Benefits of red groundbait

[plattsie_fish]

Just wondering what all the fine people on these pages make of red groundbaits? Plan to fish a club lake with good head of small carp, tench and bream. Was going to go with sweet corn on hook and corn and hemp in feeder. I bought some red crumb with something in mind at the start of the year but can’t remember what??!! Might 50/50 it with some sonubaits feeder special.

 

[Golden Eagle]

I’m not particularly convinced colour is a big factor. That said I don’t think it will do any harm either.
My view is that the way a bait behaves in the water is the major factor and fish like carp will eat almost anything edible if they are inclined.
If the water has a lot of smaller fish, roach/rudd, I’d cut back on the hemp but otherwise your approach sounds good. Try to cast into shallow water for carp at this time of year and tench love cover.

 

[Keith M]

As long as the water you will be fishing doesn't have Signal Crayfish or Turkish Crayfish in it then I think you will be fine using your groundbait whatever its colour.

The problem with using groundbait on a lot of waters today is that it tends to attract Crays, so I would check for them first.
If not then I see nothing wrong with using it as long as it doesn't contain too much feed in it as you don't really want to fill their stomachs up too much.

Keith

 

[sam vimes]

How important the colour of a bait is varies from water to water. On some it matters not one jot, on others it matters a lot. However, most waters will fall somewhere in between and will exhibit variations depending on the time of year and water clarity. I recall fishing one local lake where a few of us found that yellow baits showed to be significantly preferable to the carp in there. It was so unsubtly obvious that we found that flavours seemed largely unimportant. It was a bonus for us as young anglers with a budget that rarely stretched to shop bought boilies. We could make our own baits out of the cheapest ingredients possible. As long as they were yellow, we still caught as well as anyone, including those that knew of the yellow baits preference.

 

[plattsie_fish]

Thanks for those replies. Think I might give it a whirl. I sometimes think that I agree with the opinion that if it’s there, surely it’s attractive. Bit of a mix of colours has got to get a swim going. Thanks for ideas!

 

[mikench]

One problem with coloured GB , particularly red, is that it stains your hands. Personally I dislike having coloured hands all day and I don't know what the colourant is doing to my skin and internals let alone the fish. For these reasons I give it a miss unless I can mix it at home with proper spoons or a whisk and create balls ready for throwing or catapulting in.

 

[peterjg]

Regarding colourings I have had some reasonable catches with turmeric flavoured maggots but you end up with stained fingers and look like a chain smoker. Is this inevetable or am I doing something wrong?

 

[mikench]

Inevitable I'm afraid. However turmeric is good for you and is a member of the ginger family. I don't mind turmeric stains, it's the potentially carcinogenic colourants I'm worried about.

 

[peytr]

Red ground bait was around when I started fishing (50+ yrs ago, never had the money back then) and still is. I think it's not very special but have no proof it isn't. The widespread use of the color red (groundbait, maggots, Rubiver dur) might be the result of trying to mimic bloodworm, at least in the mind of the angler. A commercial bait must attract fish but even more so and before that must attract anglers .

I'm quite convinced light or dark matters a lot. Herons, kingfishers and the likes can spot a fish on a light surface and fish instinctively know this and could avoid light coloured bait carpets.

Red is more on the darkish side, so I think it's ok.

 

[john step]

One of the best tricks for clear water is to colour it by chucking in some mole hill soil. A bit can also be mixed with groundbait.

 

[TimFB]

Fish on waters where there are cormorants will stay well away from light colored groundbaits, for the reasons above in my experience.

 

[markcw]

One of the best tricks for clear water is to colour it by chucking in some mole hill soil. A bit can also be mixed with groundbait.

Yet on a clear canal , a bed of liquidized bread works wonders,