IT’S TIME TO ROLL OUT THE SPAM!
This king of luncheon meats can still give more modern baits a run for their money
AITH such a wealth of great modern baits available, it’s all too easy to forget the past and believe that only the latest hi-tech crop of pellets or boilies will catch you fish.
Working as I do for Sticky baits, I fish with the best possible products, and nine times out of 10 they boost my catch rate.
There are, however, no absolutes in angling and if I told you Sticky, or, for that matter, any other brand, was all you ever needed to catch specimen fish I’d be lying. The Krill is a phenomenal bait, but I make no bones about admitting that on a recent barbel trip I sat behind motionless rods quite long enough and needed to do something to make things happen.
Normally, complete confidence in my bait and tackle and a change of swim will do the trick, but I sensed this was one of those rare occasions when I needed something different on the hook.
The deep hole and overhanging tree just had to hold barbel. Then, as I sat on the back of the truck, the golden lid of a tin of Spam caught my eye.
I always carry a few with me, and while a low, clear river didn’t suggest that meat was the ideal bait it would at least be a fresh offering to my quarry.
SPAMTASTIC
With a new day not far away I put the kettle on and made a strong cup of black coffee – I needed to mull over exactly what to do with the meat.
In the past I’ve been drawn to small baits, and have grated Spam through a maggot riddle to produce tiny particles and mixed these with a little groundbait. This mix can be fished in a PVA mesh bag as a great free offering.
The hookbait is a tiny piece of meat, so small, in fact, that I use it in conjunction with a size 12 Super Specialist barbel hook. With such a fragile bait a thin piece of tubing is placed over the hair to stop it cutting through the meat, and that’s all there is to it.
ROCK AND ROLL
Tempting as this tactic is, I didn’t feel it was a big enough change from the pellets in my swim, so I gave it a bit more thought.
My number one use for meat is rolling it across the bottom – a highly mobile approach. I don’t know why, but a boilie just doesn’t work in this manner and this is why I always carry some meat.
A braided mainline helps me to feel for bites, and an SSG or two pinched on to it maintains contact with the bottom. The technique is about as basic as it gets.
With my rolling rod ready in the van it would have been easy to fish this way, but the swim was challenging enough for me to reject this approach. It’s always best to cast the meat slightly upstream and follow it down with a bow in the line, so the bait trundles straight and behaves naturally.
Unfortunately I had no way of casting from the rear of the swim and reaching the barbel. All I could do would be to swing the rig clumsily into place in an unnatural manner, so this brilliant tactic, too, was crossed off the list.
DECISION MADE!
Only after my third think through was I happy with my plan. I’d keep the running lead set-up with the long fluorocarbon hooklength I had been using without success, but now with a size 4 Cryogen Gripper blood-knotted on to it.
A friend with more meat experience than mine has convinced me that a hair rig is a waste of time. He tells me that all you need to do is bury the hook in the Spam – with no trailing metalwork the bait is sucked to the back of the fish’s throat and crushed, exposing the hookpoint.
It felt good to be trying meat, and it felt even better when the rod-tip crashed over and the boils of a double-figure barbel shattered the silence. That fish, and a few more to follow, couldn’t resist a pungent cube of meat.
On this particular day Spam was indeed a glorious bait.