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Cheese paste

Stuart Brookes

Stuart Brookes

Senior Member
I know this gets done to death. I've knocked a batch up using the recipe supplies by the poster formerly known as CG74 but not sure what size to batch it into per trip. Used 8oz shortcrust pastry and blue chees plus 4oz cheddar. Gives me three cricket size balls of paste but not sure if they are too large. Takes a fair bit of effort knock this up without the missus rumbling me so don't want to have to do it too often ( yeah I know I'm a lazy so and so :p)
 
Leave at as one big lump and take the whole lot fishing with you, what you don't use take home and freeze it! The more you defrost/refreeze it, the better it gets. :) I have been known to knock up a batch in the autumn and defrost/refreeze on a weekly basis ready for winter! :D
 
dont mean to hijack this, but 8oz shortcrust pasty, 4oz cheddar how much blue?

I knocked some up to this a few days ago, though didn't have a weight for the cheeses, think I put to much blue in as it went really sticky...
 
Vincent,
My mix which is the one Stuart is on about goes...
250 grams (8oz) - pastry
250 grams (8oz) - blue cheese
100 grams (4oz) - mature cheddar
These weights are only a guide and the conversions are only rough ones.

Though if using for barbel unless the water is really cold I'd use 2 - 3oz less blue cheese and replace it with edam.

If you find your mix is to sticky try adding a small amount of cornflour. Mix the cornflour in very slowly and make sure that its all worked in thoroughly.

Stuart,
regards storage personally I don't freeze much until the end of the season, preferring to leave it in a fridge at 4'c.
As for how much to take and subsequently use on any session, that's really a individual choice.
Same as any other bait issue.
Me I tend to be mobile in winter when using cheese paste so 3 - 4 pieces little finger nail size every hour or so.....
 
The recipe i follow is the one in 'Quest For Barbel' taking "an orange sized ball of pastry" ( i took that to mean 8oz! ) and adding 8oz of mature chedder and 4oz Danish Blue. I've caught plenty of barbel on it but find that chub, where present, will beat the barbel to it 95% of the time. In the past i've added a 2-3ml of Cheese Elite flavour, thinking it would compensate for the dilution of cheese flavour by adding pastry, but found it makes little difference. If anything it's better without in my opinion.

I rate cheesepaste as one of the best winter baits going, particularly if you fish for other species like chub and roach. When it's cold enough to keep the barbel only chaps off the banks i can be out with the intention of catching other species knowing that if the barbel do decide to feed, i'm using a bait they will take readily. I realise a lot has been written about this bait but it's one of those that just keeps on working year after year so it's worth talking about.

Stuart - if your missus doesn't approve when you're making it, next time she's out make a few kilo's of the stuff - enough to last you years! Imagine how good it'll be when you take out the last ball in 5 or 6 years time! ;)
 
Yeah i did! :p

I grated it all up as well to help with the mixing. I take it that this is ok to do?

The 'recipe' I normally use is ok, but tends to turn out on the softer side. So as soon as you get any water on or a faster section of water, it tends to not last too long on the hook, or at least, I don't have the confidence it will be on the hook in five minutes time, and once I have got a bait under that chubby looking obstruction, I don't like to reel in unless there's a fish on the end, or I'm moving on.

I'm not a out and out barbel fisherman, to be honest, I forget that it will pick up barbel. Always think of chub when I use it (and good roach).
 
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Cheers for the reply lads. I was just concerned about re freezing it after use which I know is not a good idea with other pastes ( pellet/fishmeal/egg based). Just dropped them in the freezer and they fit nicely in some pasta sauce pots I'd kept. Now I just need a pass to go and try it out on the Swale.
 
I re-freeze my egg based pastes and they seem ok? Mind you I never catch nowt with them so maybe they aren't ok at all!

Conrad
 
There are a few quick ways of getting round the consistency problem for cheesepaste, and wondering of it's still on the hook if fishing in faster water.

If you consider that the paste will be working at a temperature of around 5 degrees C or less (ie air and water temp at this time of year, especially for those of us mad enough to be out late into the evening), if you make it and knead it for ages, the paste will get quite warm. If it's sticky (which it will be when warmer than about 10 deg C), put it in the freezer for half an hour to chill it, then check the texture again - you might find it's fine without adding any more cornflour. If you get the consistency right at room temperature, it'll be so solid when you're out fishing that even a crocodile would struggle with it.

Once on the bank fishing, if it's still not right, have a small amount of cornflour with you, break off a golf ball-sized chunk, and work in a little to stiffen the paste. If you overdo it, a little water added will bring it back. This way, you can customise the texture to both the ambient and water temp, and the water flow, and get it spot on.

If you're concerned about it falling off a large hook, such as a 2 or 4 for a conker-sized lump, if you hair-rig an 8 or 10mm pellet, and wrap the paste around this, even if the paste falls off, you're still fishing with some bait. I find the drier type of pellet work better for this (like Trigga-ice) as oposed to the oily sort, the cheesepaste just seems to stick to it better.


Mick
 
good point Mick

Made some today following the recipe colin gave, and funnily enough, I used my fridge temp to get it just right, and at room temp is was a lot softer and not as sticky as before cooling it off. bloody stinks as well! :D
 
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Try the owner spring hooks which are available in the BFW shop. That spring really does the business with both cheese paste and flake.

Also before casting in, dunk the hookbait in the river for 10 - 15 seconds and it will harden.

Neil
 
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