Tare it up

It was one of those days when the float just kept going under ‘a small dip and then a gentle sail away slowly but surely a gentle strike and that satisfying elastic stretching dogged fight of a big roach ‘ flanked in silver a marbled green back and those distinctive vermilion and orange fins ‘ what a treat ’ but hold on a minute this was early march with frost still evident in the mornings and a bitterly cold wind throughout the day and all of the fish were caught using the tare ‘ yes there is no need to adjust your glasses or read the sentence again I did say TARE.

This bait is one of the best baits of all time in my book not only is it extraordinarily cheap and easy to prepare but it will sort out the better fish from the smaller ones in most cases as does the caster when fished against the maggot, The number of anglers that use this bait is of the minority and mostly pleasure anglers even stranger is the fact that most match men “I say most match men” do not “why” I do not know and it is one of the greatest mystery's to me , well not so much of a mystery as a frustration, for this is because of the unfortunate state of some match men's minds being in that furrow that I have talked of before not being able to accept that such a humble bait is in the running for the top ten on there list as is the saying that I hear all to often “but it wouldn’t work in a match” as if the fish know that you are using tares in the match to win so they will not feed on them, this is how adamant they are about their chances if they used them although it is far more likely that most of them have fished them very little if at all in the time that they have been an angler in total contrast to say forty or even fifty years ago when tare’s would have been seen regularly on the match circuit and from the winners enclosure on most occasions in the summer months when our great rivers were in their hay day and I was very interested when a piece appeared in one of the local monthly’s headlined “unbelievable Ron wins the match on the river don using tare’s” which is not so unbelievable to me as this is one of the best tare rivers around there goes that blinkered attitude again, has fishing changed that much I don't think so the bait used then will still work now it is just the anglers attitudes towards this bait that have changed which is a great pity indeed for there is nothing more satisfying than a good days fishing on the seed especially for roach, Of course this is not an instant bait that will have fish clambering inside your net or giving themselves up as soon as you start to put some in and those in the seed fishing fraternity will appreciate the effort involved to get the fish feeding confidently in the colder months but it is well worth it as the end result is a pasting for the guy in the next peg or even a match winning weight as this seed will not only attract roach to your waiting net but is also devastating for chub, carp, Rudd and other species.

For those whom have not fished it before here are the things you need to know, firstly tare’s are best fished in conjunction with hemp another unbelievable seed bait that has more than its share of quality especially in its association with big fish, the score is that you feed the hemp and fish tare on the hook , the fish feed on the hemp in the main becoming preoccupied on this little seed whereupon they find a tare which is bigger but the same shape and bob’s your uncle a fine roach on the line ‘ it is my opinion that fish feed in slow moving rivers ‘ canals and still waters by inspection , touching and mouthing the bait in order to find there food especially when the water is holding colour of which many waters do as the bites confirm this to a certain extent with the float dipping slightly several times before slowly sliding away unlike in rivers with more pace whereupon the float will bury straight away often without warning or any signs beforehand as the fish have to compete with more veracity for the food which passes with some speed but if you can get the fish to feed in the top layers of the water this changes somewhat with the fishes eyesight being more acute the nearer the surface they become the bites are often sharp and fast on the drop as a fish will pick off the bait they can easily see before any other fish gets to it, you will also find that the fish that take the bait in the first foot of water are the bigger fish in most cases and that they will start to take the bait under the small fish at first on or near the bottom with the smaller fish nearer the top layers as the bigger fish bully the smaller fish out of the way but as the feed increases they will follow it up even taking it of the top in the warmer months in order to get to it first, those of you whom fish in rivers have no doubt realized this is the case as the fish will move up your swim when fishing the stick as the feed dictates, Tare’s do need some preparation before you can take them fishing, the best method you will discover yourself as I feel it is personal preference as to colour and softness that differs from angler to angler although a slightly firmer tare will stay on the hook better for waggler fishing even staying on after several bites until the fish is hooked, the beauty is that you do not need many often only a cupful being enough for a good days fishing as long as you fish them alongside a couple of pints of hemp but this is still only about a quid’s worth of bait if you prepare the hemp and tare yourself .

The two main methods for both of these seeds involve boiling them with a pan on the stove or in the microwave of which the latter is my preference because the microwave is far quicker and creates very little smell which will keep the missus happy and you can’t beat brownie point’s when the next days fishing approaches can you and standing over a hot saucepan watching tares cook can be, let’s say, slightly boring if you know what I mean.

For those of you that have already cooked hemp and tare’s and are wondering why I have not mentioned the other methods such as in a thermos flask overnight, well I don’t much like the taste of hemp or tares in my coffee but that’s not to say that it doesn’t work but that it is not really my favoured method as you are not really in control of the cooking and cannot alter the state of the bait whilst doing so as to temperature or getting the bait a little softer etc.
A good amount of sodium bicarbonate should be added along with the same amount of sugar to turn the tares or hemp black when exposed to the air after cooking, the sugar is just to offset the bitterness of the bicarbonate of soda but be warned this will add time to the cooking and froth the pan up something wicked if left unattended however it is well worth it if you insist on a deep black coloured seed.

The rigs that you can use for fishing the tare are not anything out of the ordinary and most general purpose patterns of float for fishing maggot or worm will suffice to begin with until you gain a greater understanding of how the fish feed on this bait and which work best , say in wind or when it’s flat calm no doubt after you have had a shed full on the tare you will want to work at becoming a better seed angler and after all the fun is in the discovery and working things out for yourself, I would hope that some anglers out there have read this and decided to give the Tare a go , to them I wish good luck and if at first you do not succeed, try again. Tomo

                    Tares ready for the hook             Elderberry a good alternative to the tare when in season