Here’s an effective innovative method of how to ‘top’ halibut pellets or other fishmeal based pellets which can be adjusted and ‘personalised’ any way you wish with other ingredients like attractors, enhancers, stimulators, flavours, oils etc. This method works for any pellet you wish to exploit depending on the ingredients you wish to add to change your bait, and can out-perform original pellet baits.
There are many waters where an adulterated pellet bait will truly work wonders. Many fishermen are aware of the success of fishmeal pellets like the famous marine halibut pellets. Where these are used in great quantities on a water, the bigger fish can learn how to deal with your normal rigs and approaches using pellets, which often reduces potential catches far more than you might imagine!
Halibut pellets are very popular as feed bait being so rich in nutritional attraction and having a great impact upon fish species in the vicinity of it. It often works out much more economical than other readymade baits and ground baits. Often for catfish or carp fishing, many kilograms of bait are employed and constantly fed in a swim to create a kind of feeding frenzy in that area. This behaviour can even continue after all the pellets have been consumed in the swim, especially where pellets of different sizes break down times, solubility, densities and porosities etc are fed in.
To make an alternative bait to halibut pellets in say 21 millimetre or whatever smaller size you prefer to use, try the following, and watch your catch rate increase! To make this bait you will need pellets and powdered pellets or suitable powders to help bind the bait, even ordinary wheat flour will do, corn flour forms a harder bait. Egg powder is a good extra binder.
Working in kilograms to make things simple, put a kilogram of pellets of one size, or any mixed sizes into a large sized container and make them level in the bottom. I use an old clean washing-up bowl to prepare this bait. You can use a mixture of other pellets not just halibut pellets, incorporating salmon pellets, trout pellets, corn steep liquor pellets or any of a choice of hundreds of others.
Add enough boiling water to cover them. Leave for only a minute. Now drain off the water. You can keep this for use in ground bait etc. Now add your binder powder in the form of halibut pellet powder or crushed particles, hemp flour, Vitamealo, and add a generous amount of egg powder to assist binding. When you have kneaded the dough to a firm consistency you have a workable bait for immediate use. You can use it as a paste bait on the hook or as a hook or bait wrap. You can use it as a ‘method mix’ with a method feeder or float, or cover your lead sinker with it. You can use it in PVA bags and stockings, PVA sticks etc. Just add enough oil in the pate to prevent the bait from dissolving the PVA immediately. I personally prefer solid bags and use a variety of oils and powders and extracts etc to protect the bag before it is cast out.
Many different oils can be used including tiger nut extract, hemp oil, bulk fish oils, and many others. Oils seem to be influenced very often by fashions of the time, which is a shame. “Vive la difference” I say! Being different is the biggest advantage with bait you’ve got so why not exploit ways to make fish as keen to eat your new bait as possible instead of always using boring old tried and trusted ingredients.
Each and every combination takes some experimentation to optimise its characteristics and effectiveness. Some versions you may want a dense durable hook bait with lots of oils leaking out. You can add crushed hemp seed or desiccated cocoanut to improve leak-off for instance and many ingredients do the same job.
If you are making baits for free feed then it’s up to you how long you want it to last before breaking down. Each batch can be tested in a glass of water and timed for its effects and performance. If you want a free bait that breaks down really fast and releases lots of oils flavours, amino acids and so on, while clouding the water up and having a halo of attraction immediately around the bait, then design it that way.
Add 4 or 6 millimetre halibut pellets for better effect; it offers better leak-off and a truly new bait texture and density... As with many other fishing baits using a mixture of soluble, insoluble and semi-soluble additives will help attraction some leaching out and dissolving fast while others stay around the bait, or leak out slowly giving constant streams of attraction into the water. This can be seen in the case of oily pellets like halibut pellets by the appearance of an initial large flat spot on the surface of the water after introduction, eventually followed by a constant release of further oils and particles which work their way through the water column, the oil rising to the surface to create tiny ‘slicks.’
The addition of tiny spirulina based pellets and spirulina powder is another good edge but there are many more. You can tailor your bait for the species intended. Spray-dried fish protein, blood powder, squid meal, freshwater mussel meal, liver powder, and kelp meal for example. Many species love green lip mussel extract, aniseed oil, yeast extract, vanilla sugar, molasses, betaine and a variety of flavours favoured more by one species than another may be used.
Whatever you use, you can be sure you can make your version totally unique. Even mixing a glycerol flavour an ethyl alcohol flavour, an amino acid based additive and an intense sweetener can be used as with boilies. You can use elevated levels of ingredients and stimulators etc that commercial pellets or boilies may find uneconomical like that of green lip mussel extract for example. You can match your pellets, boilies, dough and paste baits ground baits etc. Whatever the flavors, the world’s your oyster; so why not give it a whirl and get your reels spinning!
The author has many more fishing and bait ‘edges’ up his sleeve. Every single one can have a huge impact on catches. (Warning: This article is protected by copyright.)
By Tim Richardson.
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