Bread Punch Shenanigans.

[DaceAce]

I've long made my own bread punches with hard balsa dowel so that they float and brass tube. I've never bothered with a slot as it's unnecessary.
I think that over about 15mm it isn't really bread punch but bread discs.

IMG_3541 small.jpg

[MWithell]

I have got a few bread punches that I have had for years and have used on odd occasions, but have recently bought a Guru "punch box". Four metal punches with a section for holding a slice of bread covered by a sliding lid.
A well designed and sturdy piece of kit.
It really does keep a slice of bread fresh.
As a test, I put a slice in the box five days ago and tested it earlier on today.
The bread was still moist and useable.
Bought mine from the recently opened Angling Direct at Goole, but they are readily available elsewhere.

I bought myself the same thing a couple of weeks ago, and I agree it's a great bit of kit, keeping the bread moist for ages. I'm a newbie to bread punches but my first experience is very positive. The fish really want the bait and often hook themselves before my slow reactions kick in.
My only gripe is that the metal punch makes a mark on the plastic bottom of the box every time you use it. I mentioned it to Martin James yesterday (he very kindly took me fishing - report later) and he suggested what I should have thought of, a ply or hardboard insert. I'll definitely make one before using it again. There's plenty of height in the box for it.

I thought the same thing myself but am thinking of oiling the thin sheet of plywood first.
Untreated I think it will draw the moisture from the bread.

All the best.

In the end I butchered a bit of cutting mat to fit. It works well should last ages.

[Wanderer]

That's a definite upgrade Malcolm.
It should last ages, give a good cutting surface and help retain the sharpness of the punches.

All the best.

[Mr B]

It is funny that this subject should have come up, earlier in the year I was experimenting with using punched bread at a local pond, and came up with this idea. I am not claiming to have invented it or whatever, but it struck me that a few pieces of bread squashed together would absorb a lot of water ,and expand and perhaps have neutral or positive buoyancy it was just a matter of working out how to present it on a hook.
I set to and made myself a couple of largish bread punches, 1/2 inch and 3/8 inch in diameter, I found a couple of lengths of bamboo that comfortably fit inside the tubes,and bunged up the hollow ends ,the tubes are actually bits of old alloy banksticks, the bamboo was cut over the length of the tubes so that the bread could be pushed out after being punched. The tops of the bamboo inserts had a couple of bits of cork glued on so as to make it easy on the hands to “eject” the punched bread.

Now for the mounting of the bread.

As I was punching out 4 or 5 bread discs compressed together at once I needed to keep the discs together , and a modern anglers “Hair Rig “ with a bait spike fitted the bill perfectly.



Using the hair rig I can cast the punched disc quite a good distance if needed, once in the water the bread stays on the hook as the spike is pulled inside it , along with the hook as the bread expands . I discovered that the bread can stay on the hook for 2 or 3 casts if it is not being attacked by greedy fish.

The bread discs ,depending how hard they have been punched together either sink, or have a positive buoyancy, so they either lay on the bottom, or lift , and wft around above any bottom debris., I fish the rig either ‘laying on “ or using a plain link ledger .





This little idea has really improved my catches on margin presented bread. Back in June in Norfolk I showed the idea to Pallenpool who seemed quite taken with the idea, despite the “hair rig “ being a very important part of the presentation. The rig was used at Blickling lake and proved itself by taking a few Tench , Roach and Bream. Back home the local pond produced some nice sub double figure carp to the rig so all in all its a valuable part of my tackles.







David

Very interesting mate.
Great photos to....shows us what's going on under water.. albeit as in a bench test.

I like that.. hair rigs can be controversial... but we all hunt fish in one way or another., I don't suppose they are happy about it either way.
We have to feel comfortable with our own methods of angling.
Mr B

[MWithell]

My Guru plus cutting mat worked well yesterday. I fished a club water which has lots of small crucians, and they loved the little discs. I tried three different diameters and caught on all three - a change either way seemed to result in more bites for a while. What I'm not sure about is how best to feed. I was throwing in loose feed - punch bread - but would I have been better off with breadcrumb or similar?

[Mr B]

Interesting about different diameters..
You would think bread is bread?
There is no end to it!
Thought this would work well with a ragged edge pinched on the hook as a bigger bait.
Beer bottle top.
Pre punched and put in your choice of bait/bread box to keep them moist.
( take no notice of the waisted bread.. it was by way of an experiment, and the birds had it)

[MWithell]

I've always just torn off a piece of flake and squeezed it round the hook, and actually I had to squeeze the loose feed discs into a ball to throw them any distance and with any accuracy. One difference is that I pinch flake around the shank, leaving the point showing at the end. The discs are hooked at the edge, so most of the hook shows. I was using a spade end 16. I don't know whether an eyed hook would have put the fish off or when I would have been more conscious of it than they. I used eyed hooks exclusively for decades but have recently gone back to spade ends for smaller sizes because my hook tyer makes it easier than trying to thread line through eyes and loops.

[Olly]

There was a idea - used - that involved a whole slice - folded around a large hook 4 or 6 - and let the carp feed on it until they took the hook!

I started with all eyed hooks as a young'un - - graduated to spades - - went back to eyed for hooks larger than 10 - going back to eyed below size 10 now as my eyesight begins to get worse as I get older!