Our Barbel fishing exploits on the Wye in the early 1980’s, (Troydog’s fishing journal, Fishy Tales Past - Five), reminded me of the problem we had in accurate ground baiting with large quantities of hemp and maggots or sweetcorn, in deep or fast flowing water. Large commercially bought droppers were not easy to come by in those days, so we made our own. I used 1 & 2 ounce tobacco tins, modifying them with coat hanger wire, copper wire from electrical cable, an old drilled bullet for weight, and a piece of wine bottle cork to bury the hook into, finishing off with matt black paint.
I built up quite a collection of tobacco tins over the years, considering I didn’t smoke! some are far too nice to drill holes in, but are excellent for keeping bits and pieces in the tackle bag, if you can remember what’s in them!
Well used bait droppers from 40 years ago
Too nice to drill holes in....
