General

Groundbait's Great!! (Barry Davis)

If you want to get yourself away from a ‘normal’ approach and stay one step ahead of the chasing pack Barry Davis could reveal just what you’ve been looking for…using groundbait. And, not a PVA stick in sight.
Match anglers use groundbait for targeting carp all the time, but it’s never really stuck for us carpers. Why?
Pressured venues require something different because carp that have seen boilies and particles time and time over wise up and become more difficult to catch as they learn that danger may lay at the end of the next bed of boilies they hoover up.

Although it’s not a venue Barry fishes he’d already decided to make the spectacular Horseshoe complex in Lechlade his choice of venue for today’s session.
By 7.30am he’d already managed to catch three! All twenties as well with the biggest only ounces under 30lb!
 “I’m wet through but lovin’ it,” exclaimed an ecstatic Barry as I make my way to greet him with the wet ground squelching under my feet with every step.
Finding him with his 12ft 3lbtc ESP Vertex rod sky high and hooped over with a good ‘un on the end I knew there was definitely something in his groundbait approach that was sending the carp in his swim into a feeding frenzy.
“This is number four now. Two have been mid twenties and one fell just a couple of pounds short at 18lb 4oz,” he said.
As the fish he’s got on rolls just in front of the waiting net I can see it’s another 20 and a few moments later the fish is netted and safely transferred to the sling ready to be weighed. Barry holds the scales up and the needle on his Reuben Heaton’s makes its way round to 24lb 4oz – an unbelievable morning’s action so far and Barry’s adamant there’s more of where that came from!

Mix1
“The first is a heavy feed mix that’s quite active and consists of Dynamite Baits Swim Stim Method Mix, Dynamite XL Method Mix, 4mm carp pellets, crushed hemp, crushed Dynamite Fresh Fish, Mussel & Oyster boilies and sweetcorn.
“This is the mix I’m fishing over today and am using it in conjunction with what I rate as the ultimate hook bait – a Dynamite Fresh Fish snowman set-up, but more of that in a minute.
“I also think liquid attractants are quite an important addition to groundbaits because they disperse well into the surrounding water to draw fish in,” said Barry.
So, the mix he’s using today contains quite a lot of feed items, but the pellets will break down relatively quickly being low in oil. The sweetcorn adds sweetness and visual impact – age old, but still one of the best carp foods around.
“The mix I’ve chosen today would always be my choice when I’m looking to put a bed of feed down, so it’s best used in the summer and autumn seasons.

Mix2
“The second mix is very oily being made from Dynamite Baits Marine Halibut groundbait, high oil trout pellet powder, tinned Dynamite Meaty Marine groundbait and I use quite a bit of Marine Halibut liquid attractant in the water I use to mix it. This is ideal to use in warmer water when I want plenty of attraction, but very little feed value.
“I’d use this mix when there are quite a lot of anglers on the lake as the oils will pull fish from other anglers around you.

Mix3
“The final mix is my winter one that I used from November to the end of February last year to take some awesome catches on several different waters.
“It’s made from low oil groundbaits and pellets as oils can’t disperse from baits very well in cooler water. It consists of two ingredients – Dynamite Swim Stim Black groundbait and Dynamite 1mm Swim Stim Micro pellets.
“I use this cold water mix in balls the same way as I feed the other groundbaits, but if it’s not windy I will sometimes use a spod to feed it at range. Failing that a solid PVA bag with a supple hooklength is another brilliant way to feed it because I can tuck my hook bait in the bag with the groundbait,” he says.

Proceedings are interrupted as the slack line of his left hand rod suddenly tightens and the alarm screams off to the tune of another carp – this time a smaller common just under 16lb.
As he’s returning the common the other rod rips off, again on Barry’s snowman double Fresh Fish, Mussel & Oyster offering.
Two wet feet later he’s got it under control and guides it around the nearside margin foliage. Soon another 20lb mirror lays calmly in the bottom of his landing net.

Having caught so many Barry tops the swim up with 12 balls of groundbait using a Carp ’R’ Us groundbait sling.
Seventy minutes after Barry’s bait bombardment and his right hand rod’s off again – this isn’t exactly noted as an easy water either!
I yawn jokingly, as if it was getting boring watching him catch so many, as Barry turns towards me with a grin from ear to ear.
That one netted, it looks like, erm, wait….another 20lber. The scales confirm that 21lb 9oz of perfectly formed mirror carp had taken a liking for Barry’s bait combination, taking the total for the session to seven – and it’s only 2pm!
With fish safety of paramount importance Barry treats the carp’s mouth where the hook has been with Korda Carp Care Mouth solution to help the healing process and eliminate the chance of any infection.
Two anglers have been waiting to jump in Barry’s swim, so with his point well and truly proven he reels in the other rod and sets about packing up.
“I don’t want to leave,” he says. “I’m off to my local water now down south now though and I hope my time there is as productive as it has been today – what an awesome venue,” he concludes.