[blueskip]

Like most I have played around with additives & "rubby dubby" bags on the anchor etc, & I currently use a swimfeeder with cooton wool soaked in Pilchard Oil in the bottom, & any old chopped fish, "mortifying" worms etc in the top. I have even used Kit-E-Kat stuffed in there, & I catch on it, but its a job to know whether its any better than the "placebo" or not.
Does anybody else use regular additives, & if so, what & how? I find them awfully arkward to cast off the shore, & I usually limit it to a lump of foam rubber (in the middle of a Pennel Rig) soaked in Pilchard Oil. Off the boat I "hoy" all sorts in, any submarine underneath would think its being depth charged, but I reckon anything that atrracts the fish is cool.
Mackerel minced up small & stuffed in a swim feeder certainly attracts thornbacks & dogs in the summer, but I am looking for the "definitive" plaice, dab, turbot, flounder attractant, anybody got any ideas or experience?
blueskip

 

[paid4]

tried the swimfeeder but no luck yet and I'm beginning to suspect that luck is the most important factor in fishing-I think most people would expect that rag would be the ideal bait for flatties but the last two I caught were both taken on mackrel strip fished on the top hook of a three hook paternoster and they completely ignored the fat juicy ragworms on the lower two hooks-go figure, as for the best marks its simple-ask me where I'm fishing at any given time and then...............go and fish somwhere else, you're bound to do better than me

 

[doggy hater]

I have tried using a "ground bait" quite a lot from the boat, to some good effect. I use a length of pipe "which i got with my rod from a mail order site" which has two end caps, cut the pipe too around 2 feet in length, place 10 oz of lead in the bottam, dill loads of 12mm holes and fill with old bait. I have also seen people dig a hole at low water line fill it with chopped fish and let the waves spead the scent trail when shore fishing. seems to work... so how about the new ultrabite oils? do they realy make fish come on the feed? or is it too catch the angler?

 

[gusangus]

Tried the ultra bite oils by just squirting some on wrecking lures when the fish were being shy and found that the ferocity of the take increased, but would need to do a prolonged study as it could have been that tidal conditions were changing still have some in my box which I use when things are slow somtimes it seems to help others it does'nt, hard to tell. It is supposed to send the fish into a feeding or sexual frenzy so if they stop biting altogether you know what they're up to.

 

[dai english]

In the past I have used ultrabite by injecting it in to baits ,with some success for flounder .
I have also groundbaited with chopped up worms at close range and this method seams to holed the fish in the same spot .
I've also used pilchard oil with the same sort of success for rays and dogs.
The one thing i can say is that, if the fishing is slow you need to try as many different things as you can and if it means a bit more added sent, then do it .
I don't usually us it unless the fishing is slow or goes slow.


WHAT I'M GOING TO TELL YOU IS TOP SECRET

Try using W-D-40 and spray it on your baits . This tip I got told by a man I was fishing next to, on a kent beach .He gave me a squirt and i caught a 2lb codling .He had 5 in total . I only had the one and fished with the same baits but no w-d-40 .So you make up your own mind ,i did . Don't tell anyone and that includes Dropped a pollock .

 

[gusangus]

you can get mackerel fillets which have been frozen in killybegs oil I tried them and and had a lot of success with it whiting, conger,dogs, pout, and will be having some for the tope later. the only place I.ve found it is Baits Direct.

 

[Lendusaworm]

hi dia english

av a look at this link it also tells u about your secret tip wink!

http://www.btinternet.com/~kevin.l.j.knight/Tell-us-your-tips.htm

lendy.

 

[jury]

This is a new one to me , SMA baby milk ,dig or purchase you worms and soak them in baby milk a guy I was speaking to at Porthcawl the other day swears by it and I'm afraid he had a bag full of whiting to prove it

 

[jury]

By the Bluseskip good link that enjoyed reading

 

[swelleyman]

Hi Blue one!
You contributed some time ago when I asked a similar question and I'm still experimenting. Try puttting Fish attractants into your search engine!
So far my 'research' (that's a posh word for it!) has got me lashing or hooking compressed cotton wool soaked or steeped in a mixture of Ultrabite and sardine oil (I got some cheap!) to long-shanked hooks, along with bait. It definitely works as these are the first hooks to catch fish. Interestingly the fish are striking DIRECTLY at the cottton wool rather than the 'bait' put on with it! Yes I've also tried using the cottton wool alone and YES it catches! (Doggies, and Whiting so far) In deep waterand at night fish hunt by smell perhaps? However I've started fishing with braid and I am missing bites. I decided that this was because the fish were small and were missing the hook. The cottton wool came up shredded! I've started hooking the 'wad' on a pennel rig and YES I've been catching tiddlers on the 'upper' hook (see report on Brighton, South Coast section)

The word on the websites is that attractants (amino acids essentially) might be attracting by producing a 'scent trail', but that they have definitely been shown to make fish 'hang-on' longer before 'spittting it out'.

My opinion, for what it's worth is that chemicals do attract, a lah a scent trail, but that when their in and feeding in a frenzy then big fishy baits rule - particularly for whiting. The competition is just too great not to get a mouthful before the rest do! Ultrabite are the only 'firm' (the research was done at Lowestoft) who claim to have isolated different amino acids for different species. I'm also systematically using the Smart bait, and Fish and Strips offerings. Significantly the 'Worm' variety seems to be the best and the one that dissolves first! They are basically gelatine plus attractant reinforced by bandage type material. I'm also having a go at making these too!

We've always used bait haven't we so what's wrong with trying something new?!?

 

[ChrisP]

I use a rubby dubby bag tied off about 6 feet up the anchor warp but only when I am fishing diretly downtie of the anchor. Tying it off in this way keeps it agitated, I put a couple of rocks off the beach in to grind up the offerings. I usually use 2 onion sacks one inside the other and fill it with a couple of stone of sandeel, mack, crab, whatever is to hand. I feel it does increase the ammount of fish and it will bring the tope to you. When after tope I like a couple of extra bags hung off the stern just dipping the water. I have had pack tope rip rubby dubby bags to shreds at the stern. I wrap the one on the anchor in chicken wire to stop them ripping this one open.

Where I know it works is for bream, garrs and triggers. I suspend the bag off the gunnell between 6 and 12 foot down, the reef I fish is 16 foot deep. I float fish for them and within seconds of 'Shaking the bag' you get a bite. The fish if kept for the table and gutted are full of bits of the the rubby dubby. This also tends to keep the shoal around you. I think the secret is to have the scent in the water but no food, the fish follow the scent and as there is nothing else take your bait, hence using 2 sacks, to limit the ammount of solids entering the water.

What I don't think you can beat is quality live bait and fresh cut bait, changed regularly.

 

[Manx Fisher]

Interesting topic...

My gut instinct has been to avoid additives on the basis that they catch more anglers than fish. I did dabble with Fish'n'strips when they came out but wasnt overly impressed (perhaps the new cold water versions are better)

I prefer to work on other aspects of fishing to help me catch more fish - ie the where and when. My theory being that a great mark fished at the right time (tide/weather/season) will produce fish even to poor baits and a fishless mark fished with all the additives in the world still won't catch fish. I can see how additives (if they work) would be useful for match anglers who are restricted the the where and when they get to fish.

However, I am almost inspired by the thread to try a few of the above recipies at marks I know well where I would have a good idea what I could expect I am concerned that I might attract even more dogfish

Going OT slightly - does anyone have an opinion on floating / booby / luminous beads ? I am a big fan of the floaty types but haven't spent much time on the others (despite buying a load of booby beads a couple of years back after reading a review on this site - advertisers take note)

 

[doggy hater]

I have heard of some guys putting ultrabite etc into there worms as jury said overleaf and aparently you should do this the night before you go fishing so the worms eat the oil, then you use the bait as normal and it gives a much better scent trail to the fish, jury i also seen the bags of fish. But another good method is putting a pipe cleaner around a shad/lure and soaking this in bass ultrabite, i find this often sends the sliver ones into a made frenzy, but do put most of them back guys it takes about 10years to grow to breeding age. As for the beads i swear by luminous beads in the winter months for whitting, pout and dab, but i only use normal colour beads in the summer when i'm after the plaice. doggy