground.

 

Flavour it with the juice from sweetcorn and mix in a few morsels to keep them happy.

[singy]

It does need to be prepared. Soaking on the bank is fine, it will soak a lot of liquid up. best to prepare as soon as you get on the bank and leave for 30 mins-1 hour. Better still is to prepare the night before using boiling water (or water from hemp or maize production) though this will significantly increase the weight for transporting to the swim.

 

 

TBH, start off using plain dark brown crumb. Fish dont like feeding over light patches of ground.

 

Flavour it with the juice from sweetcorn and mix in a few morsels to keep them happy.

 

Depends how pressured the fish are. And in many years of angling i've noticed to my carp fishing detrement that bream will feed on pretty much anything. Even brown crumb goes very light after just a few minutes in the water.

[Steve Burke]

Another very effective and cheap ingredient is sausage rusk (obtainable from butchers if your local tackle shop or animal feeds supplier doesn't stock it). When it absorbs water it "explodes". It's particularly good in a feeder plugged with groundbait..

Edited July 17, 2006 by Steve Burke