prawns

[Silfield]

Yep - prawn spinners - also used for golden sprats for salmon. Some Hardy ones being very sought after - - and expensive!

I use prawn mounts that come in various lengths - a single spike to make the prawn straight - from 1.5in to 3in - in .5in graduations. A single or treble sitting in the prawn's whiskers which is then 'sucked' by the salmon as it is trotted down under a small pike float.

Prawns were stopped from being used on the Coquet in Northumberland as they proved to be far too succesful. I have had landed 5 or 6 in one day and lost about the same number on trotted prawns here in the south.

I have this variation on the theme Olly which I would hazard a guess dates from the 50's? It's celluloid case has kept it safe but I should imagine that it wouldn't last more than 1 fish.

[Olly]

A very interesting lure! It is exactly how a real prawn should look when fishing one.

Apart from a vagrant rainbow trout I have only had salmon on shell-on prawns.

[AntiqueAngler]

Fished until 6.30 pm yesterday,could not get on water until 3.00pm as it had been taken over by a dog walkers club!
Nowhere near as good as last week,prawns accounted for several roach and rudd,3 ide,couple of perch(one took bare hook whilst plumbing the depth) and a couple of nice Tench,biggest 4lb plus.Never had a bite on cockles so ate them at the end.Don't know whether I should have given them a good rinse first?
Steve

[Santiago]

Do you use shelled prawns and what size for coarse fish? Might try them at the weekend for perch.

[Olly]

They have proved deadly for perch for me but not in every water. Large shelled king prawns in small pieces - .5 to 1in - on hooks 6-10.

Coldwater prawns are smaller and squidgier - usually fished whole or halves on 14-10.

[Nobby]

Yep - prawn spinners - also used for golden sprats for salmon. Some Hardy ones being very sought after - - and expensive!

I use prawn mounts that come in various lengths - a single spike to make the prawn straight - from 1.5in to 3in - in .5in graduations. A single or treble sitting in the prawn's whiskers which is then 'sucked' by the salmon as it is trotted down under a small pike float.

Prawns were stopped from being used on the Coquet in Northumberland as they proved to be far too succesful. I have had landed 5 or 6 in one day and lost about the same number on trotted prawns here in the south.

I have this variation on the theme Olly which I would hazard a guess dates from the 50's? It's celluloid case has kept it safe but I should imagine that it wouldn't last more than 1 fish.

That looks familiar...is it a Pliquatic bait? As featured on the first edition rear cover of Mr.Crabtree goes Fishing....which was published in '51 I think.

[Nobby]

I've only ever used the cheap frozen prawns from a supermarket ( which have almost doubled in price this year). Lately I've been dousing them in a little Liquid Worm. Worked well for tench and crucians near Dorking recently.

I hadn't thought of shell on......might be a good move.

[Silfield]

Yep - prawn spinners - also used for golden sprats for salmon. Some Hardy ones being very sought after - - and expensive!

I use prawn mounts that come in various lengths - a single spike to make the prawn straight - from 1.5in to 3in - in .5in graduations. A single or treble sitting in the prawn's whiskers which is then 'sucked' by the salmon as it is trotted down under a small pike float.

Prawns were stopped from being used on the Coquet in Northumberland as they proved to be far too succesful. I have had landed 5 or 6 in one day and lost about the same number on trotted prawns here in the south.

I have this variation on the theme Olly which I would hazard a guess dates from the 50's? It's celluloid case has kept it safe but I should imagine that it wouldn't last more than 1 fish.

That looks familiar...is it a Pliquatic bait? As featured on the first edition rear cover of Mr.Crabtree goes Fishing....which was published in '51 I think.

Nobby.
Yes, it is a 'Wizard Pliquatic', I found it 20+ years ago and was taken by its quirkiness and condition.
Thank you for confirming the age and for the added information of its appearance on the dust cover of such an iconic book.

[Wanderer]

I've only ever used the cheap frozen prawns from a supermarket ( which have almost doubled in price this year). Lately I've been dousing them in a little Liquid Worm. Worked well for tench and crucians near Dorking recently.

I hadn't thought of shell on......might be a good move.

Try frozen, cooked , shell on Atlantic prawns. ( I get mine from morrisons)

Best for taste for us and the fish.
Can be used whole, or pieces, shell on or peeled.
All work on their day.

Might I suggest a small tub of m&s seafood sauce, to accompany the prawns ( for us and not the fish)

[AntiqueAngler]

Got my thinking cap on now.I too had thought vinegar in the cockles might deter fish.As for prawns i use cold water species from Tesco,can be bought for less than 3 quid but they must be toughened a little by microwaving.I have been lose feeding hemp and fishing prawn over it,would prefer casters but they are harder to come by in my neck of the woods and can't be bothered to turn them myself(used to do 5 or 6 pints each week many years ago from Quinn's maggot farm at Astley where we bought maggots by the gallon in old biscuit tins)