Improve Your Coarse Fishing (UK)
Meat... It isn’t just for carp! – Pete Upperton
If you’ve never tried meat for tench and bream you’re missing out on some fantastic sport, says Guru’s Pete Upperton
OF ALL the baits on sale in supermarkets, meat is one of the best. Its ability to lure the biggest carp in the lake is widely recognised, with a fiver’s worth of bait more than enough for a productive session. But for some reason it is given short shrift by those in search of silvers. Maggots, worms and casters are the main baits to get a thorough workout when bream and tench are on the agenda but a can of meat is rarely cracked open. Bag’em Matchbaits and Guru-backed star Pete Upperton is one of the few who goes against the grain. Watch him in full flow bagging big silver fish and you’ll notice that his bait tray is almost empty. In fact, a couple of tubs of meat are the only things at his disposal. “Meat just doesn’t get the use it deserves by bream and tench anglers yet in my book it is by far the most deadly bait for both species at this time of year,” enthused Pete. “It needs to be fished differently to how you would use it for carp and F1s but those subtle changes can help you put together a really special catch.”
The benefits of meat mush
All of the top anglers have a few small tricks up their sleeve that can make a huge difference to their catches. One of Pete’s edges, however, was instantly noticeable. You’d expect to see piles of cubes in a box but his bait tubs contained a much messier concoction. “I like to use a 50/50 blend of cubes and meat mush,” he revealed. “I run a tin of meat through a cutter and place all the cubes as they are into a bait tub. I then put another tin through the cutter but then add the cubes to a handoperated mincer. Once you start turning the handle it sends the meat out in fine slithers and this is added to the tub. I then add some water to make a mush of cubes and mince.” This blend provides enough food content to keep the bream and tench occupied but won’t fill them up. An oily cloud that lingers for long periods also helps to draw fish in from surrounding pegs. Half a big pot is fed at the start of a session
and it is then a case of topping up at regular intervals. Pete’s hookbait is a cube of meat taken from the concoction although switching to a piece of flavoured Bag’em Matchbaits Red Krill or Spicy Curry meat can fool bigger fish.
Fish multiple lines
Once carp find a bed of meat they rarely disappear as long as the feed is regularly topped up. But try fishing over one spot all day when you are targeting big silvers and you will have lulls in action when you can’t buy a bite. “Bream and tench are much cagier and will suddenly back off once you’ve caught a few. This could be caused by the commotion spooking them or simply because there is a large shoal that has eaten everything and moved off.” In order to avoid quiet periods, Pete will have two or three different lines on the go and makes sure that some feed is always going in. “Each time I catch a fish I will top up via a small pot with a nugget of loosefeed. The lines that I am resting will be topped up with half a big cup just as I finish fishing them. On areas that are within throwing range I introduce the occasional nugget by hand. “If you leave a line to rest for a period, more often than not you will get a bite within seconds of going back.” If the stamp of fish suddenly drops or the bites dry up this is your cue to refeed and move on to another line.
Bagging masterclass
The number of fisheries that have the ability to produce big weights of silvers is on the up but Lake John is one of the best around. The complex in Waltham Abbey, Essex, has two waters and it is the Top Lake that Pete set his stall out on for the IYCF cameras. “This lake is full of bream and tench. If you do it right you can put a massive weight together.
That said, do it wrong and you will get plagued by smaller fish and end up pulling your hair out,” he warned. Lines at 6m and 13m were plumbed and the initial dose of meat mush was cupped into both. Starting on the long line, it was apparent how quickly the fish attacked a bed of bait as three fish were soon in the net. A couple of skimmers came next before it was time for a top-up and a switch to the short line. The float dipped within minutes and a 3lb bream was in the bag. “You need a stable float that won’t bounce around when you have lots of fish brushing up against the line. If you don’t, you’ll be striking at line bites and foul-hooking fish all the time. “My favourite pattern is the Guru Carbon Pinger and in 6ft of water I am using a 0.5g version,” Pete explained. Rotating the lines and keeping the bait going in kept the bites coming and within four hours he had amassed over 100lb of bream and a couple of tench. “If I had used other baits today I would still have got lots of bites but I reckon I would have had half that weight because the average size would have been a lot smaller. “Meat has a real pulling power for silvers and it holds the key to unlocking those bigger catches,” concluded Pete.