Dai Gribble’s
recommended baits for rivers right now
LIKE most specimen anglers I look forward to the last few weeks of the river season. This is a time when sport can be outstanding as all species start to feed really well in rising temperatures.
Unfortunately, though, this is not always the case – sometimes conditions are far from perfect, so it
CHEESE PASTE
Cheese paste is one of the best baits for chub going. I reckon there are as many recipes for cheese paste as there are anglers that use it, and all will catch chub.
I use equal parts of frozen pastry, Cheddar and Stilton with a good squirt of Sonubaits Hemp and Cheesy Garlic liquid. The good news is that cheesepaste freezes well, so make up a large batch and freeze it in balls the size of a grapefruit. Then, whenever you fancy going chubbing, your bait will be sorted.
MAGGOTS
Another great bait at this time of year for many species is maggots. Be it trotting for roach and chub or feeder fishing for barbel on a low, clear river, you are likely to want to use maggots at some point in the next few weeks.
They keep really well in a fridge, ideally a dedicated bait fridge which means you can keep the lid off them. This ensures they stay in really good condition for at least a couple of weeks.
I store mine in coarse sawdust rather than maize meal, as I find the latter tends to settle out and stick to the container whereas sawdust pays to be flexible in your approach in terms of which species and which venues to target.
I like to be fully prepared to target a range of species, making sure I have a range of good quality baits readily available. The following tips will help you make the most of opportunities when they arise...
does not. Just riddle the maggots before you head for the bank.
WORMS
A bait I like to have readily available is worms. Perch love them, and on a flooded river a couple of lobs are a great alternative to meat and pellets for barbel.
Dendrobaenas keep for weeks in a fridge or on a cool concrete floor and are best left in the bag they are supplied in. Just remember to check it is well sealed to prevent escapes.
Lobworms are less hardy but can be kept in a fridge for a few weeks or in a bucket with a mixture of moss and torn-up strips of brown cardboard. Keep them moist but not wet, check them regularly and remove any dead or dying worms as soon as possible.
DEADBAITS
My freezer is full of half-used bags of deadbaits for pike. With the pike season drawing to a close, I like to run my freezer down and start with fresh baits next season. A good ruse is to prebait a stillwater with sections of these old baits. If the rivers are unfishable due to flooding you will have a swim primed ready for a bit of end-of-season piking.