RJH wrote:Thanks all, ill be looking for some cracked corn then. Can you bring it to the boil in a saucepan after soaking too? What species do you guys mostly target with wheat?
Yes you can boil it on the stove. I generally do mine in a slow cooker. I prefer this as I can leave it and end up with stewed wheat rather than boiled wheat. Stewing means the wheat breaks down further and I think releases more flavour (others may know better)
Wheat was traditionally a roach bait I think but carp and bream, well all cypranids are viable targets. Stewed wheat with a glug of condensed milk is something I like to use.
Great minds MGs!
I walked across an empty land
I knew the pathway like the back of my hand
I felt the earth beneath my feet
Sat by the river and it made me complete.
Stewed or creed wheat is an excellent bait in fact I reckon it can out fish sweet corn especially where corn has been used for some time making the fish rather cautious in taking corn having learnt from the lesson of being caught too often. I’ve used wheat since 1945 when a local farmer would give me some as it was virtually impossible to purchase during and just after World War 2 also bread was hard to come by so wheat served the same purpose. Don’t I repeat don’t boil the wheat as you will end up with a horrid mess one wouldn’t even feed to a pig. Don’t buy cheap wheat if you’re going to use a bait of any description you should use the best available. Having purchased my white wheat which is the best quality, I give it a good wash to soak it in cold water for a few hours. Then put about three cupful’s in a saucepan cover with water then simmer (don’t boil) until the wheat start to show a small split. Turn off the gas then tip wheat into a bowl of cold water. In many of the old angling books the writer will often write Don’t use the wheat except when the riverside fields have ripe wheat, utter poppycock, you can use it all through the season, may excellent winter roach catches have been made using stewed wheat. It’s a bait I find doesn’t really take to being frozen. If my memory serves me correctly I feel you could buy tins of stewed wheat in the 1950’s. When fishing wheat be careful with how much you feed two loose grains with each cast is enough as it’s a very filling bait but I have never found a fish that at sometimes want take a grain of properly prepared wheat, it doesn’t need colouring or flavouring it’s a great bait in its own right. Note I’m not saying it’s the only bait but it’s one that prepared and fished correctly will help you catch fish providing you haven’t spooked them and you have fish in your swim. Martin James
To add to Martin's excellent advice, I would suggest adding a few peeled cloves of garlic to the wheat simmer.
The kernels seem to take the flavour really well and you end up with a wonderfully pungent bait.
