The best holding bait bar none

Anglers all over the country are discovering the unrivalled holding qualities of hemp , with it creeping ever closer into the match anglers top baits list , especially as winter closes its cool arms around us , as more match anglers use it in the winter months than ever before realizing its ability to catch a better stamp of fish often out fishing top winter baits such as , squat , pinkie and bread punch, This is no mystery as it will do the same in the summer months bringing bumper catches on almost all waters that are fished if those whom use it every time they go out in the winter months would give it more attention in the summer, It is true to say that many anglers will be reading and thinking “well I do use it in the summer” and I would agree to a certain extent but very few anglers especially from the match fraternity do it justice perhaps only taking a small amount with them , say a couple of pints at best, Well let me arouse your interest in this little diamond of a bait for when used in the right hands it can devastate the hardest of waters with ease creating a response from the biggest of fish in that particular water , why will remain one of life’s great mystery’s , a drug ‘ maybe , amino acids ‘ perhaps , but it’s definitely the most consistent attracting and holding bait that I have ever used and produces results time after time , I have my own theories of course like any other thinking type of angler and it is based on some fifteen years of experience using the bait with interest , if I said that between June and November I have got through some 80 kilos or more you would only then realize that my confidence in this bait is more than just confidence.
 Instead of just thinking that it is a heavy feeding tactic that brings the success, you must look further , it is perhaps true that in certain circumstances such as blasting it in on carp waters bringing the fish in to feed with vast quantity’s of hemp going in throughout five or six hours can be considered such a thing but if I was to say that I would have no problem putting five to seven pints in from the off down on my local canal at the end of September to the end of October and many a time getting through as much as eleven pints throughout the day you would probably think that I was mad , so it isn’t just the case of heavy feeding that is the issue here but more of it’s use and it’s ability to attract and hold the better stamp of fish for long periods of time with the fish needing to spend a lot of time in your swim sifting out all of those little pieces from the silt, I have tipped a gallon of hemp into shallow waters on the river Trent and it’s amazing how miniscule it looks when it settles on the river bed covering every nook and cranny that it finds , I have used it to good effect on a large Stillwater that is gin clear , catching double figure Bream on the hardest of days when every other bait has failed , laying down a bed of a gallon bound with PV1 so that I could put it in at distance with a whopper dropper and fishing a single red maggot on the hook , “who was it that said Bream don't like hemp” ? “oh that’s right the same person that said Chub don’t like ground bait” , “Ha”.
The most important rule for the majority of the time is not to put many samples of your hook bait in especially in winter , feeding only about 20 to 30 maggots or casters an hour , this also ensures that the bites are positive sail a ways every time , the only exception when the hook bait is fed in quantity is when worm fishing , yes worm and hemp go together a treat , using up to a kilo of worm in a session along with a gallon of hemp can bring some right animals of every species from most waters , feeding in this way with the worm is important to ensure you catch fish of quality rather than the same stamp with the odd bigger fish thrown in , the more worm that goes in the better the fish you will catch on average so the more weight at the end of the match , I wonder how many anglers have often ended second or third only to think back on the events of the match often wishing that they had caught that odd better fish that may have swung the end result ?, of course it is not essential to feed in this way to have a good days sport but that is all you will achieve , I have often arrived at our local canal to be greeted by many anglers lining its banks telling me how they are bagging and getting a fish every chuck on every winter type bait going , squatting down watching them I agree and walk off with a smile on my face to find a vacant peg which can be a job in itself on many occasions , but when I settle in and start to catch the better quality fish that live in this stretch the response is always the same as is the comment , “I didn’t know that fish like that lived in this canal , that’s the biggest roach I've ever seen come out”, It is hardly surprising that fish in most waters will readily except a bed of hemp and start to feed over it not only considering the amount of seed that is used all over the country but as many of the ground baits that we use are full of the stuff , ground , boiled or oil it is all the same isn’t it and it all helps to condition the fish to feed upon it , of course the fact that it comes cheap adds to its appeal with a 25 kilo sack costing around eleven quid., you can certainly achieve the same productivity rate whilst fishing over a bed of hemp as with any other bait on the market even the caster which has a known track record amongst anglers for its ability to hold and catch the better quality fish and lets face it it’s a hell of a lot cheaper with a gallon of caster costing around fourteen quid compared to a miserly two quid for the hemp.
All may not be aware but when a lot of good hemp anglers begin to fish a match even in the depths of the coldest winter, most who know how to work the hemp to its maximum put at the very least a pint or more in strait away even when fishing for small fish so as you must realize a pint or two to a shoal of small roach is the same as four pints to larger fish.
When you listen to some anglers conversations especially when fishing the winter matches on our local river which responds very well to hemp you often here the same sort of argument over and over which goes something like this , “I couldn't get bites on the hemp until the last hour and then I caught some better quality roach” , “but the guy in the next peg caught for two or three hours on it and won the section” , this is often the case when someone is a little more proficient with the hemp than others as some people don't have enough confidence with it probably because they have never caught more than odd fish or maybe had one or two good sessions on it , the anglers that catch on it well have obviously developed the confidence and feeding patterns that make it work for them knowing that they can catch a better stamp of fish which can make all the difference to the end result, feeding a good amount of hemp in at the start will bring the bites faster into the match , instead of dripping feed in to attract the fish , they will often get over a bed of hemp that you have put in and readily feed when you go over it even if they are not feeding on it they will often come to investigate which gets them congregating in one area and quantifies your chances, The little and often policy can stand you in good stead much of the time but it is not always the way to go , it is true that it will ensure you catch a few fish but often you will do only that , experimentation is the key to all of anglings great mysteries and gaining a greater understanding can only make us more proficient anglers , which is all we strive for.
Another good way to use hemp this time of year is to liquidize it with a little water , “not in the missus liquidizer though eh” , Especially if you are a fan of bread punch fishing as hemp and bread punch seem to go together a treat , after liquidizing add some bread punch mix or liquidized fresh bread to it until you have the required consistency for the venue and type of fishing that you are about to do , you can mix it rock hard to get to the bottom of a river or soft so that it will cloud on the drop , it spreads well once on the bottom and hangs in the water too, of course the best thing is that you can fish bread punch and hemp with the same efficiency in the same swim and the fish will respond to both.
If you haven't tried this approach before you might like to give it a go , just take four to five pints with you at first which will cost you about a quid if you prepare it yourself and put at least half of it in from the off remembering of course not to overdo the hook bait samples unless using worm of any description then you should be ok , oh one word of warning though , after the initial feed do not under any circumstances put any more in with catapult or cup when fishing the pole as this will eventually kill your swim and slow the bites down , the only time that you must feed with more hemp is when the bites have almost disappeared this usually taking from between two to three hours from starting to catch on this amount , then you should again put the remainder in all at once spreading it slightly with your cup, why not give it a try the most you could loose is a quid and there is no limit to what you may gain, good luck and tight lines , Tomo.