Groundbait

GROUNDBAIT is used to attract fish into the swim and to keep them in a tight area on, or close to, the bottom. It can be fed into the water in balls, thrown in by hand at distances of up to about 45 feet (14m), or through a special groundbait catapult with a range of approximately 100 feet (30m). Alternatively, an open-ended feeder attached to the line will carry the groundbait as far as you can cast.

In its simplest form, groundbait is dried and crushed bread. Anglers call this ‘crumb’ and, when laced with squatts, this is the best mix for bream fishing.

In recent years, so-called Continental groundbaits containing all sorts of unusual ingredients in addition to bread have begun to occupy an increasing amount of space on the shelves of tackle shops. Several brands are designed specifically for enticing one particular kind of fish and, luckily for the beginner, this is usually stated on the packaging. For instance, French groundbait manufacturers, Sensas, market a range of separate groundbaits under the names Roach, Tench, Bream and Carp.

Manufacturers tend to keep the actual contents of their mixes secret to prevent them being copied. You cannot blame them; there are not too many other businesses where the customer pays good money for a product which he immediately throws away!

It’s in the Mix

In addition to choosing mixes to suit individual species, you should also consider the venue you will be fishing. For a deep, fast-flowing river, you will need a groundbait that binds together strongly so it will drop down to the bottom without breaking up. The flow of water will then help to break down the balls of groundbait. On a shallow lake, however, a mixture of this type would be useless, as the ball would just sit on the bottom without breaking up. A much lighter mix which starts disintegrating as it hits the water is needed.

Many companies actually take the trouble of stating for which kind of venues and fishing methods each of their mixes is best suited, including the ideal depth of water.

Breaking Up

You can get any mix to behave differently just by varying the amount of water you add. The drier the mix, the quicker it will break up on contact with water.

Generally speaking, it is necessary to create a mix which will hold together as it enters the water, but will break up close to the bottom. If you can produce a fine groundbait that will do this, it will create an attractive cloud close to the bottom, and this can prove deadly to fish on clear, hard-fished stillwaters.

You can also change the performance of gnoundbait by adding PV1 Colant — a powerful powder binder — which is extremely effective. PV1 powder should be added to the dry ingredients of the groundbait before mixing with water; the more you use, the harder the balls will be.

Flavours and additives

In tandem with the boom in groundbait has come a veritable cornucopia of flavours and additives. These are available in liquid, or powder, form and most state on the packaging which species they are designed to lure. Liquid flavours should be added to the water that you use to mix with the groundbait, whereas powders are mixed with the dry groundbait before adding water. Much research has gone into additives and some top specialist and match anglers are enthusiastic fans. It is generally believed that sweet flavours are best in the summer, and spicy flavours in winter.

Groundbait is a form of feed crumb which is used to attract fish, stimulate them into feeding and also used to concentrate the fish in a tight area when put into the swim. It comes in many different forms and also from many different countries. The French and the Dutch are great exponents and blenders of groundbait and many of the packets you will see in the tackle shops are blended and bagged abroad. As you start to use groundbait you will probably start off with a simple mix of brown crumb and water.

Most tackle shops should have plain brown crumb in stock. This is fine for general coarse fishing and is attractive to most species. Brown crumb is usually available in three different grades, fine, medium and coarse. The coarse mix will have bigger lumps of crumb in it and is more suited for use when tackling larger species such as carp, tench and bream who can wolf down a lot of food. The three different grades of brown crumb also have their uses at different times of the year. For example, it’s okay feeding big fish like carp, tench and bream on a rough or coarse mix in the summer, but in the winter, when the fish don’t require anywhere near as much food, a coarse grade of crumb might well fill the fish up too quickly. As a rule fine grade crumb is used in the winter or when the angler wants to present a really low food content groundbait.

Fine brown crumb is a good groundbait to use when you want to form a cloud that lingers for a short time in the upper and middle layers of water, to eventually settle gently on the bottom, forming a widespread carpet. Roach, skimmers and rudd are all good species to target using a cloud groundbait. Because the mix is so fine, when over-wetted it turns very sloppy. This slop is then fed into the swim in small amounts to maintain a continuous cloud of low-feed bait.

This keeps the fish in the area of the cloud and they can be caught on a slow sinking, maggot hook bait, fished on-the-drop through the cloud feed. The medium grade crumb makes a good binder, which can be mixed to include hook bait samples.

It’s also widely used when feeder fishing for bream or tench, as when mixed fairly dry it remains in the feeder until it hits the bottom and only then will it explode out to form a small cloud. Bigger samples of hook bait like corn, casters and maggots can all be mixed with the medium grade brown crumb. This heavy grade crumb is a complete feed in itself simply because it contains larger particles which may satisfy even the hungriest of fish. This type of crumb is generally used in the summer for bigger fish. Next month we’ll start to explore the different types of continental groundbaits and look at their uses.

Now it's time to move on and start to explore the world of continental groundbaits. Basically a continental groundbait is a mix that has been formulated with flavours and additives. Some, however, will have plain crumb as a base, and then the additives and flavours are added to this. The main bulk of the mixes that you can now find on tackle shop shelves are usually of a flavour and additive make-up. What this means is that you are able to select a mix for the species you are fishing for and when mixed it should be of the right texture for the depth of water you are fishing in. For example if you are fishing for roach and they are up-in-the-water, a cloud groundbait will hold them there. If the groundbait is mixed to a stiffer consistency it will sink lower in the water and take the fish down with it. If the species you are targeting are bottom feeders then a stiff/heavy mix will sink right to the bottom before breaking up. Therefore before making a choice in continental groundbaits it is a good idea to think about the following: depth of water, type and size of fish, amount of fish expected and a knowledge of local baits.

DEPTH OF STILLWATERS

This will give you a starting point for the texture of your feed. For example, should it be loose and soft, or sticky and firm? In shallow water, of say three to five feet, accuracy in terms of getting all the feed to the bottom in a tight area is obtained quite easily, especially when fishing close in to the bank. Feed can be relatively soft with little possibility of water movement (tow) and less disturbance a benefit. For depths up to eight feet and perhaps at distance, the firmness of the mix is of great importance. Groundbait that has been squeezed firmly will offer more resistance to any drift on the water and remain intact when thrown. When faced with deeper water you need to use a much stickier, harder mix, to ensure it gets down to the desired depth before beginning to break up.

TYPE OF FISH

Although fish will respond to all different types of food they tend to have a preference. For example, roach may react more readily to a hemp-based mix where there is lots of activity in the form of food particles rising off the feed. Carp also like an active mix, whereas bream are much happier feeding on more inert, sweet, bottom-based mixes. With this in mind a choice can now be made to combine the right consistency with the right ingredient to suit the predominant fish.

AMOUNT OF FISH AND LOCAL KNOWLEDGE

The amount of fish in a water, water temperature and the time of the year, are all very important considerations for picking the richness and food content of a given continental mix. Obviously heavy feeding with a rich feed full of coarse particles will hold fish longer in a heavily stocked water where there are good numbers of freely-feeding fish in the summer. Whereas adopting a low-feed-value mix on less prolific venues, especially in the cooler months won't over-feed the fish. Therefore local knowledge of a venue is invaluable. Information on quantity of species, where and how they feed and their preferences to types of feed will help you decide. I've looked around at what is available and have come up with a few examples you might like to try out! This month I've selected a few of the Sensas mixes which I've used for a number of years. Here is how I use them.

SHALLOW OR UP-IN-THE-WATER FISHING

SENSAS 'CLOUD' & 'SUPREME'
When mixing the two together you will be able to achieve a light fluffy groundbait which is ideal for shallow water fishing in the summer months. Remember though to mix the dry ingredients together thoroughly before adding water. Supreme also mixes easily on its own for feeding on the bottom or for breaking up as it falls through the water. Adding the Cloud makes the Supreme mix a lot lighter and when fishing with a small ball every put in, is an ideal mix for fishing the on-the-drop method where roach and skimmers are the main quarry.

SUMMER FISHING

'Lake' is a medium texture, highly-active groundbait that can be mixed to a variety of textures. On its own it can be balled into a swim and it will break down quickly. The addition of either Sensas 'Roach', 'Bream' or 'Carp' will increase the food value with more of the flavours each fish prefer. Bream respond to red baits, so mixes like red 'Bream' or red 'Magic' should be considered as alternatives. In cold water or on clear venues, dark feeds give a better response when fish are very shy, so 'Noire' (black roach) should be substituted.

COLDER WATER AND WINTER FISHING

In the colder months fish are usually less active and rich groundbaits can easily over feed them, causing the fish to switch off the feed. For situations like this a mix called 'Match Blend' is perfect. Not so sweet as lake, it's dark in colour and much slower in action. This makes it a good choice for winter and difficult waters. As a base it's ideal for mixing with 'Noire' (Black Roach), 'Gros Gardon' (Big Roach), 'Canal Extra' or 'Canal Nouveau' depending where and what you are fishing for.

DEEPER WATERS

The two main problems with deeper water are accuracy of feeding, and fish feeding off the bottom where they are usually harder to catch. Groundbait mixes should, in these conditions, be mixed heavier and the addition of a binder like PVl or Sensas 'River' mix can be used to achieve this. The balls of groundbait should be squeezed harder to ensure they are not affected by water movement and that they reach the required destination in both distance and depth.

HEAVILY STOCKED WATERS

In well-stocked waters, and especially in summer, fish like carp will respond to a high food value groundbait like Sensas 'Crazy Bait'. These fish are competing for food and will search out the high protein mixes their body needs to attain and increase weight. 'Crazy Bait' is high in fishmeal, best used on its own, but it can be mixed with any other groundbait if a different texture is required for a different swim.

CONCLUSION

So looking back over the Sensas range it becomes apparent that there is a mix for almost every type of coarse fish that swims. And more to the point you have to remember that it's you the angler that will dictate how the mix behaves by the way that you mix it. Most major groundbait firms now print mixing instructions on the reverse of the packet. Follow their recommended guidelines to achieve the right mix and you won't go far wrong. Remember also that you don't have to use just a straight continental mix. You may find that some of these products are too expensive for your budget. If this is the case then mix them 50-50 with plain old brown crumb if summer fishing, or mix with non feed items like PVl or damp leam in the winter. This will make your groundbait go a lot further.