Fishing: The big bait freeze

How often do we finish a day's fishing with half a bag of soft pilchards, a few squid and one side of a mullet left?

Rather than making the local seagull population happy, I take it home.

Having your own bait freezer is a big plus - trying to get away with making your own ground bait and keeping it in the family freezer is pushing your luck.

I chop the soft bait into small chunks, break up stale bread and mix it all up to soak up the excess juices. Pack it down firmly in old ice-cream containers so it freezes into a solid block - if there is any room left you can always top it up as it will freeze down onto the old mix.

After a while, you end up with a good supply of ground bait, which is ideal for your berley trail.

A wobberley pot is a heavy metal spring-shaped berley dispenser and, with a small berley bomb in it, there is still room for an ice-cream container of ground bait to be added.

Drop the wobberley pot near (not on) the bottom and, as the tide flows through the mesh, chunks of ground bait will soften, break loose and flow down the berley trail.

The fish attracted to you by the smell and taste of the fine berley now start to pick up the chunks of ground bait.

With a constant supply of ground bait spilling out, the fish are more aggressive and less bait-shy.

This way of using up all your old bait works a treat. I've often had boats fishing as close as 20 metres away and not catch anything, while we've been hauling them in.