ANGLING TIMES LEGENDS! Re-read columns from our greatest-ever writers.
Match legend Ivan Marks reveals his tips for groundbait success
THERE are two ways to mix groundbait, but one is far more demanding than the other. I go for what I call the ‘dry mix’, where water is added to the cereal until it is the right texture.
The cereal has never been soaked with water, but enough has been added to ensure it binds sufficiently to be thrown and is wet enough to sink as required. The success of this type of mix is dependent on the squeezing ability of the angler. He has to be precisely aware of the pressure he must apply for it to do its job. If a dry mix is under-squeezed it is likely to float: conversely, if it is squeezed too hard it will go in like a ball of concrete. Billy Lane always mixed his groundbait at home before he went to a match. He put it through a sieve to remove the larger, clogging particles. I used to do it too but under the revised NFA match rules I no longer feel it necessary. Provided you get to your peg with time to spare – and that’s always important – there’s time to mix. I make that my first task. The groundbait is dampened and then left to stand for as long as possible to enable the moisture to be absorbed. Then, once I have tackled up, I take another look at the feed. If it isn’t right, either too wet or too dry, there’s time to put it right before the whistle. Catapulted groundbait does not need to be so firm as feed to be thrown in by hand.
Roy Marlow mixes his groundbait another way. He insists this is not only best for him but best for beginners and those in difficulty. I believe he’s right, although I’m satisfied with my own method for my own fishing.
Roy over-wets his groundbait, soaking it so that all the particles are thoroughly wetted. Obviously it cannot be thrown or catapulted very far in that state. But having done that, Roy balances it off with additional dry cereal until his feed is of the right consistency to do its work. As a result he has groundbait which incorporates the maximum amount of water, far more than mine does.
The difference should be obvious. Roy relies on the weight of the water to help him get maximum range, whereas I rely on the power of my squeeze, as well as the water.
Roy’s method has to be the best for anglers who have failed with mine. Make a mistake my way and you will pay for it. Make a mistake with Roy’s type of mixture and you will do little, if any, damage.
His mix ends up as roughly three or four parts of wet cereal to one of dry, although the amount of dry has to vary with the distance the feed is thrown. But the dry cereal simply soaks up the surplus moisture and becomes saturated.
Bear in mind that the groundbait performs a different function for different species. With bleak, and sometimes roach, you hope to catch off the bottom. Then the feed needs to be soggy.
A soggy, slow-sinking cereal feed can provide a diversion for the bleak as it gets them out of your swim to allow loose casters or maggots to be put in.
At least that helps you get the bulk of your loosefeed through the upper half of the depth without bleak scoffing most of it.
I have experimented with additives, of course, but that was a phase I passed through. Nothing except water goes into my cereal.
There’s no secret potion, no chemical attractor that gets the fish feeding. It’s simply a matter of feeding good quality, well-mixed feed with the right regularity to ensure the fish stay with you once they show up.
There was a time when I always added sugar – as much as a pound to a stone of groundbait – but I don’t do that any more. A scientist reported that sugar takes oxygen out of water and if you think about that it becomes pretty certain it won’t do your swim any good.
In the end your groundbait is as good as you make it. Dickie Bowker has the ability to make his balls of cereal explode under water – literally like a shell-burst.
Once you understand that you can make cereal behave in different ways by the amount of water and pressure you give it, then you are half-way to getting it right.