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It’s back !!

Terry Harman said:
I would fish with castors all the time if i could afford it and people think that boilies are expensive …use similar quantities of natural baits like castor maggots and worms and you will see what expensive is
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I agree they are really expensive, and that’s why I am now trying to grow my own maggot and had a wormery.
 
David Craine said:
After reading this thread I am sure that the processed baits / flavours of virtually all baits catch more anglers than fish .
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Hey Dave. I think in a lot of cases you’ve got this very wrong indeed. While some mass produced baits are there to catch the anglers, making your own bait and putting your own individual label on it and then if your lucky enough to catch on it …… well this goes way beyond that.

I would imagine you more than most would appreciate what point I’m making when it comes down to genuine success on something you’ve created. It doesn’t matter whether it’s a feeder a float a bait or a rod, if there is a good degree of personal intervention that goes into the item and success is achieved while using it, then I can assure you from my own personal experiences, these special captures ….. feel twice as special!

Now you mention about comparing these baits to more traditional easy to obtain baits to establish which is “better”
with the greatest of respect (from my point of view) you’ve missed the whole point and not by an inch.
I know all too well that if I applied spam or pellets in the same way as I applied my own self made baits I’d catch barbel and probably to a similarly successful standard.
But then I’d be missing out on the key things below I love so much about using MY bait.

1) No one else uses it …. It’s my label, I’ve created it. It’s totally unique

2) I know exactly what goes into it and I can make changes to control certain outcomes

3) it’s good for the fish. Professional base mix makers like John and others concentrate a lot on making their baits to sustain high nutrition.

4) I might be in the minority here but actually making it I really enjoy. It’s a fun experience in itself.

5) on pressured low stock waters where fish are really big, being caught lots before and they do wise up there is an edge. Sometimes they might hold back from a cube of meat. They might of been caught on sweet corn last week. They won’t of ever seen a hand made bait in the shape of a rock with say a tee spoon of honey and 0.4ml of frost n flood died a deep purple (as an example)

You see it’s not about which is the “better” catcher. Or a tin of spam is a fraction of the cost (which I might add is not actually true)****
It’s about a hell of a lot more and I urge you to try it.

***** spam £3-£4 probably does 2 sessions at best but more likely 1.

John baker 2kg base mix and 50ml liquid £45
Will do 24 egg mixes (equivalent to 48 sessions for me)

It’s actually a lot cheaper than spam.
 
That’s the point I was trying to make.. £50 of JB lasts a season how much would it cost to fish castors all season plus the fish are getting a good nutritional food source
 
Richard, nowhere in my post do I say that one bait is better than another, or do I say that processed baits are in any way superior, or inferior , I just point out that as with a lot of angling paraphenalia these days a lot of things catch anglers as opposed to fish 😋.
I have every confidence that a home made bait with good ingredients will work , and you say yourself that just maybe they may only be as effective as more traditional baits .
That being said , horses for courses . Some of us get pleasure from different aspects of angling, if doing a “ Rick Stein “ with bait ingredients is your thing and it works for you then thats fine .
For a lot of anglers on a low budget I think maybe the idea of shelling out for custom made industrially produced processed baits may just be a bit more expensive than a loaf of Warburtons , or tin of sweetcorn, which as you say may be just as effective on any day .
Sad thing is that angling mags and papers seem to be hell bent on promoting the latest “ Wafter “ or whatever , and thus it may be that some anglers beginning their lifetime obsession may get blinkered by advertising .
Whatever your predeliction may be as far as baits and methods are concerned , the main thing , at least for me ,is that you enjoy your time at the waterside and dont be misled into thinking there is a magic bullet that will guarantee you results .

We all know the magic bullet doesnot exist .

David
 
David Craine said:
Richard, nowhere in my post do I say that one bait is better than another, or do I say that processed baits are in any way superior, or inferior , I just point out that as with a lot of angling paraphenalia these days a lot of things catch anglers as opposed to fish 😋.
I have every confidence that a home made bait with good ingredients will work , and you say yourself that just maybe they may only be as effective as more traditional baits .
That being said , horses for courses . Some of us get pleasure from different aspects of angling, if doing a “ Rick Stein “ with bait ingredients is your thing and it works for you then thats fine .
For a lot of anglers on a low budget I think maybe the idea of shelling out for custom made industrially produced processed baits may just be a bit more expensive than a loaf of Warburtons , or tin of sweetcorn, which as you say may be just as effective on any day .
Sad thing is that angling mags and papers seem to be hell bent on promoting the latest “ Wafter “ or whatever , and thus it may be that some anglers beginning their lifetime obsession may get blinkered by advertising .
Whatever your predeliction may be as far as baits and methods are concerned , the main thing , at least for me ,is that you enjoy your time at the waterside and dont be misled into thinking there is a magic bullet that will guarantee you results .

We all know the magic bullet doesnot exist .

David
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Inarguable (IMO)
......and as an aside, I would argue that the Warburtons the baker is the John Baker of the 'traditional' bait user. 😉
 
Bait is a moving thing.

Conditions - water level etc , type of river, fish population, target species and time on bank all help decisions on what to use.
Many other variables to consider.
 
Terry Simner said:
Inarguable (IMO)
......and as an aside, I would argue that the Warburtons the baker is the John Baker of the 'traditional' bait user. 😉
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Bread is ok if you’re sight fishing if you just want the bait and wait approach using bread you would be recasting every 7 seconds the bleak and small silvers would make sure of that
 
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