Karma – deriving from Sanskrit – the sum of a person’s life and actions governing their future. Fate…destiny – groundbait? Well, yes, odd name for a method mix for sure, but a good one as we all need some good karma with us when we go fishing but is this ‘Karma’ good or bad?
Having now seen most of the groundbait range from Bait-Tech we had a sneaking suspicion we would be looking at some ‘good Karma’ and sure enough the groundbait didn’t disappoint!
Opening up the bag the first thing to hit you is the intense fishy smell with a strong depth of ‘meatiness’ behind it and it was clear that as well as the high percentage of fishmeal, that you expect to find in most method mixes, this one also included a lot of meat meal or meat extracts. The result was very slightly different to the usual method mix smell – not unique by any means – but unusual.
The particles were fine, and when dampened lightly produced a mix of a good, slightly oily consistency, which fluffed up nicely after it had rested and absorbed the moisture but which then compacted into a good, solid ball for moulding around a feeder. We put it through its paces on a flat bed, a frame and a method lead and it adhered nicely to all of them.
Adding particles wasn’t a problem at all and the stickiness of the mix was such that it had a good carrying capacity, even for balling out via a groundbait catty – which we did with tangerine-sized balls laced with corn and pellets – putting them the best part of 80m. Without the addition of particles, compacted hard and skinned with a little water the balls went even further – great for long range work.
The attractors in the mix certainly appeal to carp and bream and on the commercial we tried the mix on both species were quickly on the feed but the intense meatiness and density of the mix is likely to find favour with barbel anglers too and laced with hemp and pellets it’s likely to make a cracking river mix and a good complement to boilies, pellets and, above all, meat hookbaits.
The packaging – which typically for Bait-Tech products is excellent – suggests using Karma to dust meat hookbaits and although we didn’t try this have no doubt it would help boost attraction either for river work or for cupping diced meat into commercials. What we did try was mixing it with a little grated meat and compacting it into PVA sticks with a plunger to create some lovely little ‘Dynamite sticks’, the inherent oiliness of the Karma holding the shape and form of the formed sticks perfectly; matchmen will doubtless find it can be used as a paste too.
Although it is an intensely oily, fishmeal mix it doesn’t take too much effort to change its texture by adding some crushed hemp, plain crumb or more coarsely-ground groundbait if you are looking to create a more explosive mix whilst maintaining the same intense meaty aroma. Thus mixed it makes a terrific cage feeder-filler and opens up possibilities for many other uses.
The breakdown time of the mix as it is straight out of the bag is, of course, dependent upon how you mix it but we would best describe it as a fast to medium. We would also describe it as one of our favourites of the entire Bait-Tech groundbait range: versatile, savoury, fish, oily – good Karma indeed!
Karma is supplied in 2kg bags and is available from all good Bait-Tech stockists.
