PVA, please tell me more

Those who read my newbie thread will be aware i'm back to fishing after nearly 25 years of fishing as a kid.

Now i only ever float fished still waters as a kid, but now i am really getting into feeder fishing and tip indicators etc. Now keep coming accross the term pva which what i can make out is a dissolvable plastic bag that you load with your baitmix.

What i would like to know, as this is very new to me, how long does it take to dissolve, would you say the resulting solution taints the bait, and are they cost effective compared to a reuseable feeder?

I am a total covert to pva mesh bags they are brilliant but once you get into them it can get expensive I tend to use around 3 bags an hour on each of two rods.
as fare as I know they don't leave a residue in the long run and you can have runs after 3 minutes,but they are all different so you have to check at home in a glass of water.
I have the korum kit and have found this great ,it's small compact ,waterproof and comes with all the bits you need .
You can get cheap pva refills on the bay and cheap ones do seem to work fine .
You soon find yourself not even considering casting out a straight lead without a little bag of crushed boiles and pellets or whatever and a flavour dip soaked into it.
I have never used the solid bags after seeing a video clip from barbel days and ways they trap air and spread there contents all over the place in a river but prob ok in a still water if you can get it on the bottom .

Have a read of this (Click here) from our Samantha.

And just in case you take a fancy to Samantha, THIS is her husband Scott and his tip on using salt in a bag.

Thanks for the very comprehensive info there guys,

and no offence Samantha but one wife is more than enough trouble for me lol


some waters restrict types of bait etc, is this method accepted all over, i'd have to check with my usual water

The length of time taken to dissolve will depend on a number of things the main one being water temperature. The thickness of the pva is another facture to take into account.
I tend to use mesh for the majority of my pva fishing because it melts quicker and I can adjust the size of the package more easily. When using solid bags I make sure they are packed tightly, I include a small stone and always pierce the bag with a bait needle to make sure all the air is released.
Hope this helps, Keith

I've often wondered what would be the long-trem effect of hundreds upon hundreds of PVA bags going into a lake that is not stream or spring fed?

Does anyone know?