| Is your bait pulling in every big fish for miles? If your | | | | ‘traces’ of dissolved attractors in the water |
| chum or ground bait is not you are seriously missing | | | | have an advantage over ‘solid’ ground baits, |
| out and really need to exploit this vital element of | | | | because odds are that fish will pick up your hook baits |
| successful fishing far more! | | | | far quicker and there is no risk of ‘filling the |
| The act of feeding bait into your swim while fishing or | | | | fish-up’ with free bait even before the fish finally |
| indeed before going fishing as in ‘pre-baiting,’ is | | | | eat your hook bait. |
| a cornerstone in effective angling. If you cannot pull fish | | | | Ground baits that are ‘active’ will promote more |
| into your swim and hold them there looking for food | | | | response from fish. This might mean adding live |
| for any length of time, then there are very vital things | | | | creatures into it, like worms or maggots etc. Or |
| going wrong for you. | | | | incorporating ingredients that will ‘cloud-up’ and |
| * If your fish do not become stimulated by your bait, | | | | flavour the water, and rise to different levels in the |
| they may not even ‘realise’ that even your | | | | water column as different ingredients of various |
| hook bait is in the swim. In many situations just fishing a | | | | buoyancies disperse. |
| single hook bait on its own will not be enough to | | | | There are many ways and means of offering free |
| produce satisfactory results. | | | | baits to fish. From the tried and tested ‘pre-baiting |
| * If you wish to consistently ‘target’ big fish, then | | | | method’ to the ‘little and often’ regular |
| it is advisable to get enough fish into your swim over a | | | | feeding while actually fishing as with ‘match |
| length of time, so that only the biggest fish are left | | | | fishing.’ However one thing is clear, even with the |
| competing for your bait. Otherwise you may keep on | | | | little and often method: it can very often take a large |
| being pestered by the less wary smaller fish over and | | | | amount of bait over a period of time to |
| over again. | | | | ‘build-up’ your swim and produce the greatest |
| * If big fish are your goal and you only bait up with a | | | | and heaviest catches of bigger fish. |
| minimum amount of ‘ground bait’ or chum, then | | | | Whether this applies to feeding your swim with gallons |
| you may only hold fish for a very short period in your | | | | of maggots via swim-feeder, PVA bag, or |
| swim, before they leave the area. | | | | ‘compressed ground bait stick’ method, or |
| * Big fish can eat very substantial amounts of food | | | | feeding with pellets, boilies etc. |
| extremely quickly, and may require far more food to | | | | There are various ‘special’ ingredients that can |
| hold them than you expect! It is obvious that the longer | | | | be added to your free bait that will stimulate your fish |
| fish remain actively feeding or looking for food or are | | | | from different ranges and some especially from long |
| in a ‘feeding stimulated state’ that you will | | | | range, e.g. over 100 meters away. This will depend on |
| generate more chances of a ‘bite’ even if this | | | | the sensory detectors that receive ‘messages’ |
| means your hook bait may be tested or sampled | | | | from your bait and these ingredients are very |
| numerous times, by different fish, until one makes a | | | | interesting and powerful! |
| mistake and becomes hooked! | | | | The author has many more fishing and bait |
| * If you really stimulate your fish with the use of | | | | ‘edges’ up his sleeve. Every single one can |
| ‘feeding triggering’ ground baits and free baits, | | | | have a huge impact on catches. (Warning: This article |
| you are more likely to get ‘bites’ especially from | | | | is protected by copyright, but reprints with a link are |
| perhaps more wary big fish, than if they entered the | | | | OK.) |
| swim un-stimulated first. | | | | By Tim Richardson. ‘The thinking angler’s fishing |
| Feeding with ground bait that dissolves leaving only | | | | author and expert bait making guru. |