An excess of groundbait or the wrong selection of its ingredients can only scare the fish away. It is true that a large amount of groundbait quickly attracts the fish to the chosen place, however, roaches and bream immediately satisfy their hunger and stop eating. So what is the secret to successful baiting?
Many anglers lure selected spots with buckets of groundbait. Colleagues watch you, that the more groundbaits they throw into the water, the more fish will appear in the fishery, the more bites they'll get. I would give a lot, make it really that simple. In fact, Baiting with bait mountains usually has the opposite effect – not only distract the fish from the bait, but also allows them to satisfy their hunger, before even one bite occurs. In other words: baiting should always be very sparing, and certainly then, when the fish are in the baited spot. Foraging fish reveal their presence by regular bites or gas bubbles rising to the surface of the water. Throwing a few extra bait balls into the water at such a time is intended to keep the fish in the fishery and encourage them to feed more intensively.
If we start with a lot of groundbait at the beginning, and then we only catch a few fish, then we can be sure, that we have wasted the fishery. Once the groundbait is thrown in, it cannot be "pulled" back out of the water.
How to determine the groundbait weight, which we can attract without fear in a given fishery? I consider, that the most important, decisive factor, there is fishing pressure. In waters and streams with very high fishing pressure, the fish react to the groundbait in a rather distinctive way. The groundbait attracts the fish to the chosen place, and at the same time they associate it with the impending danger. The fish swim nervously at the edge of the lined groundbait and wait for the individual components of the groundbait to be washed away by the water.
Regaining trust
How to regain the trust of fish, to make, that they will become less suspicious and begin to feed eventually? Best by adding live ingredients to the groundbait. They may be small bloodworms, White worms, castery or pieces of red worms. Although, fish will not overcome their suspicion immediately, however, the "live component" of the groundbait is exciting enough for them, that they soon give up their resistance and rush greedily at the delicacies offered to them. The larvae of bloodworms are the most effective live component of the groundbait, because it is the natural food of fish. Whether, some of the 'properties' of the bait can act as a deterrent to the coarse fish stock. For example, the groundbait should never form too large clouds in the water. In intensely fishy waters, the fish also run away to the oily ingredients of the groundbait released into the water. Large clouds of groundbait smudging in the water and oily ingredients attract only small fish to the fishery, who have no experience yet.
So if we make the groundbait ourselves, we should give up strong ingredients. By deciding to buy ready-made groundbait, try to avoid mixtures with the addition of oily seed meals. We prepare the groundbait (we mix) a few hours before fishing, adding to it two- or three times water, until the whole mass gradually gets the right consistency. If we fish in still water, a few minutes before the start of fishing, we bait the selected spot with six bait balls the size of a hen egg. We do not throw bullets "as it goes", but as close to the float as possible. So first we should cast the fishing rod "dry", to find out, where will the float be, then put the stick back on the bankstick and then bait it.
Live ingredients are added to the groundbait just before forming the balls. Put half of your bloodworms or white worms into the bowl with groundbait right away, we use the rest while fishing (reprimand). Bloodworm larvae are best stored in carefully screened clay. After the first baiting, we wait for the reaction of the fish. If the fish show little interest in the groundbait, when fishing, we only feed with small clay balls with larvae of bloodworms wrapped in them.
Small difference?
What is the difference between adding bloodworms to groundbait and adding white worms or casters?? I consider, that bloodworm larvae attract fish to the fishery most quickly, and the quickest way to provoke them to start feeding. If we add white worms and casers to the groundbait, then we will certainly lure much larger fish. However, we must be aware, that then we will wait much longer for the first bite. But for what a taking!
The groundbait attracts the fish to the fishery. But how to encourage them to forage well? Preferably by feeding with white worms only (ten each by regularly shooting them with a slingshot). Nothing is so exciting for roaches and bream, like white worms floating freely in the water. If the quiet feeding fish start to feed, they do it without restraint and moderation. Provided, however, that every now and then we will regularly add loose white worms. If we want to catch bigger fish, we should only tempt with casters. We will catch more roach and bream for white worms, but they will be rather medium-sized fish.