A Question Of Tradition In France, groundbait is a culture. We have a rich heritage in groundbait manufacture and every angler in France takes the matter of groundbait very seriously! Compared to English anglers, we fish mostly on natural waters. We have a vast network of lakes, rivers and canals and most of our matches have traditionally been held on such venues. This is why groundbait plays such a big role in our fishing. We still use a lot of groundbait too – we have bait limits in our matches that can be anything from 10 to 17 litres (a full Sensas bucket in old money). Considering our matches are usually only three hours long, you probably get the idea of just how much bait we are prepared to feed. As we become more knowledgeable, there is a shift happening and anglers in France are now realising less is often more. But for the old school, balling 10 or 12
The French will easily use 17 litres of groundbait in a match!
Olivier believes that ingredients need to be as fresh as possible.
water fishing. The use of a pole cup is very new in France and this too is changing the way we approach fishing. We are now becoming more aware of the effectiveness of feeding several smaller balls, and realise that several accurate small balls are often better than 12 or so balled in. But one thing will never change, and that is the faith in the recipe! I believe that old-school anglers will only trust their homemade mixes, but those anglers in a hurry who have less time prefer to keep it simple and use ready-made groundbaits. Incidentally, I actually use a combination of both. Let me explain why.
FRESHNESS VS EASINESS? Home-Made Mixes
balls in at the start is a given, and is the only way they can fish with confidence. The shift is happening, though. Two things have caused this in my opinion: the first is the introduction of the pole cup and the other is commercial waters, or ‘carpodromes’ as we call them. As English anglers will know, feeding very little on carp waters can often be the best way and we are now taking that into our natural-
I am a firm believer that when it comes to roach fishing, a home-made mix is vastly superior. First and foremost for me, the key difference is the freshness of the ingredients. By using super-fresh ingredients, I can be sure that it hasn’t been affected by mould or damp, which often happens when dry ingredients are stored in warehouses and suchlike. This means that I can closely monitor what goes into my mixes, and also I can get the balance right between the different flours. Certain breads are tight in their nature, whereas others are quite fluffy. I need to
Having the right kind of brown crumb is vital for roach in Olivier’s opinion.
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