Prebait

For the new season, in an effort to do somthing a bit different to the norm, I'm going to target some carp in a lenght of the Trent and Mersey Canal. I know they are there and I know a bit of prebaiting will help me no end.. I'm going to go for a Seed and Vitalin mix with some pellets and Hook bait samples (Boilies and Corn).. Can't claim it to me a mix of my own I've stolen it from Rik's articles... The big question is how often would you bait up and how much would you put in, and how long before fishing would you start... I'm thinking about starting early Feb for a March Kick off... Whadya think?

I ahve'nt prebaited in canals before, but I have started prebaiting campaigns as early as February. My personal experience is that it is better to put in a little in a few places, twice a week to start with. Then as the weather gets warmer build up the quantity, both in terms of the amount put in and the frequency it is applied. Before you start fishing I would be putting it in every other day and upwards of a kilo in each spot. Also its worth remembering that in my experience most people seem to stop the campaign when they start fishing, rather than just work the baiting while fishing into the ongoing process.

I have pre baited on the Canal where i live for the Carp (although there are not many carp), I found that the Fish are so nomadic at times that baiting every other day over a half mile stretch in several "carpy" looking spots regular kept the fish in the area more often during the summer.....
It took me a very long time to get the fish hanging around the area or visiting regular, i started with small amounts at the start of march & did not fish it until the end of may, i kept the bait going in all the time between fishing session as well.

oh yeah....I used lots of bait by the end of it all!

A kilo in 3 spots, 3 times a week equals 9 kilos per week.

Early Feb until October is 8 months, that's one hell of a long time to fish one venue, but we'll go on a best case scenario.
Thats about 35 weeks @ 9 kilos per week = 315 kilos (wet).
That's about 200 kilos dry.

2 sacks of Haiths Red Band @ ?15 for 25kgs (?30)

2 sacks of trouties @ ?15 for 25kgs (?30)

A sack of maize @ ?7 for 25kgs (?7)

To mix that lot with Vitalin at 20%/20%/10% leaves 50% of Vitalin or

8 sacks of Vitalin @ ?6 for 15kgs (?48)(total of about 245 kgs dry, thats about 370 kgs wet)

Total cost ?115, for 8 months worth of prebaiting and fishing.

Sounds like a bargain to me.

Right, I'm off for some vitalin..