Homemade Groundbait issue!

[fsasam]

Hi Guys,

I'm pretty new to fishing, I have started going to a local pool where they allow groundbait so i thought i would give it a bash.

I don't really want to spend alot of money at the moment as i'm just getting in to it so thought i'd have a go at making my own groundbait.

I made it last night by blending: Half a loaf of brown bread, some wheetabix, sweetcorn, spam and some sardines - I have some dry dog food waiting to go in aswell.

My problem now is that the oil in the sardines has made it paste like so im a bit worried it wont break up in the water.

If anyone has any hints or tips on what I can do to fix this, if it does even need fixing, or if its just a lost cause that would be much appreciated.

I will be fishing with a waggler float and im taking maggots and luncheon meat as bait with a back up tin of sweetcorn.

Thanks in advance!

Sam

[NICK R]

it will work mate , the oil is good

[BoldBear]

The best groundbait is normally one that attracts the fish without feeding them too much otherwise they might be too full before they come across your hookbait.

You need it to generate a nice flavour drifting from or coming up from your groundbait. Without giving them too many lumps and pieces to pick up; you just want to whet their appetites with a few freebies amongst the groundait.
Therefore keep it simple and don’t fall into the trap of putting everything you find into it.

A good home made groundbait base for Silver fish like Roach is to dry some slices of bread lightly in the oven and then liquidise it into crumb; if you want it to sink faster then add some clean silver sand in it to make it break up and sink a little faster.

To make it cloud better as it sinks you can add a small amount of powdered milk or a little instant horlicks powder (or even custard powder) and you can also add a little icing sugar but don’t overdo it with the milk and sugar as you only need a small amount.
lastly add some small samples of your bait but again dont over-do it as you only want to get them looking for more and not overfeed them.

If you are fishing for Tench or Bream then you can mix some chopped worm pieces or ground sweet molasses (if you can find a shop that sells it); and/or some fishmeal or maize meal or ground dry dog food.
For Bream and Tench You usually need it to sink to the bottom a little faster especially if there are smaller fish above them; so a sinking agent like clean silver sand can be a useful addition.

NB. The addition of a sinking agent such as clean silver sand is especially useful if there is any flow, so that it will reach the bottom before it is washed to far downstream.

There are lots of useful items that you can substitiute or add from the larder but keep it simple and not too stodgey and you will not go too far wrong.
Ideally you want it to just hold together with a gentle squeeze and not be at all stodgey.
A lot of anglers make the common mistake of making their groundbait too wet and stodgey, then wondering why their bites dry up soon after balling it in.

Best of luck and tight lines
Keith (BoldBear)

[al84]

i been groundbaiting my swim up for couple days now and they have been clearing it up saw a nice one yesterday carp tht is and saw another today only bout 5 pound but these are wild so go off like a rocket!! but cant wait for start of season so cn try and catch one!!

[ninja_death]

Originally Posted by fsasam

Hi Guys,

I'm pretty new to fishing, I have started going to a local pool where they allow groundbait so i thought i would give it a bash.

I don't really want to spend alot of money at the moment as i'm just getting in to it so thought i'd have a go at making my own groundbait.

I made it last night by blending: Half a loaf of brown bread, some wheetabix, sweetcorn, spam and some sardines - I have some dry dog food waiting to go in aswell.

My problem now is that the oil in the sardines has made it paste like so im a bit worried it wont break up in the water.

If anyone has any hints or tips on what I can do to fix this, if it does even need fixing, or if its just a lost cause that would be much appreciated.

I will be fishing with a waggler float and im taking maggots and luncheon meat as bait with a back up tin of sweetcorn.

Thanks in advance!

Sam

Hope your groundbait was a success, when I make mine I just blend up some bread and dry dog biscuits, then add some salt and a few handfuls of sweetcorn and hemp seeds. Add lake water slowly until you can form a solid lump when squeezed, but when rubbed gently in your hand will fall apart easily.

[fsasam]

Thanks alot all!

It worked great... had some nice fish and a very lively swim!

The next time I just went for some blended bread, sweetcorn and dog food... worked just as well!

Thanks for the advice!