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no more pva issues

David Pearce

Senior Member
hi guys.
i just watched a really interesting tip video on the korda website which i had never seen or heard of before.
basically if you soak any bait. ie. hemp, corn, or any other bait that would normally melt pva in salt water:eek: it becomes pva friendly until it goes into the river or lake then it melts as usual.: so enabling you to use large pva bags of hemp etc if required.
i just thought i would post this incase anyone like me did not know about this
as it could be of use.
regards dave.
 
Saw another tip on an episode of Thinking Tackle, Ian whatshisname does not use salt but puts a good dose of sunflower oil in his mix which does the same thing, it will also help the flavours to leak out quickly.......
 
You can learn alot of top carp fisherman..
Was lucky enough to spend a few hours with terry hearn not so long ago,and after chatting to him,it's amazing what some of these guys could teach you..

Luke
 
Also if you have a cooler bag take your hemp out of the freezer put in the cooler bag / portion in your rucksack when you get to your swim it should still be cold enough to put into pva mesh without the mesh melting. PVA mesh melts down very very slowly when in contact with close to freezing temps.
Well its worked for me
 
Be aware that the salt solution has to be very strong in order to work...I can't remember the exact salt/water/hemp ratio off hand, but it is strong.

Cheers, Dave.
 
Have any of you guys seen the DVD Barbel Days and Ways particulary the section of how bait behaves when its introduced into your swim,have to say a real eye opener for me as I always believed that any bait ie pellet mix of different sizes and hemp drifted until it got caught in depressions,stones and rocks etc.

Not so espically as the pellets start to break down they become very light and are literally off and away.they also showed what happened to a PVA bag
which caused me a re think in terms of baiting up a swim-as for hemp it seemed even worse that pellets.In all cases after 30 mins your swim is devoid of feed so the solution seems to be regular baiting up via a dropper if you are using smaller baits/particles however not sensible on the Loddon where I feel regular disturbances spoil your chances
 
Salt n PVA

The one tip they didn't mention is salty wet particles are best used in a solid PVA bag, not a perforated or mesh stocking type one unless you want to shower yourself in said salty liquid every cast! ;) Not speeking from experience of coarse, just another tip i picked up! :D:eek:
 
Something else worth bearing in mind when using PVA bags in a river is where you attach them on the rig. A PVA bag nicked on the hook, depending on current strength, will flutter like a ballon in the flow and the contents will be carried downstream when the bag melts, and any fish nearby with it. I attach mesh bags using a maggot clip through the swivel eye where the lead is attached. The lead keeps the bag pinned to the bottom and less bait is carried downstream.

Sam
 
Not sure about the amount of salt need to acheive this - seems like overkill.
Especially compared to the small amount of oil (Sunflower/Olive/Hemp/Elips/Salmon/Whatever...) that you need to add to particles to acheive equivalent or better results.
 
Salty Liquid...

"unless you want to shower yourself in said salty liquid every cast"

It's exciting stuff this Barbel fishing - ain't it!

"Not speeking from experience of coarse, just another tip i picked up!"

Dread to think where...
 
Something else worth bearing in mind when using PVA bags in a river is where you attach them on the rig. A PVA bag nicked on the hook, depending on current strength, will flutter like a ballon in the flow and the contents will be carried downstream when the bag melts, and any fish nearby with it. I attach mesh bags using a maggot clip through the swivel eye where the lead is attached. The lead keeps the bag pinned to the bottom and less bait is carried downstream.

Sam

I like nicking the bag on the hook mainly to straighten out my soft braided hooklength as it enters the water, purely a confidence issue and to get a few free offerings drifting downstream to hopefully get the attentions of a fish or two.

Does attaching the bag to the lead really make a huge difference in that the free offerings are nailed to the deck?

Chris
 
Right, job sorted. Now I've just got to find a way of salting every passing cloud!;):D

P.S. PVA bags are the work of the Devil, mesh only for me. Far less of a PITA unless it's raining when you may as well not bother with either.;):D
 
"unless you want to shower yourself in said salty liquid every cast"

It's exciting stuff this Barbel fishing - ain't it!

"Not speeking from experience of coarse, just another tip i picked up!"

Dread to think where...

Declan, you are a bad man...there was no mention of the colour of this 'salty shower' :D:D:D

Cheers, Dave.
 
I like nicking the bag on the hook mainly to straighten out my soft braided hooklength as it enters the water, purely a confidence issue and to get a few free offerings drifting downstream to hopefully get the attentions of a fish or two.

Does attaching the bag to the lead really make a huge difference in that the free offerings are nailed to the deck?

Chris

I like to think it makes a difference Chris, I have been experimenting in some clear water stretches of the Swale. I liken it to using a baitdropper, a dropper deposits bait on the deck, more gets caught on the bottom, you still get the odd bits drifting off but nothing like as much if you were to throw it in by hand. I suppose if I used soft hooklengths then I might attach a small mesh bag on the hook. I dont have that problem as I use mainly coated braids with the last few cms stripped away creating a hinge.

Sam
 
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