Fry Ate My Bait!

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Gary Franklin

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Fishing at a local lake recently I had a little success on the first afternoon without too much to mumble about, however as the light faded the fry came out. Now, initially they were rather amusing and attacked anything on the surface with such frenzy that they were almost coming out of the water.

It was only has I prepared to settle in for the night and re-cast my rods with new baits and PVA bags that I suspected that the fry were eating all of the feed that I had put in. It did not dawn on me until about 4a.m that these little pests were in fact eating my hook baits. When I reeled in two of my three rods were without hook bait. From that moment on I felt that I had to check my hook baits every hour or so ? good job too, no baits each time. This continued till lunchtime when out of frustration I packed up.

So I have two questions

1. Are there any baits that would avoid this happening?
2. Are there any ways to prevent fry eating your hook baits?

Gary
 
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Gary Franklin

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How do you fish with artificails? can you add flavour to smell to them ?
 
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Gary Franklin

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A mix of Terry Hearn Source, real hard halibut pellets and Pops up.

and yes they gnawed the halibut down to the size of a v. small pee
 
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Gary Franklin

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do bait meshes work or do they tender to hinder pickups?
 
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Dave Rothery

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bait mesh would work. halibut pellets disslolve after a couple of hours - soaking them in oil (salmon) will extend dissolve time. were the fry nibbling the boilies away? never seen that before (not over a couple of hours) any eels in the lake?
 
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Mike Harrison

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Were there any Signal crayfish in there? they will strip a bait quicker than anything.
 
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Stuart Dennis

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I actually visited Gary on the venue, there are no cray as it's brand new. I don't think mesh would suit either (based on above), perhaps just a tad more attention to the presentation on the hair. Try a harder boilie stops or air dry the baits for 48 hours b4 easch session.
 
GrahamM

GrahamM

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These are well worth a try: <a href=http://www.fishingmagic.com/news/article.asp?SP=&v=1&UAN=2547>Boilie Jackets</a>
 
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Gary Franklin

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Just got back from another session. Interesting results. If I baited an area and then cast out with a PVA bag, my hook bait (boilie and pellet)was gone within an hour or so; however if I just presented a single hook bait in an unbaited area with out any other feed into the area the boilie stayed put all night.

Ended up blanking so not too sure what the answer would be in order to catch fish!
 
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Stuart Dennis

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mmmmmmmmm interesting one mate. If you are looking at staying with the halibut pellet, then fish a pva bag as you have done, then put an imitation halibut on the hook (plastic). Crazy as it sounds, but if you can only get hold of the imitation in pop-up style, split them and place the required amount of split shot necessary to keep it laying on the bottom. Once you've tried this approach, you could then start playing around with pop-up halibuts, but to begin with weight it down to retain the same presentation as the surrounding loose-feed.
 
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Stuart Dennis

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good point frothy, i aint used it but it feels, looks and smells superb! Have you tried it?
 
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Gary Franklin

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Cheers for that Stu; neet idea. Funny thing is whilst I was there this morning a couple of others mentioned using Doppleganger with great success.

Dave - do you use the Doppleganger on a paste spring?
 
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Dave Rothery

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i wrap it around a real pellet - that way if it comes off i've still got a bait on. also, i can "critically balance" a pellet
 
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Gary Franklin

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I've herd this expression a few times and read it more than that. I know it does refer to Stuart's state of mind so what does it mean.
 
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Stuart Dennis

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Critically Balanced could mean: A pop-up bait weighted down so it sinks extremely slowly to offer a critically balanced bait. An example of a perfect time to use a critically balanced bait Gary would be if you are fishing in weed. Imagine casting your lead out with a 10 inch hooklength with a CB bait. The lead hits the deck and the bait follows but slowly sits on top of the weed to make the perfect presentation. I tend to use critically balanced baits more in the winter for delicate pick-ups as opposed to the summer where the takes are more ferocious.
 
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Gary Franklin

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Someone who has recently returned form Abbey Lakes in France has informed me that there is covering of mussels and about two feet of weed across the bottom of the lake. Given this, we obviously will need to keep our presented baits (both the PVA presentations and the hook baits) above the weed carpet. Presenting a CB bait above the weed would make it more visible, correct?

Stu, what do you use to slow the decent of the bait or PVA bag down so it doesn?t get dragged into the weed by the weight?
 
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Stuart Dennis

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PVA - I would use PVA foam nuggets inside the bag and depending on the temperature of the water, I would not pierce the bag and leave air within. The hotter the water temperature, the quick the pva will disolve.

BAIT - PVA Foam nugget also
 
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