The Traditional Fisherman's Forum

I use Bakers Meaty Meal dog biscuits. There is no need to soak them they can be placed straight onto the hook as they are soft, two of these on a No. 6 work a treat and will cast as far as I need them to without coming off the hook.

I find that carp fall for chunks of pizza crust with a bit of cheese or other topping still attached [as left by my daughters after dinner] & the crust stays on much longer than, say, bread crust.

I pull the hook through with a bait needle & then lightly stick it back in on the crust side.

I prep chum using 4oz of mixers to 25ml of liquid, ie. water + any extra flavour. Put both in a big plastic bag, blow it up and shake like mad. Leave for a good few hours then you get nice rubbery mixers to embed a hook in. I use very little bait when fishing mixers so 4oz is plenty for me for few hours fishing.

I'm looking for odd fish mopping up scraps in amongst the floating debris so loose feeding half a dozen mixers works well with one very carefully placed hook bait.

Some of the methods a lot of anglers use for mixers are far too complicated.
Basically my method is similar to 4ngler's. I've adapted the method that John Wilson describes in his 'Catching Carp and Tench' book (originally published as two separate books and very useful reference for other more traditional methods as well). I use mixers a great deal in the warmer months (as some of you will know from my diary postings), and about 80% of the carp I catch are on mixers including my PB.

My preparation takes about two minutes.

I get as many mixers as I need for a session - both for hookbait and loose feeding.
Place them into a plastic food freezer bag.
Hold the bag under a cold tap and turn on, and cover the mixers with water.
Wait about five to ten seconds, timing is crucial here, as the amount of time you leave them in the water makes a significant difference to how firm or soft they end up and how well they keep.
Drain off all the water.
Tip them into another dry plastic food bag (as this one will have too much water residue still in the bag).
Tie the bag and leave in the fridge overnight.
After one or two hours check the bag and shake it up a bit as they tend to stick together.
They should be perfect for hooking by the next morning.

They will keep in exactly the same consistency for at least a week - in a garage or shed after this - so if you have leftover mixers from the session,as long as they have not been out in hot sun for too long on the bank you can still use them next session.

I actually make up two separate bags where they have been soaked for slightly different times - eg maybe about 5 seconds and 10 seconds. That way at least one of the bags of mixers are just about perfect.
The reason I make up enough for loose feed as well as hookbait is important. Larger carp become wary of the loose samples being a different consistency to the hookbait - so my way they are identical.
I don't use flavourings - I find it puts off wary/big carp - but if you wanted to I suggest you add it the same time as the water.
I have tried making them up on the bank but I find however you do it you can never get the consistency quite right - they either end up too hard in the middle or too soft.

I now also use the 'Bakers meaty mixers for small dogs' - as Mark indicates - already perfect for the hook. And Bakers mixers for normal size dogs are much larger - I've tried those as well - one of them will cover a no. 6 hook.
I use two ordinary mixers on a no 6 or 8 - simply because you can cast further than one on a smaller hook.

I don't use controller floats - I find they put off wary fish as well , but I do occasionally use ' floating putty' ( the trade name is 'Driftwood') - excellent stuff - you squeeze a large blob of it on the line a few feet above the hook. I 'm always amazed that it actually floats. The other strange thing about it is it looks exactly like, and has the the same consistency as, that unmentionable resin that some people use for recreational purposes.

Nice informative post, thanks Julian.

I bought some more recently - and I wanted to cast a long way so put a huge lump about
four feet up the line - just moulded on - casted like a rocket and floats perfectly. Only problem I find is when its new it tends to be very soft ands slips down the line quite easily on casting. After a while it gets much harder.I still had a bit left from the lastlot I bought a few years ago and it had gone really hard.

I have super glued dog biscuits to the shank of a size 6 hook (the side without the hook point) before and this is my favourite floating bait. Stays on forever and I'm convinced the carp cannot see the hook point. Another advantage, as soon as that biscuit is in the mouth, the point of the hook is in too. Less time for it to be spat back out like hair rigs, and no look standing out like a sore thumb behind the biscuit.

Mark wrote:I use Bakers Meaty Meal dog biscuits. There is no need to soak them they can be placed straight onto the hook as they are soft, two of these on a No. 6 work a treat and will cast as far as I need them to without coming off the hook.

No super glue needed with these.

"morning all",

Some handy tips there....thanks for that.
Am I the only one still using old Buldo bubble floats for those more distant fish? (my little ones have been in use since the late sixties!).

Instead of a controller float has anyone tried using along bodied waggled upside down with just enough shot to cock it but not sick it at all so all the stem is sticking out of the water and the line comes off the top to the dog biscuit. On having a take the float will dip to the side and much of the line is held off the surface.