THREE SIMPLE PASTES FOR SUMMER SUCCESS
My trio of homemade specials will cover all tactics
PASTE is one of my all-time favourite summer baits, especially on commercial fisheries where there’s a good mixture of fish and a larger bait can help you select the better ones.
Pastes are mainly used for margin fishing, where they’re easy to fish on either a pole or running line. Not all pastes are the same, though, and depending on how you mix them, it’s possible to make pastes that vary from tough enough to cast out, to those that are so delicate that they need to be carefully cupped out on the pole. Let’s have a look at three simple pastes, each made in a different way, and when to use them.
If you’re looking for a tough paste then halibut pellets are a great starting point. The simplest way to make this paste is to wet 3mm halibuts for three minutes, draining off the excess water and then leaving them to absorb the moisture overnight. This paste is firm enough to cast out under a float, and makes a great tench and carp bait.
I like to take my halibut paste one step further by first using a coffee grinder to reduce the pellets to a fine powder before mixing with the water. This paste only needs to be prepared about 10 minutes before fishing and tends to have a slightly softer texture. Interestingly, the softer the paste, the bolder the bites will be, even from big carp.
Not all pastes have to contain pellets or fishmeal. If you want a sweet-tasting paste, or one with a really bright colour, then why not try making a paste using semolina instead? This cheap kitchen staple ingredient has a very sticky consistency, just right when you want a paste that will stay on the hook. You can dye it any colour you want, and I like to flavour mine with Scopex liquid to give it a lovely scent.
I use semolina paste primarily for big carp, finding it particularly effective on venues where the carp have been caught a lot on pellets and are looking for something different.
You can even use this sticky bait when legering, so if you’re new to paste fishing, or lack the confidence to use softer baits, it’s a great starting point.
Most pastes contain a good proportion of milled pellets among their other ingredients and, in fact, you can make a very effective paste purely from expander pellet powder. I use a small bait tub to accurately measure out the volumes of water and milled pellets when making this paste, because it’s important to get the doses right.
For a fairly stiff paste that can be fished on a running line, use half the amount of water to pellet powder. For a very soft paste that needs to be cupped in on the pole, use equal volumes of water and powder.
Milled expanders come in several different colours and flavours, or you can mix your own in a coffee grinder to produce a unique bait. Because these pellets contain less binder than other pellets the paste breaks down quickly, releasing a cloud of attraction into the water that all fish species find attractive.