Groundbait

[mick b]

What is your favourite groundbait?

Do you make your own or buy the commercially made bags, if so how do you make it or what manufacturers do you use.

If you didn't have to pay and had unlimited access to everything out there what would be your choice?

Im starting lowest price first....
So I went groundbait shopping yesterday and spent an interesting time touring the agricultural feed merchants, horsey shops and pet food shelves.

Best buy was an out of date 5kg bag of (unmedicated) Layers mash for £4 from a Scats sale shelf.
To reduce this stuff to something usable took just 1/2hr when just covered in a layer of cold water......does it attract fish......watch this space!

I've also ordered a full range of seed samples, everything from Foreign Finch seed up to giant Chick Peas...mg:

 

[sagalout]

I liquidise skrettings coarse pellets (£1.40/kg delivered). Sometimes I add other things like whole pellets, ground hemp (£3/kg), the scrapings from the breakfast cereal boxes (free), liquidised dog biscuit (sainsburys basics complete food 59p/kg), vitalin (72p/kg), bucktons pigeon conditioner (73p/kg), etc.

I have not found anything that seems to make a difference to my catch rate so it would probably make financial sense to cut the liquidised pellet with liquidised dog biscuit, but I am happy that coarse pellet can do no harm.

The dog biscuit does make the mix light and fluffy.

 

[john step]

I buy a 20kg sack of fine brown crumb which lasts ages. I use it to cut down shop bought groundbait. I used it 75% crumb to 25% bought approx. After mixing a( tight wad) sprinkling of 2mm pellets is often added.( or other particles)
I know the super keen match boys use one groundbait to sink quickly and another to send the fish into ecstasy and another to do whatever song and dance routine the manufacturers claim but I think a lot is hype.
My reasoning is that we are told how many thousands of times more sensitive a fishes' sense of smell is than ours and if I can smell it the fish must detect the cut down quantity.
I also have my doubts if they are bothered by some of the exotic ingredients we use.
After all we know fish, especially tench and carp are quite happy to use their mouths to grub around in the smelliest of gunge to filter out food so the flavours we find attractive cannot mean the same to fish.
I await the flak.

 

[chefster]

At the moment for all my commercial work it,s just ground expander,either h/made or Ringers.....for summer method i like fishmeal base/brown crumb to which i add liquidised prawn shells(in quite large quantity).....For margin fishing in summer i quite like Old Ghost Green Algae(but i only started using it at the back end of last summer,so still not sure) or a red Krill based Groundbait from Marukyu,cheers Gaz

 

[nicepix]

I've made my own mixes for donkey's years. At the minute there are two 60 litre plastic boxes in the basement containing bags of white crumb, maize flour, chopped and whole maize grains, wheat, ground and whole hemp seed, micro halibut pellets and chicken pellets. Then there's another box in the cupboard with flavourings such as vanilla, garlic, curry, fennel seeds, baker's syrups including pineapple and strawberry and food dyes.

I make up what I think is right for the venue and type of fishing I intend to do the night before and have batches of hemp, stewed wheat and maize in the freezer ready for deployment.

 

[mick b]

I've made my own mixes for donkey's years. At the minute there are two 60 litre plastic boxes in the basement containing bags of white crumb, maize flour, chopped and whole maize grains, wheat, ground and whole hemp seed, micro halibut pellets and chicken pellets. Then there's another box in the cupboard with flavourings such as vanilla, garlic, curry, fennel seeds, baker's syrups including pineapple and strawberry and food dyes.

I make up what I think is right for the venue and type of fishing I intend to do the night before and have batches of hemp, stewed wheat and maize in the freezer ready for deployment.

Blimey a veritable witches collection!

Can you tell me the mix you would use for a 8-12 ft deep fastish river swim please?

 

[nicepix]

Blimey a veritable witches collection!

Can you tell me the mix you would use for a 8-12 ft deep fastish river swim please?

That's easy Mick:

 

[pidgergj]

i like the sensas explosive feeder, but to be honest i havent used many different brands.

 

[tiinker]

I often stick a vanilla pod in my bags of ground bait and reseal the bag I tend to buy it in bulk at the beginning of the year. The only additives I use is PVI and dried Dutch pigs blood. Any old baits or pellets I grind up and use for method mix following year.

 

[g1_]

When reading articles on commercial groundbaits, I'm intrigued by the experts mixing a bit of this brand to a bit of that brand along with some of t'other brand so using about 2 or 3 bags of different groundbait. One would assume that when one of the companies uses its expertise to blend say, a Bream GB then surely that should be good enough. Or is it that these experts try to persuade us to buy more and more GB.

I can see reason to introduce particles of hook bait within the GB etc but doubt the effectiveness of the various contrived mixes of commercial blends against the "does what it says on the packet" products.

Any thoughts anyone?

G

 

[tiinker]

For one of the most comprehensive variety in ground-baits and additives get yourself a SENSAS 2014 CATALOGUE it has 60 pages of ground-baits and additives. Plus the fact they have been one if not the leader in the field of ground-bait for many many years free at your tackle shop.

 

[aebitim]

When reading articles on commercial groundbaits, I'm intrigued by the experts mixing a bit of this brand to a bit of that brand along with some of t'other brand so using about 2 or 3 bags of different groundbait. One would assume that when one of the companies uses its expertise to blend say, a Bream GB then surely that should be good enough. Or is it that these experts try to persuade us to buy more and more GB.

I can see reason to introduce particles of hook bait within the GB etc but doubt the effectiveness of the various contrived mixes of commercial blends against the "does what it says on the packet" products.

Any thoughts anyone?

G

There is much more to groundbait, things move on, a mix that suits all conditions for the same swim/fish is improbable. My win at all cost match days have long gone but the challenge of catching still remains. The only thing that has remained a constant has been supercup which is not really a groundbait, but is the one packet attractor that I would not be without.
As regards to doing what it says on the tin, pole fishing is not something I do.

 

[mick b]

My experiments with feeding.

I fished the whole of the 2011-12 river season using no groundbait whatsoever, the only 'feed' I used were 3-4 handmade 4mm sized bread balls on my trotting line about every 20-30mins. The fish I caught during that season were nothing special.

In the 2012-2013 river season I used mashed bread balls about the size of a walnut as feed every 10-15mins, and the fish I caught were well above avarage with a preponderance of good sized Chub (23 over 4lb) and some decent Roach.

This river season I initially used last seasons feeding method and immediatly caught my lifetime best Chub. Since then Ive used homemade and shop brought groundbait (VDE BR or whatever the shop recommends) and used 700-1000gms dry weight per day.
Catches have been acceptable with a few nice fish but very many small Chub, Roach and Dace.

My plan for 2014-15 season is/was to use 2-3kg (or more) specialised groundbait per day, hence this thread, but I am begining to think that this approach may result in greater numbers of small fish, but not the specimens I really seek

October to March is my season and I fish eleven separate sections of three different rivers, 2-3 days a week.

Comments and observations most welcome

 

[g1_]

I tend to fish 2 or 3 small lakes a short distance from where live, plus the canal. The lakes in winter tend to be very slow but the canal does ok on maggot catching roach and perch.

This winter after reading up on bread punch, I decided to try out the lakes to see if it would be better sport. One of the older match anglers advised me to add powdered milk to the breadcrumbs and then make the mix really mushy. Now I dont use a pole but made my own "cup" by screwing an aerosol lid to my 3.5m landing net handle.

Fishing just a rod length out, using a 4mm breadpunch and feeding in tiny amounts of mash via my "pole cup" the results have been remarkable in terms of numbers caught with some decent skimmers and roach. last week I even caught a 14lb carp which I think was hoovering up the crumb. I dont know which was more surprised, it or me.

The powered milk was there to give off some cloud in the clear water and as it contains no fat, does not add any food value.

I will continue to use this method into the summer to see how it works out. I also fancy making a bread punch sandwich with cheese or meat to use on a hair rig for the larger species. I read that bread punch is a winter method but dont see why it shouldnt work throughout the year. After all, the amount of bread that gets chucked in via the duck and swan feeders makes it a most natural offering.

G

 

[nicepix]

Regards using powdered milk; You could use clay for the same purpose.

 

[Tee-Cee]

Well, for most of my fishing I've always used a mix of white and brown bread crumb (bought in) with the white made at home from oldish, but not stale bread. Mixture will be to suit where I'm fishing and the only other ingredients I use are hemp and a few casters.
Works well and with only four basic ingredients it's relatively cheap. Oh, I might add a bit of chopped sweeetcorn as well...

The only exception is when fishing for big roach when I use certain Sensas groundbaits in limited amounts and recommended to me by a FM matchman who shall remain nameless....

I read some of the above lists of ingredients and for the life of me I just find the mixes so complicated,( not to mention expensive), that I wonder just how many (within a given mix) actually attract fish and how the fisherman using them determines which is the most effective......
I do NOT argue that some probably do a wonderful job, but isn't this a bit like 'follow my leader' when a new ingredient hits the shelves and some feel they have to rush out and buy it, just in case it turns out to be 'the' magic ingredient??

IMHO I think some could do with going back to basics, starting with a few minimal ingredients and seeing just how effective they can be without all the bottles of this, that and the other flavour.
Can anyone actually tell me just what all these add-in's really do for them in terms of PROVEN inprovements in catches, because I don't think anyone who has posted has mentioned this...........................??

It could be said I'm 'missing out' in some way, but my catches don't reflect this in any way so I really don't feel a need for them..........

Only my opinion, of course...........................................................



ps NO flak from me, John Step!!

 

[nogoodboyo]

I just use liquidised bread with something to mush it up - corn meat or cheap pellets. Sometimes it works sometimes it doesn't.
I'm not a scientist and if I don't catch anything it's not the end of the world.

 

[chefster]

I just use liquidised bread with something to mush it up - corn meat or cheap pellets. Sometimes it works sometimes it doesn't.
I'm not a scientist and if I don't catch anything it's not the end of the world.

Whats the point in going then,if you,re not going to maximise your chance of catching????,you don't have to be a scientist to use the correct bait and attractors for the given day and venue,Chef

 

[mick b]

The problem of 'proof' is that no two swims are alike and each can respond differently on different days.
What catches on one day, will not always catch on another.

My results over past seasons are just that, results, they don't prove anything.

If fished very remote place recently (flooded out but with the 17 footer i could reach the edge) and after trying and failing to catch anything, I used soaked 1/2kg of layers pellets as a groundbait for the first time.
The result was zero, not a single bite!

I lef the place and went walkabout and tried again three hours later, result zero!

Stopped and went for another walk, returning at last light, this time I used mashed bread, waited 1/4hr and then caught two nice Chub, the best going nearly 5lb.
Maybe this demonstrates mash is a good feed or perhaps that Chub feed better at last light, personally I think the latter.

Back to the drawing board..mg:

 

[mick b]

Continueing my experimenting with low cost groundbait materials...

Thought I had a window of opportunity to go fishing so I soaked a quantity of layers pellets in 1.5 times the pellet volume of water, left it around half an hour and then a problem occurred and I couldn't get to the river!!!
So put the bait into a plastic food container left it in the fridge overnight and took it to the river the next day......simples...or so I thought.mg:

Phew did it stink.....a really rancid sour smell, horrible..

Now my question is...if Layers Pellets are only made from cereal products why did they go 'off' in such a short time after being soaked..

Im thinking that whatever process the manufacturers use, they must include some material/s other than cereals?

.
Any ideas what they might be?????