The "Bread Punch"

[dezza]

Is it really worth fishing this way?

I have fished using bread since a child. Stale bread was one of the most available baits to a schoolboy and we quickly learned to use it to the best of our ability in the form of crust, paste for old stale bread and flake for new bread.

But years ago I remember watching a match angler catch loads of bits by punching a slice of new bread with the plastic outer to a ball point pen. I soon discovered that you could purchase "bread punches" of various sizes that looked like a pen you clipped in your pocket. But I never did bother because I reckoned that this was a matchman's tool and anyway I was catching lots of big roach at that time on fair sized pieces of flake. I did buy a Drennan series of punches which formed a fair sized pear shaped bit of bread, but I found using this thing rather fiddly. It still lays in by tackle box, unused and unloved.

But what do you think?

Is the bread punch a tool for the hunter of quality roach?

 

[S-Kippy]

Ron

I think you've answered your own question.Anything that will "punch" out a piece of bread is a bread punch and on that basis IMO it does have its place.Time was that I used a punch of some sort almost exclusively when after roach and did extremely well.I use "the punch" less now than I did but I never go roach fishing without bread or a variety of punches. Works anywhere.

Better than a pinch of flake ? Dunno....but those Drennan flake punches do give you a uniform size/shaped bait that flutters very nicely fished on a longish tail to a little cage feeder full of liquidized bread.


Skippy

 

[peter crabtree]

YES. If you buy a set of brass punches you get 5 different sizes, sometimes the smallest punch on a tiny 22-24 hook will tempt a roach to take it, other days another size may work.

 

[Mark Wintle]

I started using bread punches in 1972 using .22 brass cartridges with a piece of dowel. That worked but obtaining obsolete brass ferrules from Dave Swallow gave me a much better variety of sizes. I still use punch a lot for big roach.

Sometimes punch will totally outfish flake, other times flake is better but overall punch is better. I now use custom made punches from brass tube from model shops and hard balsa - these float if dropped in the river. I don't waste my time with plastic punches of any type. I had a lovely bag of quality roach yesterday on punch on a fine wire 16, best 1-10 plus more over a pound. The advantage of a punch is that you never get that hard bit of bread that can occur with flake. The punches I use don't compress the bread, nor do I roll the bread. For big/sizeable roach I don't use under a size 16 so the punch is at least 5mm and up to 12mm.

 

[Peter Jacobs]

I have caught most of my big roach on bread baits, in various forms including both the round punches and the Drennan oblong ones.

I will often start a session on punched bread and punch crumb as it seems to get the roach feeding quicker than most other options, then I'll switch to the Drennan punch and/or a large-ish piece of flake pinched on the hook.

Often I'll fish the larger bread bait just outside or further downstream of the punch line as you will sometimes find some of the larger fish just hanging off the end of the feed line.

So, I would suggest that the bread punch is a decent enough bait for specimen-sized roach.

 

[S-Kippy]

And bread is perch proof in my experience....though sadly not trout proof !

 

[dezza]

I have caught perch on brown bread.

OK guys, this is the sort of response I had hoped for. I might resurrect my Drennan bread punch for canal work. I can appreciate the fact that at times fish do not always take kindly to ordinary bread flake with lumps, although I don't think it would worry chub too much with their huge chompers.

Bread punch became popular during the 27 years I lived 6,000 miles away and was hoiking out carp on maize.

 

[flightliner]

As of this very minute one of the finest float anglers in the country is sat on the canal at Worksop --he will undoubtedly be using punched bread, over the last week or so he has been fishing thro a hole in the ice and has been "lacing em"--- between thirty and fifty fish per session (a session being about three hours on account of the weather) Some of his roach have been on the lb mark. Sure the old laying on works with flake/lob etx but in such conditions its slow and with ice on the surface that as to be broken a total non starter unless you want to spend ages clearing it out with the old landing net--This thread reminds me of the old "Lesney"bread press--anyone still got one?

 

[Paul Morley]

Proof for a man of reason like yourself Ron would be to try it! Your recent thoughts on canals have been excellent and as soon as this white stuff goes I'll be looking to give it a go myself - subject to locating the fish. EC and I caught enough 'too big' roach when livebait snaffling / fishing worm for perch, it would seem there is a fair chance in many canals. Back home in Lincs they use punch still on slow rivers (some of which you fished too) and the results seem as good as 30 yrs ago !

 

[dezza]

As of this very minute one of the finest float anglers in the country is sat on the canal at Worksop --he will undoubtedly be using punched bread, over the last week or so he has been fishing thro a hole in the ice and has been "lacing em"--- between thirty and fifty fish per session (a session being about three hours on account of the weather) Some of his roach have been on the lb mark. Sure the old laying on works with flake/lob etx but in such conditions its slow and with ice on the surface that as to be broken a total non starter unless you want to spend ages clearing it out with the old landing net--This thread reminds me of the old "Lesney"bread press--anyone still got one?

You will have to introduce me to this man Flightliner. I don't live too far away from Wassup (that's what we called it as kids), so I could be classed as a local.

I hope all the canals thaw out shortly, then we could all be in for some superb roach fishing.

---------- Post added at 04:25 ---------- Previous post was at 04:20 ----------

Proof for a man of reason like yourself Ron would be to try it! Your recent thoughts on canals have been excellent and as soon as this white stuff goes I'll be looking to give it a go myself - subject to locating the fish. EC and I caught enough 'too big' roach when livebait snaffling / fishing worm for perch, it would seem there is a fair chance in many canals. Back home in Lincs they use punch still on slow rivers (some of which you fished too) and the results seem as good as 30 yrs ago !

Paul,

The whole idea of my threads is to get anglers talking so that we can all learn something.

One point here. Some time ago I was in a tackle shop and happened to mention to an angler I met that the fish I had caught for an IYCF article were taken on breadflake. The tackle shop owner exploded, blaming me for ruining a portion of his business.

Probably that's why such baits as bread and wheat are not used anymore.

 

[S-Kippy]

I was a member of Hayes & Harlington AS as a kid.The Club side mastered the art of fishing bread be that punch on the GUC or "proper" bread on the Thames.Those guys were phenomenal. Not hugely well known other than on the club circuit round West London and out along the Thames but brilliant anglers. Harry Naylor and George Harris.

I remember as a teenager on a club match on a barely fishable Thames at Hurley Flats just sitting watching these two catching roach on the bread while everyone else struggled to get even a bite.As I recall they weighed in over 15lb lb of quality roach each.Brilliant anglers and virtually unbeatable on the bread.

I've never forgotten some of the tips George gave me that day.

Skippy

 

[Paul Morley]

Why do you think neighbouring anglers were struggling yet the bread bait outfished them? Ron, you are succeeding in promoting debate. What was it about bread that got bites, do you suppose? It's inert, visible, soft, largely has neutral bouyancy... apart from that, what?

 

[dezza]

Why do you think neighbouring anglers were struggling yet the bread bait outfished them? Ron, you are succeeding in promoting debate. What was it about bread that got bites, do you suppose? It's inert, visible, soft, largely has neutral bouyancy... apart from that, what?

Its like this:

The outer lining of the cell of a genetically modified form of grass is de-hydrated and then ground down to a fine powder. this is then mixed with a pure cultured substance produced by the growth of Saccharomyces cerevisiae and H2O.

The mixture is kept in a warm place and CO2 is produced which causes the aforsaid mixture to inflate due to the expansion of millions of little voids of CO2.

After this has taken place the whole lot is placed into a very hot oven where a crust forms on the ouside of the partial bio-mass.

It is then allowed to cool and people call it bread.

If people knew how bread is made, they might start using it as bait!

 

[slime monster]

Bread punch can be selective ,fantastic bait for almost instant results in the smaller sizes , using large punches It is a better stamp of Roach and Bream that will take it at a slower pace if the bait is laid on as apposed to fishing it on the drop .

 

[S-Kippy]

If people knew how bread is made, they might start using it as bait!

What ? Why ?

 

[Robert Woods]

A Runcorn match angler used to roll bits of flake into maggot like bits to put on hook. He caught well on them. I used to add dried milk powder to liquidised bread for more cloud.

 

[Rodney Wrestt]

I have to say that punch is well worth a try, I have several sets in both brass and plastic but the problem I have just now is that my blender has given up the ghost, so I'm going to have to get another soon, I've found a 700Wat 1.5l glass jug version for £15 money well spent me thinks.

Unlike some anglers, I find punch is a year round bait not just a winter tactic, a tip for anyone wanting to use it on a waggler or whip is to get a 10ml or 20ml plastic syringe (sterile ones available from e-bay) cut off the end to remove the nozzle. you can then fill the tube to a measured point and compress the crumb with the plunger against a bait box lid or the heal of your hand, this will allow you to throw out a standard sized pellet of bread the same distance each time which will fizz on the surface for a few seconds before breaking up and creating a nice column in the swim..... or you can punch out 10p sized discs from a slice of bread for bigger hooks.

 

[dezza]

Its like this:

The outer lining of the cell of a genetically modified form of grass is de-hydrated and then ground down to a fine powder. this is then mixed with a pure cultured substance produced by the growth of Saccharomyces cerevisiae and H2O.

The mixture is kept in a warm place and CO2 is produced which causes the aforsaid mixture to inflate due to the expansion of millions of little voids of CO2.

After this has taken place the whole lot is placed into a very hot oven where a crust forms on the ouside of the partial bio-mass.

It is then allowed to cool and people call it bread.

If people knew how bread is made, they might start using it as bait!

Ah well these days you have to be seen using a bait with a hi-tec pedigree! If one of the "names" were to go out and make a big catch on bread it might cause one of the bait companies to start repackaging loaves of bread with the label proclaiming things like "modified for anglers - as used by MH" etc etc.

Let's face it, it has been done before. Take sweetcorn for instance.

As I once did a course in marketing, and was extremely successful at it, perhaps I should offer my services.

 

[S-Kippy]

I'm sure a bag of bread pellets would sell....in fact I'd buy some.

 

[dezza]

You can buy a can of adequate sweetcorn from Tesco for about 30 p.

Now what does a can of that Van Den Eynde or Senseless stuff cost with 0.000p of colouring and flavour in it?

Near to two quid I'll be bound. Talk about value added!