Crab sticks

[rayner]

Anyone had any success with crab sticks.

 

[mikench]

I love them ! As a bait you need to hair rig them I suspect. I tried them sea fishing once and wrapped bait elastic around it and the hook to keep it on. I didn't catch

 

[trotter2]

Never tried them, cant see why they wont work.
Chub,tench would eat them I bet.
You could be onto something there mate give it a go.

 

[sam vimes]

Too soft to use as bait in my experience. They just disintegrate regardless of being hooked or hair rigged.

 

[rich66]

You might be better making them into a paste with liquidised bread.

 

[S-Kippy]

My mate the legendary "Big Dave" has used them at Bury Hill when the zander were being particularly cute bait wise and he wanted to show them something they hadn't seen before. He caught on them but not so many that he thought it was worth the effort. The problem there was that the bream loved them.

 

[rayner]

I'll take that as a no then, was curious because they are so cheap. I know they open up like a sheet of paper and smell of crab even if there is none used.
I may well buy some they're only a quid.

 

[binka]

If you do I would try banding it, band it first before trimming down to bait size to hold it together.

I do it with tuna flake, it works a treat and barbel, carp, chub and tench love it.

 

[rayner]

Yes I had an idea to band it, Sam said it could disintegrate but I cant think of any other way.

 

[sam vimes]

Yes I had an idea to band it, Sam said it could disintegrate but I cant think of any other way.

It may be worth wading through a lot of different brands of crab sticks. Some are a lot firmer than others. I've only ever bought the really cheap ones. They vary, but I've not found any of them that I'd be confident to use as hookbait.

 

[barbelboi]

Fox Arma Mesh could be the way to go - works well with most things 'soggy'.

 

[chrissh]

They can work well the same as any other seafood bait

Shred the crab sticks roll 10-12 strands in cling film and freeze then remove from cling film push the frozen strands though a 5mm length of silicon tub cut to size roll them back in the cling film to stop them sticking to each other re freeze … when taking them fishing put the pellet band over the 5mm silicon tube this stop the band cutting into the soft bait … job done

 

[rubio]

They can work well the same as any other seafood bait

Shred the crab sticks roll 10-12 strands in cling film and freeze then remove from cling film push the frozen strands though a 5mm length of silicon tub cut to size roll them back in the cling film to stop them sticking to each other re freeze … when taking them fishing put the pellet band over the 5mm silicon tube this stop the band cutting into the soft bait … job done

Cunning. Think i would just go for a bag o mussels meself.

 

[Philip]

Not that I can say I have really used them but I think I would tend to see them as a ground bait rather than a hook bait. Mashed up in some breadcrumb or similar I think they could work. The stick something fishy on the hook...prawn, mussel etc..

 

[thecrow]

Cunning. Think i would just go for a bag o mussels meself.

Every week I accompany my wife around super markets in the vain hope that I will find some mussels other than the ones in vinegar and jars, where do you get them from?

 

[robtherake]

Every week I accompany my wife around super markets in the vain hope that I will find some mussels other than the ones in vinegar and jars, where do you get them from?

Tescos used to do baby clams in brine, which are an excellent bait that can often outfish all the usual offerings. Great on the method, with the juice used on pellets or method mix. Two or three on a hair or singly on a size 12 is about right. I haven't seen them in the shops for a while, but they're still available.

John West baby clams in brine - Waitrose

 

[rich66]

Every week I accompany my wife around super markets in the vain hope that I will find some mussels other than the ones in vinegar and jars, where do you get them from?

Try the frozen section at Tesco or Asda that's where mine come from

 

[greenie62]

Every week I accompany my wife around super markets in the vain hope that I will find some mussels other than the ones in vinegar and jars, where do you get them from?

Tesco - frozen fish counter.

When home split the big bag into smaller zip-lok bags in the freezer, so you take just enough to thaw for a session.

 

[thecrow]

Thanks Mike

 

[chrissh]

Every week I accompany my wife around super markets in the vain hope that I will find some mussels other than the ones in vinegar and jars, where do you get them from?

Morrison’s fresh fish counter… fresh mussels £1.20 for 127g or reduced to 90p after 6pm