Bran as ground bait

[Mole-Patrol]

Gros gardons owes its success to biscuit crumb, and vanilla flavouring. You can make your own mixture using fine breadcrumbs, biscuit meal and a little vanilla essence. Another good roach puller is layer's pellets or layer's mash. That contains brewery waste, i.e. maltings and is a real roach and bream puller.

The pellets are tiny and break up quickly. As soon as they hit the water they begin to dissolve and you will see the surface of the water become slightly disturbed. That means there is a column of scent rising from the pellets which is good for roach as you never know where in the water column they will be at. The mash can be used to stiffen up breadcrumb groundbait. Same flavour, but doesn't have the 3D effect.

[Duckett]

Bran on its own wouldn't be a good bait. But mixed with other cereals it can bulk up the groundbait and break up a stodgy mix. I think the match anglers of the 60' used to add the bran that their maggots came in and that would add something extra compared to clean bran.

Semolina also acts as a de-clogging agent without detracting from the groundbait, as does fine sand. If you want a nice cloud add some powdered mik.

To add clagginess for feeder fishing or in deep, fast water make your groundbait with boiling water and add some co-co powder. The cheap stuff from Lidl is ideal.

Thanks Clive. I have to admit I had my doubts about neat bran, so I checked with my brother. His recollection is the same as mine - we used it in its own for Bream in Cheshire meres and flashes. I wonder if it wasn’t so much ground bait as an attractor? I guess it adds sweetness to the water and it certainly produces a lot of colour! It also coincided with catching Bream and Crucian. However, when I give it a try this summer, it will be with crumb!

Phil

[Mole-Patrol]

Sometimes there is no logical answer. One time on the broads in a heatwave I wasn't catching until I added some dried milk powder to the groundbait. Then I couldn't stop catching chub. Another time clay was enough to get perch biting. If fishing was logical I wouldn't do it.

[Olly]

Layers mash was used by anglers on the Tidal Thames esp the punt anglers - Francis Francis Club. Got to get the bait down in a faster outgoing tide.

[Mole-Patrol]

It is a vastly under rated ingredient. The protein content is around 16% and consists of all vegetable matter. There is a high calorific content and an element of fermentation retained in the brewer's waste. There is also biscuit waste in it. As an additive to plain groundbait it offers a lot of attraction.

I have caught roach and small, sub 7lb carp on the pellets. They would make a good gobio bait.

[Catfish.017]

Layers mash was used by anglers on the Tidal Thames esp the punt anglers - Francis Francis Club. Got to get the bait down in a faster outgoing tide.

As youngsters we also used layers mash on the park lake and very effective it was too. Two of the lads were sons of a butcher and occasionally we would have sausage rusk to mix in with the mash. Rather coarse the rusk was but it blended in well with the mash.

[Liphook]

Thanks for the info on Gros Gardons Clive We used layers pellets to great effect catching big bream and the odd tench and rarer carp on Castle Loch, Lochmaben. I try and avoid bream these days.

[Mumf]

There are some good ideas there.I use bread crumbs ( get the bread from work,dry it and sieve it.) I have used layers mash too,mixed in,along with strawberry angel delight- it seems to be a draw to roach and bream in particular. What I do like is the idea of using sausage rusk.I am,by trade,a butcher,and we use several different grades of rusk.It’s set me thinking now…

[Duckett]

There are some good ideas there.I use bread crumbs ( get the bread from work,dry it and sieve it.) I have used layers mash too,mixed in,along with strawberry angel delight- it seems to be a draw to roach and bream in particular. What I do like is the idea of using sausage rusk.I am,by trade,a butcher,and we use several different grades of rusk.It’s set me thinking now…

Have to say, I’m intrigued by Strawberry Angel Delight - colour, sweetness, fruity flavour and a spot of gloopiness all in one ingredient! I may have to try that!

Phil

[Mumf]

There are some good ideas there.I use bread crumbs ( get the bread from work,dry it and sieve it.) I have used layers mash too,mixed in,along with strawberry angel delight- it seems to be a draw to roach and bream in particular. What I do like is the idea of using sausage rusk.I am,by trade,a butcher,and we use several different grades of rusk.It’s set me thinking now…

Have to say, I’m intrigued by Strawberry Angel Delight - colour, sweetness, fruity flavour and a spot of gloopiness all in one ingredient! I may have to try that!

Phil

The butterscotch variety works too,and IS a bream magnet, for certain.