Groundbait is a

fishing bait Fishing bait is any bait (luring substance), luring substance used specifically to attract and fishing, catch fish, typically when angling with a fish hook, hook and fishing line, line. There are generally two types of baits used in angling: '' ...

that is either thrown or "balled" into the water as an "

appetizer An hors d'oeuvre ( ; ), appetiser, appetizer or starter is a small dish served before a meal in European cuisine. Some hors d'oeuvres are served cold, others hot. Hors d'oeuvres may be served at the dinner table as a part of the meal, or th ...

" in order to olfactorily attract more

fish A fish (: fish or fishes) is an aquatic animal, aquatic, Anamniotes, anamniotic, gill-bearing vertebrate animal with swimming fish fin, fins and craniate, a hard skull, but lacking limb (anatomy), limbs with digit (anatomy), digits. Fish can ...

to a designated area (i.e. fishing ground) for more efficient catching via

angling Angling (from Old English ''angol'', meaning "hook") 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 with a fishing rod, although rodless te ...

netting In law, set-off or netting is a legal technique applied between persons or businesses with mutual rights and Liability (financial accounting), liabilities, replacing gross positions with net positions. It permits the rights to be used to discharg ...

trapping Animal trapping, or simply trapping or ginning, is the use of a device to remotely catch and often kill an animal. Animals may be trapped for a variety of purposes, including for meat, fur trade, fur/feathers, sport hunting, pest control, and w ...

, or even spearing and

shooting Shooting is the act or process of discharging a projectile from a ranged weapon (such as a gun, bow, crossbow, slingshot, or blowpipe). Even the acts of launching flame, artillery, darts, harpoons, grenades, rockets, and guided missile ...

. Groundbaits are typically scattered separately from the

hook A hook is a tool consisting of a length of material, typically metal, that contains a portion that is curved/bent back or has a deeply grooved indentation, which serves to grab, latch or in any way attach itself onto another object. The hook's d ...

and usually before even

casting Casting is a manufacturing process in which a liquid material is usually poured into a mold, which contains a hollow cavity of the desired shape, and then allowed to solidify. The solidified part is also known as a casting, which is ejected or ...

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 A fishing line is any flexible, high-tensile cord used in angling to tether and pull in fish, in conjunction with at least one hook. Fishing lines are usually pulled by and stored in a reel, but can also be retrieved by hand, with a fixed att ...

known as a ''method feeder''. Groundbaits are often used in

freshwater Fresh water or freshwater is any naturally occurring liquid or frozen water containing low concentrations of dissolved salts and other total dissolved solids. The term excludes seawater and brackish water, but it does include non-salty mi ...

coarse fishing Coarse fishing (, ) is a phrase commonly used in United Kingdom, Great 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, parti ...

(where the target fish are commonly

omnivorous An omnivore () is an animal that regularly consumes significant quantities of both plant and animal matter. Obtaining energy and nutrients from plant and animal matter, omnivores digest carbohydrates, protein, fat, and fiber, and metabolize ...

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 Blood is a body fluid in the circulatory system of humans and other vertebrates that delivers necessary substances such as nutrients and oxygen to the cells, and transports metabolic waste products away from those same cells. Blood is com ...

and

offal Offal (), also called variety meats, pluck or organ meats, is the internal organ (anatomy), organs of a butchered animal. Offal may also refer to the by-products of Milling (grinding), milled grains, such as corn or wheat. Some cultures strong ...

s, in order to attract large

predatory fish Predatory fish are hypercarnivorous fish that actively prey upon other fish or aquatic animals, with examples including shark, billfish, barracuda, alligator gar, tuna, dolphinfish, walleye, perch and salmon. Some omnivorous fish, such as t ...

es.

Technique

Groundbait is a mixture of various natural ingredients, for example fishmeal,

bread crumbs Breadcrumbs are a culinary ingredient consisting of flour or crumbled bread of varying dryness, sometimes with seasonings added. They are used for a variety of purposes, including breading or crumbing foods before frying (such as breaded cut ...

, vanilla sugar,

hemp Hemp, or industrial hemp, is a plant in the botanical class of ''Cannabis sativa'' cultivars grown specifically for industrial and consumable use. It can be used to make a wide range of products. Along with bamboo, hemp is among the fastest ...

seeds or oil,

maize Maize (; ''Zea mays''), also known as corn in North American English, is a tall stout grass that produces cereal grain. It was domesticated by indigenous peoples in southern Mexico about 9,000 years ago from wild teosinte. Native American ...

and other ingredients, which are then moistened with

water Water is an inorganic compound with the chemical formula . It is a transparent, tasteless, odorless, and Color of water, nearly colorless chemical substance. It is the main constituent of Earth's hydrosphere and the fluids of all known liv ...

and formed into bait balls, which are then cast into the water at the fishing spot as an "

". 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 The gustatory system or sense of taste is the sensory system that is partially responsible for the perception of taste. Taste is the perception stimulated when a substance in the mouth biochemistry, reacts chemically with taste receptor cells l ...

of the fish, and then cease groundbaiting for a brief period to allow the fish to regain their appetite before the actual fishing begins. One method of focusing the fish-drawing is to simply squeeze a ball of groundbait onto the line just above the hook. 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.

Method feeder

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 Mass is an Intrinsic and extrinsic properties, intrinsic property of a physical body, body. It was traditionally believed to be related to the physical quantity, quantity of matter in a body, until the discovery of the atom and particle physi ...

of the feeder and its contents also serves the function of a sinker, as well as adding

momentum In Newtonian mechanics, momentum (: momenta or momentums; more specifically linear momentum or translational momentum) is the product of the mass and velocity of an object. It is a vector quantity, possessing a magnitude and a direction. ...

to the terminal tackles and hence allowing a greater casting distance.

Regulation

Due to concerns about the ecological impact of introducing nutrients to a water, acting as fertilizer,Niesar T, Arlinghaus R, Rennert B and Mehner T (2004
"Coupling insights from a carp, Cyprinus carpio, angler survey with feeding experiments to evaluate composition, quality and phosphorus input of groundbait in coarse fishing"
''Fisheries Management and Ecology'', 11 (3–4): 225–235.
PDF
/ref> angling in some waters is affected by regulations on groundbait use. Where groundbait is banned, soil or loam is sometimes used as a substitute.

Other Uses

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.Burns 1977, p. 54 In Austria, the German term ''Anfüttern'' is used to mean a way of bribing, particularly in regard to political corruption.

Technique

Method feeder

Regulation

Other Uses

See also

Notes

References

Further reading

External links