My latest groundbait recipe

Loving the groundbait recipe, I also dabble in making my own but take a big short cut by buying brown crumb in wholesale form.
I find that a darker colour works well so tend to use molasses which gives me that plus it also adds that bitter sweet taste.
I find that experimenting with various flavours can be very rewarding and fascinating, the fact there's a good chance you can save money by making your own is also a bonus.


Sent from my android

A couple of observations for you.

There are a few things you can do to prolong shelf life of your 'damp' ground bait.
# use saline solution instead of water
# use molasses
# use a sugary solution and/or combination of salt and sugar
# use watered down honey and golden syrup
# vacuum seal your bags

basically anything except plain water which will harbour mould growth. Also by excluding air you should be able to store your bags in a cool place for around 3 months.

* mould growth is good, except where animal derivatives are included.

There are a couple of things you can do speed up the mixing and riddling too.
# use a paint stirrer to mix the dry and damp particles together
# use a mister spray bottle to introduce liquid to evenly distribute moisture
# pre-wet all your ingredients (accordingly) and push it through a meat grinder

I am pleased that you bother to pre-wet your ingredients as it deactivates anti-nutrients and even though you may need more water, it saves a bit of time on the bank.

Good job and a good write up as usual. :thumbs:

Thanks for the kind words guys!

Chris,

Great advice as always, thank you...

When you say "use saline solution instead of water" saline is plain water with salt added - Yes? Can you suggest a solution ratio of salt to water for this purpose?

Ralph.

fishplate42 said:

Thanks for the kind words guys!

Chris,

Great advice as always, thank you...

When you say "use saline solution instead of water" saline is plain water with salt added - Yes? Can you suggest a solution ratio of salt to water for this purpose?

Ralph.

Click to expand...

No problem Ralph.

9.0 g of seasalt per liter (0.90%) or 1% (rounded) is palatable though 5% is probably nearer the mark if you want to prolong shelf life and if you go 50/50 salt sugar solution it can go to 10% of the total weight.

A vacuum will significantly help. You can adapt your sealer to produce a vacuum using a plastic straw so there's no need to buy extra equipment. Youtube will have the answer for you.

There is a way you can add more salt (as a saturated solution), but its a little bit more involved as any excess will need to be removed before introducing to fish.

If I just want to add an electolyte as a stimulant, I add about a teaspoonful of Himalayan seasalt (4 to 5g) per 1Kg (1000g) which contains 82 different minerals. Avoid tablesalt as it may contain iodine, although essential to life may be harmfull to fish in excess and there's no way of knowing how much iodine was added by the manufacturer. Lowsalt may be a useful alternative to seasalt but I don't know enough about its preserving properties to comment.

Good luck.