| STANDING ON MY OWN TWO FEET | |
| This is a series of occasional articles I hope will help anglers like me. I’m not an expert; far from it.
Maybe I should learn how to follow simple instructions but I’ve got this inquisitive nature that makes me ask hundreds of questions. And if I can’t learn more, then I’ll make it up as I go along until I get it right. I’m positive that many of my concepts and ideas have been flogged to death and in fact whatever I apply to my fishing has already been proven and tested by other anglers. But the facts remain, I can’t sit on the bank not feeling confident – and whilst I do I’ll be looking for the next edge. What I hope is that it will be a launch pad for some great discussion on the forum where, between us, we can create and discuss new and exciting theories that even the experts haven’t thought of. |
| Introduction I’m not an expert and even if I was I would never admit it for fear of limiting my own learning curve. But what I am is a good listener, keen and, above all, an open minded thinking angler. I believe these days we are all to eager to try someone else’s methods and shortcut the apprenticeship, when in fact we should be rummaging under the skin of what our very own experiences can offer up to us as advice. It’s all so easy to say ‘John said that was a good bait so I’m gonna use it’ or ‘Steve said I can’t go wrong with that rig so that’s what I’m going to use from now on.’ But are we actually helping ourselves?
For me to turn up on the bankside, chuck out the rods and set the traps and sit there for hours twiddling my thumbs is just sheer sacrilege. I want to know what’s going on down there in the depths of my swim and I want to know how I can improve my chances. I achieve this by taking into account the surrounding clues which are obtained by simple observation and the application of our own variations of other people’s solutions. Get this right and you’re half way there! I can’t teach you all the tricks in the book, as quite simply, I’m not qualified and I sure as hell don’t know them all, but if you’re prepared to read these articles, then I’m prepared to share with you what knowledge I have, in the hope that you will kick-start your own thinking and methodology behind your fishing. Loose feeding with blended particles This year has seen a move in a totally different direction for me with regard to loose feeding. As where before I’d boil up some hemp and then lay a bed of boilies or tigers on top, this year I’ve been scrutinising particles. I’d spoken to Big Rik and Graham who had been using particles for many years and had taken onboard their methods, to this I added some of my own thoughts and theories which I’ll now detail. Bait doesn’t have to be expensive, especially if you buy in bulk. If you get down to your local farm or animal feed warehouse you should be able to pick up a sack of Pigeon Conditioner, Hemp, Maize, Peanuts and Tigers for next to nothing. I use the following quantities whether I’m making up a quantity to last me a month or just a short day session: 5 parts Hemp I place the above into a large cooking pot or bucket and then add four or five glug’s of molasses. Molasses can be obtained from your animal feed store and costs between £ 4 and £ 5 for a one gallon container. Molasses is a dark, thick, sweet, sugary, syrupy liquid used by livestock owners to add flavour to dry feed. After adding the molasses I top up my pot with water so the particles are covered by at least 2-3 inches. I then leave the whole lot to ferment and fester for 48 hours. I then place it onto the stove and cook for 90 minutes until the particles are really soft. If you were looking at using your particles for hookbait, then about 20-30 minutes will suffice. From here on in, I add my own thinking and methodology. My intention is to create a mixture that will inspire a feeding frenzy without overfeeding the fish. A mix that will settle right down on the bottom and in the surrounding weed, that will hopefully release the right smells and in turn release the right signals to the carp’s brain to feed without overfeeding. If I get this right, then I’ll fish a bottom or pop-up bait over the top with a small handful of supporting boilies as additional loose feed to inspire a safe feeding environment. Back to the mix. After letting the mix cool for a couple of hours, I then transfer to the blender and aggressively blend until all particles are thoroughly chopped up into tiny pieces. My advice is to blend small quantities at a time. The blending process will allow the chopped up particles to soak up the molasses and water even further. Once this is complete, I transfer back to the pot or bucket. I then cover with an additional inch of water and then add two tablespoons of my choice of boilie glug. Once this is complete, I cover with a lid and leave for a further four days. Even though the molasses is of a sweet flavour I’ve found that if I’m using a fish meal flavour glug, the end result is still superb. Depending on how much I need for a session, I place the rest in a small plastic bucket and freeze to make ready for my next outing. The finished mix flies beautifully out of a spod rocket or can be dried slightly on the bank side and transferred to a PVA bag. Because the finished mix has been finely blended, you can throw oodles of the stuff in if you wish. The mix gets caught up within the weed, buries itself in the bottom and frustrates the approaching carp. The knock-on affect of carp being able to smell the mix and only being able to feed on such small quantities should keep the carp in your swim for ages. That’s my theory anyway! Why not give it a try and add your own variations and methodology? And let’s discuss on the forum. |
