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Old bait

Simon Archer

Simon Archer

Senior Member & Supporter
I've just received my fresh bait from Three Foot Twitch for the coming season, but I still have the odd half bag of boilies, half used pots of paste left over from last season. What does everyone do with their older bait. ATM my old bait is all together in separate bags in a large plastic tub, but I'm unlikely to use any of it now my new stuff has arrived, so I'm not sure what to do with it. I don't really want to throw it away.
 
Blitz it all up in a blender and add to your groundbait mix as required . . .boilie crumb is very versatile and you can bind it / PVA bag it / dropper it / use it on a method feeder etc. If it was 3-5 yrs old I might consider reserving it for canal fish only . . .but from last season as long as its stayed frozen it will be fine . . .
 
Simon Archer said:
I've just received my fresh bait from Three Foot Twitch for the coming season, but I still have the odd half bag of boilies, half used pots of paste left over from last season. What does everyone do with their older bait. ATM my old bait is all together in separate bags in a large plastic tub, but I'm unlikely to use any of it now my new stuff has arrived, so I'm not sure what to do with it. I don't really want to throw it away.
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I found some halibut pellets when i was clearing out my shed last week,in an air tight container, and they honestly smelled as strong as when i bought them probably 6 to 7 years ago,i would just use last season's as well mate
 
Mark; may have smelt ok.. but what about the oil content; rancid doesn't always mean bad smell..
If we have sell by and use by for humans..........There should be the same for fish bait.
Any bait I have in the freezer more than nine months old is thrown out.
Use your conscience, would you eat food five years old... I doubt it .
If you care for barbel as we should.............Don't use it
 
Paul Rogers said:
Mark; may have smelt ok.. but what about the oil content; rancid doesn't always mean bad smell..
If we have sell by and use by for humans..........There should be the same for fish bait.
Any bait I have in the freezer more than nine months old is thrown out.
Use your conscience, would you eat food five years old... I doubt it .
If you care for barbel as we should.............Don't use it
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Ok mate👍
 
Nothing wrong with old bait as long as it smells okay, you've kept it air tight, it should be just fine. IMO it's people in the bait business who bang on about bait freshness more than most....
 
I wouldn’t touch 5-year old pellets with a barge pole. 12 months tops if they have been stored correctly, same with shelf life boilies, although I rarely use them for barbel or cap these days, preferring frozen boilies.

At the start of every season I end up chucking £20-30 of bait which is really annoying, but nowhere near as annoying as being sat on the bank worrying about my bait not being fresh and reducing my chances.

What I will say is, that on any given day I think you can catch on unfresh bait, but any prebating with unfresh bait is an absolute no no, IMO. Bad for the fish, and inconsiderate to other anglers who might be sat in your swim the following days after.
 
It’s completely anecdotal but more than once I’ve been having a few blanks and realised I was using last years bait etc, a switch to fresh (same brand etc) seems to provoke a few fish.
Ive got some shelf life boilies from the year before last and despite being sealed in the bag the difference between them and the ones I brought last week, same bait, is astounding…
 
The boilies are all shelf life, it's just easier for me to use them. There's some from a couple of seasons past as well and some that quite frankly, are rubbish. There is a club pond five minutes walk from my house, I was considering feeding the fish in there with them. I don't like mixing them, much preferring to use the same loose feed boilie as hook bait.
 
My house backs on to a canal and when I have a sort out all the “old” bait is fed to the fish in there (roach,rudd,tench,perch,bream) ain’t killed any yet,they especially like fermented hemp,wheat and pigeon conditioner not to mention boilies and pellets
 
Ray Heath said:
so what about freezer baits how long would you keep them and use them before you throw them away
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If they're not 'off' (smell and taste them) and they've not got significant freezer burn then I'd say up to 30months is fine . . .Being primarily a Carp Angler I usually have over 50kg in the freezer at any one time and usually always have an excess of winter bait (different to summer bait) that I'm more than confident to use the following season . . .if your worried defrost a batch - sniff and eat and then chuck in a bucket - if they stink / taste bad / float then bin em . . .if not, blitz them or use them!
 
Darren Hawen said:
I’d happily fire a few cans your way Neil.
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You are probably a meat man like me Darren, and that gesture is well appreciated. I haven't been able to fish for yonks due to not just this pandemic, but yesterday at last I got out and managed, no Barbel but three Chub, and the last one was going 5lb, all on meat , of course.
The rivers look in fine form, and fingers crossed its going to be a good start.
 
With working away I have hardly been in last few seasons and this has resulted in a 5 kilo bag of freezer boilies left , these will be crumbed for feeder ( mixed with method mix for very slow release) or pva with a bit chucked into glugged hookbaits . Pellets I will bin , not worth the uncertainty in confidence vs new ones .
I have a few gallon buckets of hemp however in the freezer untouched for 2 years, will these still be good ?
 
Mark, considering the gunge and other crap Barbel, and all fish must ingest whilst feeding, i doubt very much if your months old bait in the freezer will do them any harm at all, I often end up with half full bags of unused bait in my freezer, and sometimes stop making bait until I've waded through it all, either for fishing with or pre baiting, use it up mate ! ;)
 
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