Tips on ground bait.

Ground-bait is a mixture of products which, when thrown in the water, aims at attracting fish to a particular place. In ground-bait fishing the bait attracts the fish, stimulates its appetite and encourages it to take the bait on the line. It should be used properly. Failure at ground-bait fishing is often caused by the fisherman fishing too far from the bait, that's to say where there are no fish! Here are a few tips which will help you fish in the right place. First of all before throwing in the bait you must examine the area at various distances. If there is an obstacle (often a branch) and your line will not be able to drift in the current you will have to find another place! If you have already thrown your bait in the water, then, it will be hopeless. Next, if you are looking for fish which normally live on the bottom (roach, bream, small carp, etc.), you should throw in about ten balls of bait (approximately the size of an orange). When fishing with a long rod, the depth is determined by sounding but you will have to assess the speed of the current so that your balls of bait sink to the bottom in front of you.You may have to throw them in a few meters upstream.

For the distance: place your rod on a support on the bank and aim slightly in front of the tip of the rod. When you start fishing your line will drift about a meter further than this distance. Your baited line will pass along the ground-baited zone but slightly on the outside. Most of the time the fish will approach from the deep and before entering into the cloud that is attracting it, it will come across a worm, a maggot, a seed or something else. The fish will be tempted to try your bait. On the other hand if you have spread your ground-bait too far out you will be fishing between the ground-bait and the bank. You will only catch fish that have already eaten some ground bait and which have swum through the whole zone. They will be less tempted to bite (especially as to increase the efficiency of your ground-bait you will have added maggots, worms, etc.). Another tip : Group your balls of bait together. With the current, the balls will disintegrate and the ingredients move away to quite a distance and attract fish. If you have ground-baited 5 square meters the fish will disperse, on the other hand if all the balls are on a smaller area (one square meter) the fish will be concentrating on this spot. The last tip for today, if you throw in 10 balls: 2 should be less compressed to act rapidly, 2 a little more and the 6 others very tightly compressed and weighted with earth. In this way the ground-bait will remain efficient for longer.