Groundbait for trotting.

[Molehill]

Say I'm trotting mid river (Severn, Wye) in winter with maggots, looking for roach, chub, dace, grayling or whatever. A mid pace swim around 8ft perhaps.

I want the maggots to reach the lower levels of river quickly, rather than 30m downstream by loose feeding, so what would you use to take the bait down without breaking up mid water, but not overfeed the fish?
Basic bread crumbs any good or do I need to actually spend serious money on branded groundbait

 

[binka]

I would consider putting your lose feed in via damp leam, it will get it down quick and the carrier has no food content at all.

You could also try a river groundbait as these tend to be heavier, if you need to you can fine sieve it to remove the larger food particles or there's the old trick of loose feeding way upstream so that it is hiting the deck in the area that you want it to.

 

[tigger]

Just catty the maggots upstream.

 

[tigger]

Posted on wrong thread so removed.

 

[soft plastic]

Say I'm trotting mid river (Severn, Wye) in winter with maggots, looking for roach, chub, dace, grayling or whatever. A mid pace swim around 8ft perhaps.

I want the maggots to reach the lower levels of river quickly, rather than 30m downstream by loose feeding, so what would you use to take the bait down without breaking up mid water, but not overfeed the fish?
Basic bread crumbs any good or do I need to actually spend serious money on branded groundbait

Bait dropper, can do away with the groundbait then. If you want to use groundbait then either choose one that is specifically designed to bind together, often the word "River" is on the packet, or use riddled mole hill soil in your mix.

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[soft plastic]

I'm not saying you where wrong to take it, but the only way for your actions not to be seen as stealing by many would have been if you'd handed it in to the law or at least told them you had it in your safe keeping should someone ask for it.
Thing is if you hadn't taken it the chances are some kids would have come across it and jumped all over it anyhow....at least now you can have a play with it lol.

Eh? Is this in the wrong thread?

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[peter crabtree]

This is what I use on rivers...

Van Den Eynde Super Roach Black Groundbait | Fishing Tackle and Bait

Mix it adding water until it gets sticky enough to form a ball without crumbling.
It goes like concrete once squeezed firmly. Either put loose maggots in the mix or stick your finger in a ball, fill with maggots and reseal. To make it really slow breakdown add some riddled molehill soil.

 

[Graham Elliott 1]

Peter Crabtree is spot on.

Exactly what is being used for some super (huge)Wye roach at the moment.

 

[sam vimes]

It looks like I may go against the grain a touch here, but on any part of a river, that flows from an upland region, where grayling are prevalent, I'd not choose to use groundbait at all. Different ball game when you get down to the lower river where barbel and chub, or even better roach and bream, might come into the equation.

Rather than using a carrier to get the bait down, I'd be looking for runs long enough to not need to, or places where loose feeding upstream is viable.

 

[tigger]

Eh? Is this in the wrong thread?

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Yeaph, this pad thing i'm using is a usles piece of junk....might leave it on a pier lol.

 

[Philip]

Another alternative idea if you dont want any binding agent....use a second rod with a large swimfeeder cast on the same line that your trotting down then refill and recast it every half dozen trots.

 

[Molehill]

Some interesting possibilities here, so thanks to all replies (save me hitting all the individual "thanks" buttons).

Why didn't I think of my baitdropper - doh! Otherwise a proprietary groundbait I guess, it's really for swims where catapulting upstream won't work - swim not long enough usually. How long does it actually take maggots to sink? Bit of a "how long is a piece of string" question, but my impression is they sink very slowly.
No I wouldn't use groundbait on grayling, only free feeding there but they are usually pretty willing to come up and intercept.

 

[sam vimes]

Another option I've heard of being use is a PVA mesh bag with maggots and a small pebble to get it down. Just make sure that it goes a little downstream of you.

 

[tigger]

Unless the river is deep and fast I can't see a problem with loose feeding. I've never had a problem loose feeding in fast powerful flows. If the river is not deeper than a few feet the maggots will be swirling about on or near the deck within a short distance, they sink faster than you might imagine. Try tossing in a handfull or two in the river where you can see them fall in the water for a few yards and make adjustments if the flow is faster and/or deeper out in the swim.

 

[flightliner]

Peter Crabtree is spot on.

Exactly what is being used for some super (huge)Wye roach at the moment.

What size constitutes "Huge" Graham ?

 

[Another Dave]

Unless the river is deep and fast I can't see a problem with loose feeding. I've never had a problem loose feeding in fast powerful flows. If the river is not deeper than a few feet the maggots will be swirling about on or near the deck within a short distance, they sink faster than you might imagine. Try tossing in a handfull or two in the river where you can see them fall in the water for a few yards and make adjustments if the flow is faster and/or deeper out in the swim.

Trotting isn't my strongpoint but what i found out yesterday was that the part of the run where you get bites is the bit where the feed has got down. Pretty fast paced but i'd say they were sinking nearly a foot for every metre they went downstream?

 

[Graham Elliott 1]

Flight
A 2.6 by a pal and 2.11 by A N O.

Huge in my book.

 

[flightliner]

Wonderful fish, and from a river makes them even more so.
Top marks to the captors Graham.

 

[binka]

How long does it actually take maggots to sink? Bit of a "how long is a piece of string" question, but my impression is they sink very slowly.

Once they get below the first couple of feet or so they sink quite quickly as the flow generally eases towards the bottom hence many stick anglers will try and slow their trot down to make the bait move at the natural rate when it's being presented on or near the bottom.

Not always though and the usual variables of depth and strength of flow will apply, it makes it all part of the fun

Don't take this as a typical example but many years ago when I fished the Derbyshire Derwent regularly I chucked in around half a pint of reds at the end of a session.

The first thing I noticed was a pink cloud rapidly drifting downstream and few if any were reaching the bottom, I was compelled to follow it on foot until a boundary brought an end to the spectacle but the ones that did eventually settle probably touched ground in the Trent somewhere between Thrumpton and East Bridgford

 

[no-one in particular]

Don't forget wherever your ground bait is hitting the bottom it will create a long stream on particles further down especially if you have been doing it for some time.
Walk down 20 or 30 yd (or further) or so now and then if you can and try trotting, I have found often enough a better stamp of fish is hanging back and picking up these longer distance morsels.