As the theater begins with a hanger, so fishing with a bottom rod (feeder) begins with bait and baiting. Recipes and variants of bait modern fishing practice has developed and worked out a lot.
Bait can be expensive and cheap. Complex multicomponent mixes and simple, consisting of one or two components. Recently, factory baits are often replaced by homemade baits, but they are also made of quality raw materials: biscuit cakes, breadcrumbs, cookies and other elements.
When fishing, it happens that you have already caught enough, a lot of time has passed, it’s time to pack up and go home, and there is a lot of bait left, two or three more liters. What to do with it? Many anglers throw the rest of the bait in the water or in the nearest bushes, calmly go home. But if the bait turned out to be good, collected fish, and for its preparation used expensive and high-quality components, it is impractical to do so. Agree, it is a pity to throw away a good thing? Such bait can and should be used on the next trip, you just need to store it correctly for this purpose.
Storage options
There are a lot of options for storing ready-made bait until the next fishing trip. The simplest option is to put the rest of the bait in a dark bag or in a plastic bucket with a lid, put it in the shade, or put it in the cold:
You can do this only if the next fishing trip is planned for the next day. The maximum that will happen to such a bait, it will dry out. It is not terrible, because even specially prepared and moistened at night before fishing bait dries up, and in the morning it has to be additionally moistened, mixed and sifted.
If the date of the next trip is not known exactly, and you have to wait a week or even more before fishing, the bait, especially quality, in a bucket with a lid can not be saved. It will definitely spoil and will not be suitable for fishing. What remains? Freezing is the right option! This is the best way to preserve food products and semi-finished products, but it is one hundred percent suitable for the preservation of bait.
Preparation and storage
So, we’re left with ready-to-use, moistened bait. Conditionally, the freezing of bait can be divided into two stages: preparation for storage, and directly freezing.
After fishing, the bait should be prepared for freezing, it will be wrong to immediately put it in the freezer. Prepare the bait for storage by drying. It is enough to simply lay it out in a small layer on a newspaper and let it lie, mixing it several times. The excess moisture will go away, the bait will dry out and become more suitable for freezing. This stage does not have to be done at home in the kitchen, you can dry the bait right after fishing, during the collection of things – while drying the cage. At home for storage such bait will be brought already prepared for freezing, and the home kitchen will remain clean.
For freezing a small amount of bait is suitable food bags, which can be found in any kitchen. It is better to use two bags, putting one into the other. It is not necessary to freeze the whole volume of the remaining bait. If there is a lot of bait left, it is better to divide it into several small portions – briquettes – and pack each portion in separate bags. Plastic food containers with tightly closing lids can also be used for freezing the bait.
The obligatory condition for preserving the bait is tight packing, plus it is necessary to remove air from the bag with bait as much as possible. The remaining air in the bag will inevitably lead to weathered frozen bait, which will deteriorate its quality, and incorrect or torn packaging can lead to the acquisition of a foreign odor, which will remain on it after defrosting and possibly deter fish.
Reconstituting the bait
Preparation for the next fishing trip starts with thawing the bait. You can take the bait out of the freezer before you leave, it will have time to thaw during the trip. If the place of fishing is not far away, it is better to take care of it in advance.
After defrosting, the bait may need a little “drying”. Excess moisture will take into itself added to the defrosting dry bait from the bag. You can also add a little aromatics to the reconstituted bait. Thawed bait, just like new bait, can be given any physical properties that the fishing conditions require. It can be made dry, or it can be over-moistened for fishing in deep water or in strong currents. It can be supplemented with necessary additives – coconut shavings, ground or grain hemp, flax, or, for example, colored breadcrumbs. It can and should be supplemented with fodder (small) moths and (or) oparychis.
One-time freezing is not difficult, but the constant use of unfrozen bait on fishing will require the fisherman to organize the conservation process and the use of special labels with marks on the contents of the package and the date of freezing. Only in this case, without looking inside and without defrosting the bag, it will be possible to know exactly what is inside the bag, when its contents were placed in the freezer and in what conditions it is better to use such bait.
Use of soil in bait
The modern fishing community (specifically in feeder fishing) in this case is also divided into two camps. For some people, the ground in the bait is an integral part, and others do not see any practical use of ground in the bait.
Where to get the ground? There are two options. You can buy it in a fishing store, or find and prepare it yourself. You can immediately make a stock for the season:
For self-preparation of soil, a minimum set of tools is needed. A bucket, a sieve with a coarse mesh and a shovel. Tourist shovel does not take up much space in the trunk of the car. By the way, I have it with me all year round. I saw a suitable soil, stopped, drew. Very convenient.
Search places: mole holes, nettle thickets. It is definitely not recommended to use soil intended for gardening. Such soil contains additives and fertilizers for the growth of seedlings or flowers, to increase the germination of seeds. Use such soil only for its intended purpose.
When preparing the soil, you need to know one subtlety. It can be collected only on a nice day, without rain. Wet ground will spoil quickly (covered with mold) and is not suitable for fishing. Wet layer should be removed at once, and the prepared ground before putting it into a bucket or a bag it is better to dry it additionally.
What is the ground for?
1. Weighting the bait. Everything is clear here, the density and specific gravity of the ground is higher than that of the bait. It is suitable for fishing in deep places or on a strong current. This issue can be solved in another way. For example, you can choose and put a heavier feeder. And if you do not have it with you or fishing is in difficult conditions and just ran out of supplies, then the use of clay in the bait will be a good way.
2. Loosening the bait. Soil greatly affects the physical properties of the bait. For example, adding sand to heavy river bait will make the mixture crumbly and suitable for fishing in other conditions. The main thing is to know the measure, a large amount of sand can spoil the bait. It will stop “molding” at all and can fly out of the feeder on the throw.
3. Bonding of bait and bait. In addition to loosening the soil can glue the bait. The most common method is the use of grain bait for catching carp on the current. What is necessary to do? You need to take steamed or canned grain, roll it in clay and let it dry. Heavy clay balls will long disintegrate on the current, slowly releasing the grain mixture. There is another advantage to this method of baiting. Such bait will not attract small fish to the point of catching and you can not worry about the state of the bait.
4. Increasing the volume of bait. Saving money is an important issue in fishing. Good and quality bait is expensive. If you go fishing once a month and buy good bait rarely, nothing terrible for the family budget will not happen. But if once a week or more often? This is where the primer comes in handy. Instead of two packs of bait for one time it will be possible to spend one. But you should not get carried away with such “impoverishment” of the mixture.
And what to do if you forgot the bait at home? There is a duty pack in the car, add to it the ground, because it can be found even at the reservoir. Everything, fishing is saved. At least somehow it will be possible to fish, instead of returning home or to the nearest store to go.
5. Creating a muddy trail. Another very popular topic recently. Practice shows that the ground muddies more than expensive and high-quality baits. Yes, they are also not devoid of this effect. Mud from the ground and light particles from the bait, going downstream – this is an additional attractive effect for fish.
6. Breaking up and flavoring moths. A popular additive in feeder fishing is small moth. If it is added to the feeder in a pinch, it will lie on the bottom in a big lump and fish will quickly pick it up. Moreover, it will be saturated with it faster. Our task is to make the fish search for small moth larvae among the bait. For these cases we need the ground. When it is added, moth larvae separate from each other, do not stick together. Good results in practice shows flavored small moths.
It is known that clay is a very good absorbent, it absorbs (absorbs into itself) odors well. If before breaking the moth add a dry flavoring to the clay, we will get a double effect. In the catching point we will constantly feed not only moths, but also a portion of aromatic muddy ground. The bream will definitely appreciate such a treat!
Conclusion
In conclusion, it should be noted that the shelf life of frozen bait has no limitations, but it is better to use unfrozen (reconstituted) bait in uncomplicated conditions, in places without great pressure. Still, fresh bait is fresh bait. Grounds in bait is a great field for creativity and experimentation. It is necessary to try, search, the reward for this can be a good catch.
Auteur : Bob Nudd est un pêcheur expert qui a plus de 20 ans d'expérience et qui a remporté de nombreux concours.
Using frozen bait can be a game-changer! I remember a trip where I switched to frozen shrimp, and the catch was insane. The freshness really makes a difference, plus it lasts longer on the hook. Definitely worth keeping some in the tackle box!