Vitalin - how to prepare and fish it?

Lord Paul of Sheffield · Jul 27, 2011

I finally found somewhere that sells Vitalin original and bought a bag

On openin,g it it looks very lumps and not wnat I'd expect to use as loose feed as it will fill the fish

I soaked a small amount in warm water for 10 minutes but still it looked like it would be lumpy

I mixed this in with some ground bait and a few pellets and swwetcorn and used in an open end feeder

Am I off the mark with how to fish it or how to prepare it or is this how it's done?

quickcedo · Jul 27, 2011

What you have bought is the starting point. You can use it as it is, but as you rightly say it's a little course and not really suitable for general fishing. Before i forget did you get the original??
I have a blender with a coffee grinder attachment. A quick spin and you have a good general groudbait. A good blitzing and you have flour, which can be made into paste on it's own but is quite sticky (high gluten levels). So it's better to 'cut' it. I personally like to use it at no higher rate than 30% ish. Cut with fishmeal or indeed anything you can think of.
The trick with Vitalin is to remember it carries on soaking up liquid for quite a while so always make baits or GB wetter than you need it.
If you make a paste the stickyness can be largely removed by putting the bait into the fridge for an hour.

bigchub · Jul 27, 2011

I use boiling water straight from the kettle. It takes on a surprising amount of water and can hold lots of feed items for the fish to feed on. I squeeze it into balls before I go fishing and this hardens them off slightly on the way to the river.
You did get the one in the yellow bag?

Lord Paul of Sheffield · Jul 27, 2011

cheers lads

Yes got the original

to be honest I did think mayne put it in my blender

I ahve an old electric blender I use to gring pellets doen to make paste(lot cheaper than bought paste) and old dlices of bread in to bread crumb - I add a bit to groundbait mixes (too much and it over feeds fish)

I'll blitz the next lot up

quickcedo · Jul 27, 2011

The blender will do fine Paul for groundbaits and course pastes. but you'll need to find the coffee grinder to get it any finer, ie for boilies.

Lord Paul of Sheffield · Jul 27, 2011

cheers - I'll ahve to look out for a 2nd hand one in soem charity shop

Jeff Woodhouse · Jul 27, 2011

Or - after you've ground it once in the mixer/liquidiser riddle it off through a fine mesh sieve, one you'd use for flour - in fact, use the wife's. Same with riddling dust off maggots, use her fine sieve as the maggots won't get through but the dust will. When you put it back knock the dust off so she doesn't realise next time she wants to use it.

Keep the Vitalin that's rougher and didn't go through the sieve for days when you need a coarser mix or put it back in teh blender and give it another whirl.

gentle · Jul 28, 2011

I use an electric coffee grinder that i got as a present. Think it was from whittards. This gets it very fine. When using it in GB as other posts have suggested the old blender is fine I do however add crushed dried hemp when blending it. ive found this eases the natural tackiness and also...is very cheap. Its hard up north you know!

As for the boilies I use it with honey and other stabilisers. Its not a particularly potent smell but ive had a fair few fish on em. The last time i showed an angler he laughed and got out his stinking to high heaven Rolling bait company high attract boilies and proceeded to tell me how the fish found the smell attracted more fish. 3-0 to me and he wasn't laughing. think he liked his boiles more than the fish.

Good luck mate.

Simon K · Jul 28, 2011

It makes an excellent method mix as it is out of the bag. Add some hemp juice + lake/river water, mix it up and leave for 10 mins, the less you use, the stiffer the mix. Add hemp, molasses or brown sugar, mould into balls. Add pieces of corn or boilie bits. Good for carp, tench, bream, chub.

Make sure you store in an airtight container as it's prone to infestations of the Indian Meal Moth.

Vitalin - how to prepare and fish it?

Lord Paul of Sheffield

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quickcedo

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bigchub

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Lord Paul of Sheffield

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quickcedo

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Lord Paul of Sheffield

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Jeff Woodhouse

Moaning Marlow Meldrew

gentle

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Simon K

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