I like to fish with a bed of particles where possible, but getting them tight around the hook bait at any sort of range can be a problem….
Many of the ‘ready made’ particles (hemp, partiblend, tigernuts etc) which are available from tackle stockists contain water or the cooking fluids resulting from preparation. If you prepare your own particles, then you know just how much water is needed when they are boiled up and left to steep, so how can you use them with PVA which melts at the first sign of water?
The trick is not to remove the water as such, merely prevent it coming into contact with the PVA! Particle mixes can be devastating for carp and big tench, and a pile of crunchy offerings around the hook bait can attract fish from neighbouring swims as the liquid flavourings leak into the water. This method adds to the attractant in the water by using oil to coat the seeds and protect the PVA.
I use the Dynamite ‘Frenzied’ range of particle mixes, to which I like to add some halibut pellets, canned tuna, and then the magic ingredient, sunflower oil. The addition of sunflower oil coats each and every seed, flake or kernel and stops the PVA melting. The halibut pellets absorb much of the water in the mix, then they take in the oil and other flavours. When packed into PVA mesh or a solid bag, the oil protects the PVA until it enters the water; simple!
The pellets within the mix then slowly leak oil for a prolonged period of time leaving a column of attractors in your swim, or, on the river, a plume of flavour which moves downstream and draws fish to the hook bait. I dropped a PVA bag into the margins of my swim recently and oil was still coming to the surface from the particle mix 5 hours later!!!
It is a bit messy to put together, but it works and will catch fish on tough days when all else fails; try it and see for yourself!
Clint Walker, August 2010
Particles In PVA Mesh – the finished product
