fishing baits other than the standard ones.

[martinchick]

I had quite a bit of success with prawns. They seem to be quite instant with tench and carp. I fished them over a bed of hemp and the fish tore into them. The runs were ridiculously hard with fish tearing away across the lake.

When I say they are instant though I found that if the fish aren't taking them within an hour, at the most then it pays to switch baits going back to the prawns once an hour or so.

[Chris Goddard]

One of the most recently discovered fish baits was SMELT for Pike in particular. Smell of cucumber apparently??

[RUDD]

I do chuckle with all of these people discovering fish baits!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

Just about if not all UK species will eat fish eggs, most also eat fry.

 

Most groundbaits, pellets and pastes contain fishmeal as do a fair amout of boilies.

 

 

I use tins of tuna and salmon in spod mixes and have also tried blending them and

other fish products with crumb to make various pastes.

 

Also on the market are various fish oils that all attract fish.

 

Its simple really - fish like eating fish!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Andy Macfarlane]

Originally posted by Andy Macfarlane:

 

" Simple paste:

 

Take 2 slices of day old white bread and make a sandwich with the flavouring of your choice. I've used cheese, jam, marmalade, preserves, just tried mustard and it works well, meat spreads, fish pastes, marmite, Bovril, honey, golden syrup, molasses, liquidised sweetcorn etc. etc.

Put the sandwich in the blender and blitz at full speed until the sandwich has been broken down into a loose/dryish crumb.

Now add any other additives you wish to include. Not too much mind. A little squirt of 'Van Den Eynde Liquid Corn' for instance goes a long way.

Check the crumb. It should be slightly moist to the touch and it should be forming a loose dough.

Now beat an egg yolk and introduce that to you mixture a little at a time. half a yolk should be enough. The egg simply acts as a binder.

Now add any food colouring you wish. Red and yellow seem to be pretty universal.

Take the mixture and put it in a sandwich bag. Knot it and leave it somewhere warm overnight to 'mature'.

In the morning you should have a paste resembling play-dough. Take a pinch and roll it on the palm of your hand. It should form a stiff ball without much fuss.

Stick it on a hook and cast. "

[Andy Macfarlane]

Use frozen prawns straight from the bag. Perch seem to like them twitched under a float. I don't find them much use as a static bait, where the Perch are concerned. Other species like Tench are fond of them too but I'm no Tench angler so you'd have to ask one the Tench-heads.