Ground bait , died it have to be lump free

The accepted method ís to mix ground bait then put thru a maggot to get any lumps out
But does the odd lump give the fish something to eat and keep them in your swim

I have never understood why it needs to be lump free or why it should be light and fluffy.

The way that I see it; If my ground bait has lumps in it the fish may swallow the lumps of groundbait and be full up already before they actually find my hookbait, instead of the groundbait just triggering them into searching for morsals (ie. my baited hook).

I've always thought that a good groundbait tempts the fish without filling them up too much before they find my hookbait.

I know that you sometimes add a certain amount of feed to the groundbait but its usually small amounts of hookbait just to tempt them and get them looking for more; the rest is usually just tempter/attractant.

Keith

The match lads always emphasise this point in groundbait mixing instructables, so you would expect that it does make a real difference. I've picked up lots of tips from match fishing magazines over the years: in respect of feeding there are few people better to learn from than a successful match angler.

Most of their methods and advice can be applied to a standard coarse fishing situation; suitably scaled up, if necessary.

So much depends on the mix you are using and the target species when it comes to ground baits.

Generally speaking, we riddle in order to put air into the mix which, when made into a ball for throwing, helps the mix break up on the bottom and release the freebies contained therein.

Lumps in ground baits only serve to feed-off some of the fish in your swim which is the exact opposite of what you are trying to achieve . . . . and that is to attract and stimulate but to keep their interest up and not to fill them up. This being one of the major reason why I don't ever use home made ground baits but always opt for the continental mixes in the first place.

There are situations when you don't want the ground bait to break up instantly or over a few minutes, but then there are many ways around that too, and without making a lumpy mix.

One such situation is when I fish for bream on a medium size local club lake. There iy is the kiss of death to keep on feeding as they just don't like to have bait constantly raining down on them, and will quickly go of off the feed.

Simply make, say, 9 tennis size balls, the first three you squeeze just enough to hold it together to be thrown in, the second set of 3 you squeeze a lot harder and the final 3 you squeeze them tightly and then dampen your hands and put a "shim" of water around the outside.

Those 9 balls will then break up at different rates thereby continually attracting but over a much longer period and without having to keep on throwing in more balls.

What if you're putting down ground bait to attract carp , a few small lumps will not feed of carp

A lot of margin mixes contain a lot of large particles,best way ive found ,is to still riddle the mix to get the claggy lumps out,then add the particles back in,adds air to the mix..Gazza

Do lumps in your groundbait matter if you are fishing a river? Apologies if you are talking still waters

Chefster said:

A lot of margin mixes contain a lot of large particles,best way ive found ,is to still riddle the mix to get the claggy lumps out,then add the particles back in,adds air to the mix..Gazza

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Good point.

When using those types of mixes I usually riddle off the larger pieces and dampen them separately and then put them back into the mix after the final riddle.

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Lord Paul of Sheffield said:

What if you're putting down ground bait to attract carp , a few small lumps will not feed of carp

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That depends largely on the size of the lumps and the size of the carp . . . . . .

ken more said:

Do lumps in your groundbait matter if you are fishing a river? Apologies if you are talking still waters

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Whether you are fishing a river or a stillwater and using a groundbait that is full of claggy lumps that don't easily break down then yes I'm sure that it matters just the same. The main job of a groundbait is not to feed the fish off but to create a mix and flavour that attracts fish and gets the fish searching for food (your hookbait plus any hook samples used within your groundbait) and having big solid lumps of groundbait in addition to your loose-feed in your groundbait is not usually (if ever) a good idea.

Keith

I wouldn’t be overly bothered by a few small lumps which would probably breakdown after a while anyway. I’d be more concerned with hard pressed balls of ground bait reaching the bottom intact and then breaking down to leave tennis ball size mounds of food. Which is going to feed off fish quickest, the odd lump or the mounds?

cassey said:

I wouldn’t be overly bothered by a few small lumps which would probably breakdown after a while anyway. I’d be more concerned with hard pressed balls of ground bait reaching the bottom intact and then breaking down to leave tennis ball size mounds of food. Which is going to feed off fish quickest, the odd lump or the mounds?

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. . . . and that won't happen if it contains the right ingredients; has been mixed properly, riddled and formed correctly.

The action of the current or the undertow breaks up and moves the groundbait quite considerably.

In my competitive match days I learned so much about ground baits, ingredients, attractants and colourings from watching some of the great anglers making theirs and asking questions.

Sit behind Jean Desque, Milo Columbo or Stevie Gardner and watch to see how, and why they did what they did . . . .

Peter Jacobs said:

. . . . and that won't happen if it contains the right ingredients; has been mixed properly, riddled and formed correctly.

The action of the current or the undertow breaks up and moves the groundbait quite considerably.

In my competitive match days I learned so much about ground baits, ingredients, attractants and colourings from watching some of the great anglers making theirs and asking questions.

Sit behind Jean Desque, Milo Columbo or Stevie Gardner and watch to see how, and why they did what they did . . . .

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Snorkelling a 12 ft. deep lake area I never found much movement on the bed and certainly groundbait remained there. Balls broke down into mounds or circular areas and stayed there until disturbed. Very much as in this vid. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-37IcPQr7D0
Just practical observations and certainly not intended to be controversial.

cassey said:

Very much as in this vid. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-37IcPQr7D0

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Bluddy hell I thought me speakers had broken, what an awful racket.

I don't think it matters in some situations, lumpy or not, infact it's often a good thing as the fish will be pecking at the lumpy bits and stirring up the rest. It also depends on the fish species your targetting, wether your fishing up in the water or firmly on the bottom etc. There's loads of different scenarios that would dictate how you prepare your ground bait.
As an example, I often use corn, maggots, pellets etc as a groundbait/attractant with no binder or fine groundbait at all and it has usually worked ok for me .

cassey said:

Snorkelling a 12 ft. deep lake area I never found much movement on the bed and certainly groundbait remained there. Balls broke down into mounds or circular areas and stayed there until disturbed. Very much as in this vid. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-37IcPQr7D0 Just practical observations and certainly not intended to be controversial.

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I'm not surprised at that Cassey. A mound of groundbait just sitting motionless on the bottom waiting for a fish to come along is arguably not much good.
Whereas a cloud of tiny particles slowly sinking and rising up off the bottom while leaking good flavours into the undertow would be far more likely to bring fish into the area.

A feeding bream shoal often clouds up the water as it disturbs the bottom and any bream angler worth their salt knows this is a sure give-away to finding a feeding shoal of bream.

Tench bubbles often give away tench burying their heads amongst bottom silt looking for bloodworm etc. that's a common occurance on these types of water.

Plus dozens of times I have managed to get a shoal of roach to come down in the water to feed on the bottom (on purpose) by feeding a little more and decreasing the regularity of my feed; or adding a few sinking casters to fall through a cloud of groundbait to select slightly larger roach lying back underneath nearer the bottom.

Of coarse I often catch fish like Carp, Roach, Chub, Dace and Rudd etc. higher up in the water but most of the time it's fishing on the bottom that has won or placed me in most of the matches that I've done well in.

I don't know about on commercials because I rarely fish them but In my experience inactive lumps of groundbait just sitting motionless on the bottom are not that good at attracting lots of feeding fish. LOL.

Keith

sagalout said:

Bluddy hell I thought me speakers had broken, what an awful racket.

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Sorry, i should have issued a warning