HOW DO YOU PREPARE YOUR BAIT ?

Ready to use bait developed by our teams with the help of our technical partners is suitable for most situations.

More specialist anglers can prepare their bait themselves to respond to more specific fishing conditions. For that you use flour: PV1, peanut (roasted or plain), corn (flour, semolina, meal), breadcrumbs (light or dark), hempseed (ground or roasted), copra, etc.

Additives and binding agents can be used to bind the flours together so that the ball gets to the bottom in one piece.

Mix the dry flours together. Ideally, the bait should be prepared one hour before going fishing if possible. Moisten the bait again by the water's edge.

With your hand or a sponge, moisten the bait gradually to give it a uniform consistency. Each time you add water, mix it all up vigorously and rub all the small lumps together so you get plenty of air in the mixture. You can also sift your bait.

Adding water is a very delicate step. The only way to save bait which is too wet is to add a bit of dry bait. Never leave the bait in the sun or out in the rain.

In certain cases it is advisable to match the colour of the bait with the colour of the bottom. To do that, you just need to look at the colour of the edges and add a few shades to darken or lighten the colour of your bait.

To increase the bait's performance you could include some live bait.

- A mishmash of bloodworms is perfectly suitable for groundbait.

- Maggots, which are more bulky, naturally fat and very lively, quickly make the tightest balls disintegrate. Maggots are therefore suitable for sticky and heavy mixtures.

- You can add your live bait in advance before making the balls.  

- Adding them in advance: add a moderate amount of maggots (a ball which is too stuffed will explode in flight), mix the mixture to give it a uniform consistency. Leave to rest for a while then mix your mixture again.

- Adding them to each ball: using your thumb dig a hole inside which you will slide 2 or 3 pinches of larvae.

- After having made this bait, you can move on to light bait made purely from maggots using a sling. This method is the most effective except when there's a strong head wind.

Heavy bait and non spherical balls. After a boat has passed, bait again with heavy bait. To help it stay on the bottom better, add a bit of clay soil to the bait (30% to 50% depending on the depth).

CALM WATER
Distribute small balls the size of a mandarin regularly so as not to frighten the fish. If there are no touches, don't insist!

Distribute small balls the size of a mandarin regularly so as not to frighten the fish. If there are no touches, don't insist!

Propel small sized little balls which explode on the surface. They will create a visible and coloured cloud which will keep the fish there (bleaks and white summer fish). Bait regularly and always rhythmically.

For fishing near the edges (speed fishing), use over-moistened bait which explodes on contact with the surface.

Measure your bait carefully (consistency, size, density etc.) so that it works at the right level: too low and touches are rare, too high and it's just small fry. Throw small crumbly balls frequently and regularly. You need to find the height where the fish are.

Midwater fishing is technically difficult because separated fish are suspicious: avoid large balls which will make them flee. The fish come back after each throw and this is the moment when you get touches.

Start with a few small balls the size of a clementine. Continue with light and regular stimulating bait (less compact balls). Entice them with small balls on the bottom. You'll have to wait to see if the fish come to the spot. The light bait can make them go away.

When the frequency of the touches becomes regular, you must avoid any additional stimulating bait which will attract the small fry and separate the beautiful fish from the bottom.

Still water
Avoid a noisy onslaught which will disturb the fish. A few grains of wheat will give just as good results as loud and useless "plops".

Running water
Fish are less sensitive to noise. Compact and heavy bait so it stays on the bottom.