Pre baiting a swim

How important do you think this is? I'm Just interested to hear peoples view on this?

Feel free to add your best pre bait mix recipes

Used to prebait chosen (raked) swims for about a week prior to the "glorious 16th" on our local river. Had some fantastic catches doing this. Most times would arrive at first light and the swim was always bubbling and fish showing in it. This was for the bream/tench. Have also found it great for introducing hemp. Throw a few handfuls in for a few days and invariably the roach would play ball. Beats waiting for hours for them to get on the stuff. Shall be doing the same this year.

The success of prebaiting invariably depends on the water concerned.

One water I know shows a remarkable propensity for the fish to ignore decent quantities of bait until the second or third night. No problem if you've got plenty of time for long term stays, otherwise prebaiting is the answer.

The one thing a water does need to be if you are going to prebait is fairly quiet. I've yet to find a water where you can legitimately reserve a prebaited swim. The busier a water is, the greater the chance that you won't get the swim you've prebaited when you want it.

I have been 'pre-baiting' with as many as 4/5 boilies at a time in a few swims of my club lakes. Not really in the league you are talking about but often that is enough to get one or two fish fairly quickly simply because they get used to a casual windfall. I pick points along patrol routes I have already observed. Rather than trying to get them to stay I often as not fish a sleeper rod in the margin whilst after roach and crucians and get lucky or not.
Rivers can be a longer process and I'm not as keen as I once was to jump on my bike every night for a week and set a trap. Even then I was careful to select unfancied stretches that I could reasonably expect to be in isolation.

Here is one for the bream.( sorry to those of bream phobia).
It has worked in lakes in England and Ireland as well as the rivers Shannon,Thames and Nene(Lower -North Bank).

Its cheap as chips. Needs to be within catapult distance.

About a gallon of cooked wheat. £3 maybe. Catapult it in over an area of about 10yds square. Do it in the afternoon and come back to fish the next morning.

It works and my reasoning is that the bream like the wheat which is spread about in the silt and stones and they cannot demolish it all at once like maybe expensive groundbait and caster and maggots because it requires a lot of grubbing around.The eels won't nobble it.


Ps it also works on the Tidal Trent if your visit can coincide early enough with the turning of the tide when it is STOPPED in the morning and you are staying long enough for the fish to find it and start grubbing around later in the day.
STOPPED to allow the wheat to get to the bottom and get into the cracks and crevices otherwise the current will whisk it away.

The only problem with the Trent is you have to put up with the barbel:wh:wh

Pre baiting is banned on my club waters, even dropping a few baits into a few swims can get you a ban.
Did ask once how the long stay anglers anglers get round this rule because they spend days throwing bait upto 2 kilos of boilies a day into the water while they wait for the fish to turn up. Never did get an answer.

Pointless prebaitng busy commercials (for obvious reasons)... even more pointless chucking in **** baits reeking of synthetic chemicals.

Prebaiting rivers and rock hard fisheries however is vitally important if your looking for success. No need to prebait with expensive or branded boilies imo, a simple (unflavoured) spod mix will suffice.

The whole idea is to get the fish to feed confidently and return for more each time you put feed in.... hopefully they will be there looking for more when you finely get to fish it. :thumbs:

Ps. its a fallacy to believe that whatever is on your hook has to exactly match the feed, it doesn't.

laguna said:

.. even more pointless chucking in **** baits reeking of synthetic chemicals.
.

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Looking forward to trying that strawberry paste of yours with natural flavour. Smells good enough to eat myself.

john step said:

Looking forward to trying that strawberry paste of yours with natural flavour. Smells good enough to eat myself.

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Made with real strawberries John! :w

Tight lines!!!