Groundbait is a fishing bait that is either thrown or "balled" into the water in order to olfactorily attract more fish to a designated area (i.e. fishing ground) for more efficient catching via angling, netting, trapping, or even spearing and shooting. Groundbaits are typically scattered separately from the hook and usually before even casting any rod or net, although in bottom fishing they can be deployed synchronously with hookbaits while contained inside a gradual-release device also attached to the fishing line known as a method feeder.
Groundbaits are often used in freshwater coarse fishing (where the target fish are commonly omnivorous or algivorous and might not be easily drawn to the hookbait), and can be custom-made personally by the angler or bulk-purchased from dedicated manufacturers. There are many different recipes of groundbaits that can be used to target specific species of fish. Groundbait can differ by the sizes of the crumbs, type of seed, colour and smell. The angler can also mix additives to the groundbait to alter its firmness in order to control the rate of bait release or breakdown once in the water.
Groundbaits used in blue water fishing are known as "chums", which consist of freshly cut parts of a slaughtered fish often added with blood and offals, in order to attract large predatory fishes.
You shall take a peck, or a peck and a half, according to the greatness of the stream and deepness of the water, where you mean to angle, of sweet gross-ground barley-malt; and boil it in a kettle, one or two warms is enough: then strain it through a bag into a tub, the liquor whereof hath often done my horse much good; and when the bag and malt is near cold, take it down to the water-side, about eight or nine of the clock in the evening, and not before: cast in two parts of your ground-bait, squeezed hard between both your hands; it will sink presently to the bottom; and be sure it may rest in the very place where you mean to angle: if the stream run hard, or move a little, cast your malt in handfuls a little the higher, upwards the stream. You may, between your hands, close the malt so fast in handfuls, that the water will hardly part it with the fall.
Your ground thus baited, and tackling fitted, leave your bag, with the rest of your tackling and ground-bait, near the sporting-place all night; and in the morning, about three or four of the clock, visit the water-side, but not too near, for they have a cunning watchman, and are watchful themselves too.
Then, gently take one of your three rods, and bait your hook; casting it over your ground-bait, and gently and secretly draw it to you till the lead rests about the middle of the ground-bait...
– Izaak Walton 1676 [1]
Groundbait is a mixture of various natural ingredients, for example fishmeal, bread crumbs, vanilla sugar, hemp seeds or oil, [2] maize and other ingredients, which are then moistened with water and formed into bait balls, which are then cast into the water at the fishing spot as an "appetizer". Depending on the groundbait mixture, the balls may break up quickly and create a "cloud" of particles in the water attractive for mid-water feeding fish, or sink to the bottom where they slowly release scents to species feeding on the bottom.
The amount of groundbait is optimized to draw as many fish as possible to the fishing place, enticing them to freely consume without overfeeding, which will otherwise stop the fish from biting the actual hookbait. Anglers may use groundbait at the fishing site (or swim) for several days before fishing to stimulate the taste of the fish, and then cease groundbaiting for a brief period to allow the fish to regain their appetite before the actual fishing begins. [3]
One method of focusing the fish-drawing is to simply squeeze a ball of groundbait onto the line just above the hook. [4] This way, any fish attracted by the groundbait will be at close proximity to the hook and therefore more likely to also swallow the hookbait.
Another method of distributing groundbait close to the hookbait is by using a method feeder (or just "feeder" for short), which is a cage/wire container mounted adjacent to the hookbait on the fishing line. Feeders hold compact, moistened groundbait and other particle baits that are gradually released in the water. When the line is cast out, the feeder disperses its contents right near the bait, attracting fish from a wider area specifically towards the hook location. The feeder enclosure also prevents the groundbaits from rapid depletion by a feeding frenzy, which would otherwise cause the fish to become satious from overconsuming the groundbait and thus no longer interested in swallowing the actual hookbait.
The combined mass of the feeder and its contents also serves the function of a sinker, as well as adding momentum to the terminal tackles and hence allowing a greater casting distance.
Due to concerns about the ecological impact of introducing nutrients to a water, acting as fertilizer, [5] [6] angling in some waters is affected by regulations on groundbait use. Where groundbait is banned, soil or loam is sometimes used as a substitute.
The BBC have used the term to describe popular TV shows, placed immediately before newscasts or broadcasts of a socially pertinent nature, to draw in viewers. [7]
In Austria, the German term Anfüttern is used to mean a way of bribing, particularly in regard to political corruption.
The common chub, also known as the European chub or simply chub, is a species of European freshwater ray-finned fish in the carp family Cyprinidae, that frequents both slow and moderate rivers, as well as canals, lakes and still waterbodies of various kinds.
The term carp is a generic common name for numerous species of freshwater fish from the family Cyprinidae, a very large clade of ray-finned fish mostly native to Eurasia. While carp are prized quarries and are valued as both food and ornamental fish in many parts of the Old World, they are considered trash fish and invasive pests in many parts of Africa, Australia and most of the United States.
The Eurasian carp or European carp, widely known as the common carp, is a widespread freshwater fish of eutrophic waters in lakes and large rivers in Europe and Asia. The native wild populations are considered vulnerable to extinction by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), but the species has also been domesticated and introduced into environments worldwide, and is often considered a destructive invasive species, being included in the list of the world's 100 worst invasive species. It gives its name to the carp family, Cyprinidae.
Angling is a fishing technique that uses a fish hook attached to a fishing line to tether individual fish in the mouth. The fishing line is usually manipulated via a fishing rod, although rodless techniques such as handlining also exist. Modern angling rods are usually fitted with a fishing reel that functions as a cranking device for storing, retrieving and releasing out the line, although Tenkara fishing and traditional cane pole fishing are two rod-angling methods that do not use any reel. The fish hook itself can be additionally weighted with a denser tackle called a sinker, and is typically dressed with an appetizing bait to attract and entice the fish into swallowing the hook, but sometimes an inedible fake/imitation bait with multiple attached hooks is used instead of a single hook with edible bait. Some type of bite indicator, such as a float, a bell or a quiver tip, is often used to relay underwater status of the hook to the surface and alert the angler of a fish's presence.
Crappies are two species of North American freshwater fish of the genus Pomoxis in the family Centrarchidae (sunfishes). Both species of crappies are popular game fish among recreational anglers.
Bait is any appetizing substance used to attract prey when hunting or fishing, most commonly in the form of trapping, ambushing and angling.
Recreational fishing, also called sport fishing or game fishing, is fishing for leisure, exercise or competition. It can be contrasted with commercial fishing, which is professional fishing for profit; or subsistence fishing, which is fishing for survival and livelihood.
Handline fishing, or handlining, is a fishing technique where a single fishing line is held in the hands, rather than with a fishing rod like the usual angling, of which handlining is a subtype. Handlining is not to be confused with handfishing, which is catching fish by hand. When handlining, one or more fishing lures or baited hooks are attached to the line, and a fishing lure and often a weight and/or a fishing float can also be attached to the line. Handlining is among the oldest forms of fishing and is still practiced throughout the world today.
In angling, casting is the act of the angler throwing the bait and hook as well as other attached terminal tackles out over the water, typically by slinging a fishing line manipulated by a long, elastic fishing rod. The term itself may also be used for setting out a net when artisanal fishing.
Boilies are a type of artificial fishing bait made from boiled paste that usually consists of fishmeals, milk proteins, bird foods, semolina and soya flour, which are mixed with egg white as a binding agent. The mixture is then boiled to form hard, round balls that diffuse evenly and slowly in water, and additional flavourings and aromatic attractants are usually included in the mixture to enhance the olfactory appeal to the fish. The spherical shape also allows the baits to be catapulted accurately when fishing at distant waters.
Bottom fishing, also called legering in the United Kingdom, is fishing of the bottom of a deep body of water such as lake or ocean, targeting groundfish such as sucker fish, bream, catfish and crappie. It is contrasted with conventional angling in that no float is used with the fishing line.
A quiver tip is a flexible extension to a fishing rod which is designed to vibrate, or quiver, when a fish takes the bait. The main characteristic of its design is its sensitivity. It is a popular and very effective method of bite indication both on still and running water, and is used far more often in bottom fishing. It is not used in game fishing and is seldom, if ever, used when fishing for very large coarse fish. In essence, the angler watches the tip of the fishing rod to detect bites as opposed to, say, a float or an electronic bite alarm.
The common bream, also known as the freshwater bream, bream, bronze bream, carp bream or sweaty bream, is a European species of freshwater fish in the family Cyprinidae. It is now considered to be the only species in the genus Abramis.
Chumming is the blue water fishing practice of throwing meat-based groundbait called "chum" into the water in order to lure various marine animals to a designated fishing ground, so the target animals are more easily caught by hooking or spearing. Chums typically consist of fresh chunks of fish meat with bone and blood, the scent of which attracts predatory fish, particularly sharks, billfishes, tunas and groupers. In the past, the chum contents have also been made from "offal", the otherwise rejected or unwanted parts of slaughtered animals such as internal organs.
Fishing tackle is the equipment used by anglers when fishing. Almost any equipment or gear used in fishing can be called fishing tackle, examples being hooks, lines, baits/lures, rods, reels, floats, sinkers/feeders, nets, spears, gaffs and traps, as well as wires, snaps, beads, spoons, blades, spinners, clevises and tools that make it easy to tie knots.
Coarse fishing is a phrase commonly used in Britain and Ireland. It refers to the angling for rough fish, which are fish species considered undesirable as food or game fish. Freshwater game fish are all salmonids, particularly salmon, trout and char. Generally, coarse fish are freshwater fish that are not salmonids, though there is often disagreement over whether grayling should be classified as a game fish or a coarse fish.
Fishing techniques are methods for catching fish. The term may also be applied to methods for catching other aquatic animals such as molluscs and edible marine invertebrates.
Fishing bait is any luring substance used specifically to attract and catch fish, typically when angling with a hook and line. There are generally two types of baits used in angling: hookbaits, which are directly mounted onto fish hooks and are what the term "fishing bait" typically refers to; and groundbaits, which are scattered separately into the water as an "appetizer" to attract the fish nearer to the hook. Despite the bait's sole importance is to provoke a feeding response out of the target fish, the way how fish react to different baits is quite poorly understood.
The following outline is provided as an overview of and topical guide to fishing:
Carp is a common name for various species of freshwater fish from the family Cyprinidae that are native to Eurasia and sought after by some recreational fishermen. Certain carp species have been introduced, with mixed results, to various other locations around the world, and even declared invasive in certain regions.
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Mixing groundbait for carp – GoFishingOnline | |
Groundbait Part 1 Part 2 Part 3
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