Ground bait

mikench

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Is there a commercial mix/type preferred for roach and tench? I make my own liquidised bread and crumb and often mix a variety of groundbaits but cannot say anyone works better than others.

I tend to choose Sensas brands or the cheapest per kilo to which I might add some hemp or krill powder.
 

nottskev

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I don't know if there's one claimed to be equally good for both species. VDE Expo is a tried and tested tench favourite. It's a red groundbait, and it has often been noticed that tench have a liking for red baits - red maggots, dyed corn etc. It's not cheap, but I cut mine with some brown crumb, and often feed a couple of balls to kick off a tench session.

There are lots of groundbaits aimed at roach ( and roach anglers) from heavy, sticky mixes that will carry feed like casters to the bottom in deep swims and rivers, to very light, fine, often dark mixes for less gung-ho styles on waters that need a less aggressive approach. For most roach fishing on shallow to medium deep stillwaters, I rarely use groundbait and prefer to loose feed hemp, casters, maggot or whatever.

I like liquidised bread in a cage feeder with flake for river chub, and some anglers use fine bread groundbaits with punch for roach. It's a bit specialised as it's easy to get the texture and the amounts wrong. The chub approach, come to think of, will probably catch carp and bream on your favourite pool, and hair-rigging punched out discs of bread makes a good stay-on hookbait.

I suppose it's a bit unpredictable, til proven one way or another, what will work. On one of the places I fish, the bailiff feeds a weird mix of liquidised bread laced with maggot, cubed meat and sundry other ingredients. I found him chopping up some tripe to go in it one day. I wouldn't dream of throwing this mix into my swim, but he regularly catches big roach.
 

mikench

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Thanks Kev. I'll look that one up as I hadn't heard of it. This year I intend to use GB more than I have done previously.
 

Peter Jacobs

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Mike, for roach I would always use Sensas Gros Gardons in either the black (noire) or the natural colour. I've used it for many years but when mixing I riddle out the larger pieces and soak these separately . . . . and then mix back in with the rest.

For tench I opt for Sensas 3000 Tench as it is a good sticky mix, is quite rich in content and has decent sized particles so I tend to not add much to it. Being quite sticky it easily takes a fair amount of loose feed added in.

Horses for courses . . .
 

nottskev

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Thanks Kev. I'll look that one up as I hadn't heard of it. This year I intend to use GB more than I have done previously.

It has been used for decades - I think it was in the first crop of what were called "continental style" groundbaits that came in and added to our native range - which was pretty well white and brown breadcrumb.

It's got a sweet, coconut-y smell ( even though that's not a listed ingredient), always mixes up well and I've found a little goes a long way. It really does smell good enough to eat, and a gourmet like yourself might be tempted. :)
 

mikench

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That and some Ringers chocolate orange wafters sound a delicious combo. The latter certainly smell good enough to eat too.
 

Mark Wintle

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Mike, for roach I would always use Sensas Gros Gardons in either the black (noire) or the natural colour. I've used it for many years but when mixing I riddle out the larger pieces and soak these separately . . . . and then mix back in with the rest.

Horses for courses . . .

Gros Gardons seems to have changed recently and I've come across two or three very different mixes lately as my old stock of the original fairly coarse mix has almost dried up. The new versions are much finer and there is also a Gardon mix. Yet to be convinced these new mixes are as good as the old original one. (As I type this my fingers smell of Gros gardons from using it for a short session this morning).

Many years ago a groundbait called Pur Sang (French for blood as it was laced with dried blood powder, and old tench attractant) was the dog's wotsits for tench. I once bought a box but after a couple of years the remaining packets had lost their effectiveness.
 

nottskev

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Gros Gardons seems to have changed recently and I've come across two or three very different mixes lately as my old stock of the original fairly coarse mix has almost dried up. The new versions are much finer and there is also a Gardon mix. Yet to be convinced these new mixes are as good as the old original one. (As I type this my fingers smell of Gros gardons from using it for a short session this morning).

.

Ah ha! Thanks - it's not just me then? I bought some Gros Gardons for use on a deep Trent marina where I like to start with a few ball of groundbait then loose feed when the roach turn up. The last lot I bought was finer and less sticky, and it was annoying that it gave a soft mix when I wanted it to go straight down 12'. I mentioned it in the shop but they just shrugged.
 

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So, we have Kev using an expensive product of Dutch origin which he “cuts” with a cheaper medium.

Do you sell this on street corners, no questions asked Kev?

:)
 

Mark Wintle

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Ah ha! Thanks - it's not just me then? I bought some Gros Gardons for use on a deep Trent marina where I like to start with a few ball of groundbait then loose feed when the roach turn up. The last lot I bought was finer and less sticky, and it was annoying that it gave a soft mix when I wanted it to go straight down 12'. I mentioned it in the shop but they just shrugged.

We probably need to source some PV1 to mix in as that's a sticky additive that will break up.
 

nottskev

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We probably need to source some PV1 to mix in as that's a sticky additive that will break up.

Well, I had some in the cupboard..... I'll try taking it with me.



Commercial anglers have been using it to dust micro's to stick them on method feeders, so it has re-appeared on shelves.

There used to be a binder called Collant, or something like that.... haven't seen that for a while. I used to use it in a mix for a very deep reservoir between Nelson and Colne, a feeder for the Leeds/Liverpool.
 

Peter Jacobs

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Collant is/was made by van den Eynde I think.
It was quite sticky with a seemingly large sweet (brown sugar?) content which as such helped it take a lot of loose feed.
 

rayner

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For roach I use Silver x roach super black. It's a nice biscuit smelling gb with seeds. I only use it from spring, colder months I prefer liquidised bread and punch. I don't bother with gb for tench, I prefer worm or bread. When I have used gb all I seem to attract are skimmers and carp. So gb for tench I'll leave that alone.
 

Mark Wintle

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Must admit I haven't seen VDE groundbait for years, all Sensas around here though we are 30 miles south of Calais (look on the map!).
 

tigger

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Imo, the attractent used depends on the venue, fishing method and where in the water table you plan to get hook ups.
 

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Must be around 30 years since I used Expo! I do recall it being an excellent tench gb back in the day. I rarely target tench these days, though I do catch a few, but I might get some expo for old times sake if I come across some.

Tench like nuzzling around on the lake bed, hence the clusters of tiny bubbles they produce, so an inert heavy-ish mix that sits on the bottom is advisable.

Roach on the other hand are more active feeders so a gb with a bit of life is better. An active mix with particles that move around and fizz will provide attraction. As they love hemp, something like Dynamite Frenzied Hemp maybe good. However, if fishing in deep water and / or flow this may need to be blended with something to get it where you want it to go.

I try to think of groundbait in terms of the way it behaves rather than its flavour.

For paste, green swim stim is my go to, and I go through a good few bags of this on commercials in Summer.
 
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