Over the course of centuries the slingshot evolved into a catapult. The catapult soon became a useful item for the angler and many different designs hit the market which specifically met the need of the individual to fire out maggots, particles, pellets, boilies and much more. Throwing sticks have also become popular and it is possible to whip boilies out some considerable distances, so long as they can stand up to the centrifugal force that this creates. Then of course there are marker floats and spod rods as well. We have reels designed and engineered with massive spools that can hold over 400 yards of line and rods capable of casting far in excess of 100 yards.
But some anglers wanted more than that. Pinpoint accuracy close to features such as overhanging trees or reed beds on the far bank was the demand and to meet this requirement someone came up with the Bait Boat. Now I personally do not own one (and don’t intend to) but I don’t hate them as such. I am sure that for some anglers who may be unable for physical reasons to use a catapult they are a Godsend. It’s just that, to me anyway, it takes some of the skill away from our sport.
I’ll give you an example. Some years ago my mate, Mac, and I were tench fishing on a smallish gravel pit in Corringham, Essex. At the time, although I knew of bait boats I had never seen one in use, but during a walkabout break we came across two young lads fishing side by side. One of them had a bait boat and was guiding it towards a bank of rushes on the far side about 40 yards away (from where you could not fish). As we stood and watched he manoeuvred it to about a foot from the rushes and dropped his boilies. Now as I said earlier I knew nothing about bait boats until then and I said to him “That’s going to be one hell of a cast to put your bait there”. He looked at me and said “My bait was in the boat along with the other boilies”. It was at that point that I saw that his rod was in the rests with the bale arm open and the line heading towards the opposite bank. But where is the skill in that? We then found out that he had caught seven carp and his mate none and, according to his mate, he would not let him borrow the boat so that he could catch his share of fish. On our next visit they both had a bait boat. Well, I suppose his mate thought, ‘if you can’t beat ‘em, join ‘em’.
No bait boat required.
I began to visualise a scene on larger pits and lakes where it might be 100 yards or so to the opposite bank. Angler ‘A’ has overhanging trees to his right, but prefers to fish against the reed-mace on the opposite bank. Angler ‘B’ is on the opposite bank with the reed-mace to his right but prefers to fish under the trees to the right of angler A. They each have a bait boat and can achieve this objective. But why not just change places and fish the near bank instead?
However, seldom are there only two anglers on a big fish venue; there could well be a couple of dozen. Imagine if they all had bait boats which would be criss-crossing the water all day (and night). It would resemble the English Channel with the P & O Ferries plying between Dover and Calais.
This all led me to thinking that maybe I could capitalise on this phenomenon and make a bob or two. Maybe I could set up a website, and name it bbfcfds.co.uk (that is: Bait Boat Freshly Cooked Food Delivery Service) Slogan – From Bait Boat to Bivvy to Belly.
My schedule would be made known on my website and I would set up position on any given lake (with the permission of the owners of course) in order to provide a fresh food delivery service specifically for the Bait Boat Boys. They would send their orders (with payment – cash only) across in their bait boats to my portable bait boat docking port and I would collect their orders and then return them a freshly cooked meal of their choice.
For those anglers unfortunate enough not to own a bait boat, I would provide my own. This would be a model that I have had especially converted to carry a large microwave oven, which had been converted to run on a car battery.
Now I thought that was a pretty good idea of mine, but unfortunately it is now ‘dead in the water’ as I see that a leading manufacturer has brought out a Cook Tent Station, available to buy for a mere £210, which has been designed to create a base camp for preparing and eating food with friends and fellow anglers. Oh well, never mind, what was I thinking anyway.
Incidentally, if you have £2,400 to spare then you can buy a catamaran version of a bait boat on E Bay – madness! http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Anatec-Catamaran-BAIT-BOAT-MK3-DL-TOSLON-TF500-Deal-4-/181127729474
Watch out! The drones will soon be on their way!
Ah! Now that gives me another idea, maybe I could……………..
Eddie Benham
