The Traditional Fisherman's Forum

I'd been finding it hard to source a reliable supplier of good quality, clean, large/giant hemp, that was reasonably priced, local and not delivered...

Fortunately a few years back I was informed by some roach fisherman in the know, of the humble Urid bean.
Easily obtainable from Asian food outlets and alike and now available from supermarkets like Tescos, costing next to nothing. More importantly minnows and bleak hate them, roach, chub and dace love them!

When cooked, they are of a uniform size, fractionally bigger than a grain of ‘huge hemp’ and catapult out in a nice tight pattern. Their texture is rubbery and unlike tares, they often remain on the hook after missed bites, giving one the option of continuing to run down the swim, without constant rebaiting.

Preparation

Take a pan of water, soak half a pint of beans for an hour or so. Add some sugar and bicarbonate of soda, to darken.
Bring slowly to the boil and simmer for about fifteen minutes. Take off the heat and pour, with the liquid, into a flask. Leave overnight then strain off, bag & take fishing.

Interesting stuff, I’ve used it to make tasty dal ever since I was introduced to it as Urad during my time living in Leeds. I think it’s also called Black Mung. Never thought of using it as bait though so thanks for sharing. You could probably add almost any flavouring along with the sugar and bicarb as they’ll soak up flavour like a sponge.

As I lived on the Hounslow/Southall border for twenty five odd years, I used Asian food centres for both food & bait, using various beans, pulses flavourings and additives for many, many years, I hadn't tried the Urid bean for bait.
When I first tried it, in comparison, I found it was more effective than hemp and in my humble opinion still is. As you say, flavouring is simple, and this helps in targeting one preferred specie.
Funnily enough, my local retailer, a younger chap, is brilliant, knowing the protein levels of most of his pulses and beans...

Thank you Michael, this seems like an excellent alternative to hempseed. It may be that as it seems softer than hemp it could be used as a hook bait alternative to Tares?

It has a rubbery consistency/texture Ted, and doesn't come off the hook as easily as tares. One can continue the trot through, on most false bites, without fear of the Urid bean coming off or being dislodged..

I had not heard of the Urid bean before and had to look it up, only to be amazed at the different types of bean/pulses available.
I wonder if there is any mileage in trying Mung and horse gram as well?
My only experience of preparing hemp is years ago when I put a couple of pounds in a large saucepan, put it on to simmer and promptly forgot about it. A few hours later, when I had finished in the garden I went inside to get a drink to be met by a house filled with acrid smoke! No hemp left only a black deposit in the bottom of the pan which was fused to the ring.

Yes, I've used them in particle mixes, excellent..
Google "Mung beans fishing bait" or any other bean or pulse, it's quite surprising.
My first experimenting into pulses & beans was back I the 70's, as we had numerous outlets nearby and it was very much cheaper, that conventionally obtained. Much the same as the flavourings & colouring food dyes...

This is an interesting thread! Many years ago (mid 90s?) when the in vogue carp angling trend was 'parti blend' blended partices as carpet feed, Hendon tackle dealer Dave Frame gave me a shopping list for seeds, beans and pulses to buy from the Asian supermarket across the road from him. The one that's always stuck in my head was the mung bean. Time for some more research! I'll mentally file this next to Bumbles 'black pearl' recommendation

To be honest, this is just the tip of the iceberg. As I previously mentioned, I've a chap in one of the food centres, who advised me as to the different beans & pulses ( always expanding) and the respective, protein, calorific value etc.
I also visit a few large Chinese/Japanease food outlets, and am experimenting. I also get advice from of my old botanical lecturers....

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