Natural Groundbait Additives

[silverbirch]

I added margin silt (for colour) and chopped up loads of canadian pondweed (dragged out whilst plumbing around) teeming in shrimp and micro worms (pale bloodworms) and added a load of that to my base mix of Vitalin, fishmeal and marine halibut pellet. Threw a couple of balls in the margins whilst baiting up (so I know how it's looking out in the swim as it breaks down) and it blended much better with the bottom (assuming the bottom looks the same out there in he swim .... !!!) which I am sure must reduce spooking in the clear water.

Anyone else had success introducing anything to their feed like this?

[kerrwaf]

Ive caught on a worm in a PVA bag of mole hill soil

i used to always use mole hill soil in groundbait mixes when fishing the cut

[silverbirch]

Just reminded me of the Embassy Masters at Skandeborg Lake in Denmark. The method was 9m pole to hand and needed really heavy balls of feed to get the bait down to the bream (past the roach).
Vinnie Smith of Highfield Anglers showed me a trick, spent the evening riddling dust off the hotels gravel drive to add and make the groundbait sink quick. Finished third with 187lb 14oz in 5 hours, thought he'd wish he'd never showed me, but in true spirit he congratulated me, despite beating him for the section win - a fishing gentleman.

i used to use what i think was 'leam'? (Marcell Van den Eyden) to add density to balls of groundbait to get em down in deep water (6m) in ellesmere port basin and also in ireland on a Lake Scillian (10m margins) mind you the feeder never hit the bottom before it was rods off rests with big hybrids !

[silverbirch]

Leam or alluvial soil from the Belgian lowland deltas (tends to cost a lot)...damp or dry is essentially pure clay and great weight to volume ratio and but also has terrific binding qualities...the dirt was an oppurtune sustitute that made a difference on the day.