The home bait chef...

[laguna]

Are supermarket baits the way forward?

They are certainly cheaper and by making your own you know exactly what's in them but do you rely on your or the knowledge of others to advise you of the ingredients or just take your chances with branded items?

 

[Peter Jacobs]

The only supermarket baits that I buy are; Bread, Sweet Corn or The pink indispensible, (Luncheon Meat)

For many years I have caught very well on those plus, maggot, worms and casters while using pinkie and/or squatts in my groundbaits.

As far as groundbaits are concerned I far prefer the Continental mixes, either Sensas or Van den Eynde as they have been formulated over many years, tried and tested and contain less feed than most "home mades" To those I almost always add something in the way of an attractant or colouring as well.

 

[tiinker]

I always check out the home baking section sometimes they have small bags of exceptionally large hemp just the job for hookers. I picked up four 2 kilo bags of chick peas TRS brand three pounds reduced from one pound fifty to seventy five pence a bag. The funny thing about them is it says on the bag Discover Asia's Finest and in the bottom corner it says Produce of Argentina.

 

[nicepix]

I've used supermarkets, health food stores and pet food suppliers for years as sources of baits.

Food flavourings such as strawberry or pineapple from the bakery section can be glugged into sweetcorn or boilies, a sachet of vanilla sugar goes well with tinned sweetcorn to add attractant favoured by roach. In the past I've added a touch of blue food dye to sweetcorn to turn it green so that it isn't too obvious in shallow clear water. Frozen pastry together with the dregs of blue cheese can be made into paste. Fennel and tumeric from health food stores can be added to hemp and maggots respectively. Cocoa powder is a useful groundbait additive and in the last couple of years I've found that chicken pellets are a superb groundbait additive.

Other than maize flour, breadcrumbs and crushed hemp seed I get everything from non angling suppliers.

 

[robtherake]

A bit of both, really. If you read any of the mags and weeklies, they often trot out a "baits on the cheap" article giving hints and tips and I see nothing wrong with a bit of experimentation.

Among the stuff I use are:

Hemp oil
Horlicks (supermarket own brand) as "sticky pellet"
Various tinned fish products - Tesco's for baby clams, a great bait.
Polony
Strawberry shake (powdered) for maggots/groundbait flavour.
Honey
Preserved meat products - Peperami and similar.
Frankfurters
Prawns
Various pulses, dried and tinned
Yeast extract
Malt extract

I'm sure there's more, but these are reasonably regular buys.

---------- Post added at 01:42 ---------- Previous post was at 01:40 ----------

I've used supermarkets, health food stores and pet food suppliers for years as sources of baits.

I've found that chicken pellets are a superb groundbait additive.

Feed pellets?

 

[jacksharp]

I was toying with the idea of going au naturelle in 2014 and only fishing maggots, casters and worms, particularly in the old fogeys' matches I fish as a lot of our club waters are full of silvers and not carp.

 

[Peter Jacobs]

I was toying with the idea of going au naturelle in 2014 and only fishing maggots, casters and worms, particularly in the old fogeys' matches I fish as a lot of our club waters are full of silvers and not carp.

Maggot is not only a "silvers" bait, I thnk it was Chris Yates who more or less emptied Redmire some years ago on floating maggot . . . . . . .

I have caught a lot of Carp on the same method as well as on a "Medusa" rig with dead maggot as groundbait.

Not to mention that balls of Sticky-Mag maggots are almost deadly when there are Chub around on the river, and the same goes for the Barbel too.

 

[richiekelly]

While I was following the wife around doing the weekly shop yesterday I picked a bottle of fish sauce up, I have no idea yet what to do with it but I will think of something.

 

[jacksharp]

Maggot is not only a "silvers" bait, I thnk it was Chris Yates who more or less emptied Redmire some years ago on floating maggot . . . . . . .

I have caught a lot of Carp on the same method as well as on a "Medusa" rig with dead maggot as groundbait.

Not to mention that balls of Sticky-Mag maggots are almost deadly when there are Chub around on the river, and the same goes for the Barbel too.

I know all that Peter, but I was just thinking of breaking the pellet/paste cycle. Maggots will catch almost anything that swims but pellets may not be as productive for silvers, perch, tench, etc. in mixed fisheries.

Now wait for the landslide of replies about a ton of perch on expanders! mg:

 

[Peter Jacobs]

I know all that Peter, but I was just thinking of breaking the pellet/paste cycle. Maggots will catch almost anything that swims but pellets may not be as productive for silvers, perch, tench, etc. in mixed fisheries.

Now wait for the landslide of replies about a ton of perch on expanders!

It is not a cycle that I ever got into to be honest.

I think I have used pellet on myabe a handful of occasions and paste a couple of times.

On some venues using pellet or paste makes the fishing simply too easy and therefore less enjoyable for me - it is a personal thing I suppose.

When fly fishing most of my time is spent on the dry fly rather than wets or nymphs as well, and I've never used, nor will I ever use, a sight bob.

 

[nicepix]

Feed pellets?

Yes. Layers pellets are found in every supermarket over here at around £3 per 5 kilos. The are about 3mm, 16% protein and made up largely of brewer's maltings which is why the smell so sweet. If I make up my groundbait or a hemp and maize mash the night before fishing using boiled water I put a handful of chicken pellets in after the water has cooled a bit. They leach flavour and scent into the mix. They also bind any loose feed, but there is a similar product in powder form, layer's mash, that is more suitable as a binder. They can also be used conventionally as a method mix, catapulted out and banded on the hook.

 

[sagalout]

Mole valley farmers do layers pellet or mash at £8.70 for 25kg If you buy the pellets I suspect a quick trip through the liquidiser will create a cheap groundbait.

MVF Layers Mash - 25kg | Poultry Supplies | Mole Valley Farmers
MVF Poultry Layers Pellets - 25kg | Poultry Supplies | Mole Valley

 

[robtherake]

Yes. Layers pellets are found in every supermarket over here at around £3 per 5 kilos. The are about 3mm, 16% protein and made up largely of brewer's maltings which is why the smell so sweet. If I make up my groundbait or a hemp and maize mash the night before fishing using boiled water I put a handful of chicken pellets in after the water has cooled a bit. They leach flavour and scent into the mix. They also bind any loose feed, but there is a similar product in powder form, layer's mash, that is more suitable as a binder. They can also be used conventionally as a method mix, catapulted out and banded on the hook.

I bought a whopping great bag of them last year (based on your advice, I believe). They are rather..er..soluble, and turn into layer's groundbait in no time at all. Gave them a whirl at a local commie and the whole of the bream population turned up in the peg! After each handful, the swim turned into a jacuzzi. I'm unsure whether it was the fish or the pellets producing the fizz, but fizz it did. They've lain in the shed forgotten since then, but having been reminded of their presence I intend to chuck some in a spod mix, (too soft to use on a method feeder as pellets, I think, although not tried yet) then sit back and await results.

Maybe there are different types, but it's hard to imagine these ones lasting very long banded up.

 

[nicepix]

I bought a whopping great bag of them last year (based on your advice, I believe). They are rather..er..soluble, and turn into layer's groundbait in no time at all. Gave them a whirl at a local commie and the whole of the bream population turned up in the peg! After each handful, the swim turned into a jacuzzi. I'm unsure whether it was the fish or the pellets producing the fizz, but fizz it did. They've lain in the shed forgotten since then, but having been reminded of their presence I intend to chuck some in a spod mix, (too soft to use on a method feeder as pellets, I think, although not tried yet) then sit back and await results.

Maybe there are different types, but it's hard to imagine these ones lasting very long banded up.

Yep! Bream love 'em. As do carp, roach and would you believe catfish. To answer your query; I use them banded on small hooks when fishing using a 5 metre pole. They last about 15 to 20 minutes dependent on temperature and will catch even when reduced to a messy lump under the band. The thing is that when I switched from maize on the hook to banded pellet I started catching a bigger stamp of carp to around 6lb, which was quite a handful on the light tackle.

They are very active when introduced to water and that is why I tend to use them along with other ingredients such as boiled chopped maize and hemp which together make a great method mix, or as an additive in conventional groundbait mixes. I also add them to PVA bags to supplement boilies or maize as they release a sweet malty scent. When bait fishing I always take at least a pint with me. They are my number one ingredient.