The art of 'Bit Fishing'

The Basics

“First things first: what is the definition of ‘bit fishing’?”
“To define what I would call ‘bit fishing’ is quite simply using a mish-mash of varying size food items; these come in different textures, leakage, flavours, colours, breakdown times etc., which for me, in the main, start with boilies: whole, chopped and crumbed which are often complemented by pellet in different sizes and then a splash of corn and hemp. Often I’ll mix two or more types of boilie – something I don’t see most do. ‘Bit Fishing’ is essentially a serving of baits, predominantly small, which is offering a different dimension to your angling, which in my opinion, giving you a massive edge, especially for a quicker feeding response, which even the cagiest carp find irresistible and blow caution to the wind.

“There are so many things you can do with a boilie, but one thing I have done in the past is blend, say, a kilo of thawed/air-dried boilies and then add a little boiling water. Let this cool until luke warm and then roll into golf ball-sized balls and dispatch over the spot or area. The reaction you get can be phenomenal; it really seems to stimulate the carp into a feeding frenzy due to the release of all the goodness trapped in the boilie’s sealed skin that would otherwise leak out over a much longer, more drawn out period.”

2 Advantages

“So what advantages of this over, say, boilie fishing then?”
“I think ‘bit fishing’ comes into its own when carp continually come across generic baiting situations – i.e. solely boilie or particle. I especially like using this method when ‘edge fishing’ – setting a ‘trap’, as this gives you limitless hookbait choice and I truly believe it makes singling out the hookbait as a danger much harder before often it’s all too late. The reason I believe this, is as a carp inhales a mouthful of ‘bits’ that contains different tastes, textures and sizes it creates not just feeding stimulation but confusion and with their amazing filtration system and adept way of ridding rigs, this confusion helps to convert more bites.”

3 The Process

“How do I go about ‘bit fishing’ then?”
“To go about ‘bit fishing’ it’s quite simple: take your favourite selection of food items, like boilie, pellet, corn, tigers, hemp, maple peas, and then blitz them all together, generally prior to your session so they can take on any additional attraction boosters in the way of liquids and powders ready to serve over your spot when in session.

“There are many combinations that have served me well over the years, some that cost very little like pickled cockles; yes, you heard right, pickled cockles fished over an oily pellet with a few cockles and juice added to the pellet. A tin of ‘Jolly Green Giant’ mixed with different size pellet is another great combo and one of my favourites is 10mm boilies and hemp with added hemp oil. There is literally loads that spring to mind. A great winter mix is riddled ‘mole hill’ soil, dark powder groundbait, red maggots and chopped worm – it sounds like a perfect perch mix but in my experience carp love it too, especially in clear water conditions when bites are hard to come by. In coloured water I like using crumbed and chopped milk protein boilies mixed in with white crumb and a dash of Irish Cream Liqueur creating a highly scented haze in the water.

“My personal guidelines to ‘bit’ mixes is dictated by a few simple factors: water clarity, water temperature, resident birdlife/crayfish/nuisance fish and of course the general preference of the carp from pond-to-pond. Once you’ve tailored your mix, a good way to test it, is to simply drop a bit in the edge and observe what happens. Does it slick oil and release attraction over a period of time? Do some items float up into the upper layers of the water? How long before the items breakdown to a cloudy mush? How bright or blatant is the mix? There are many variables and it can be as simple or as complicated as you want to make it. This is where ‘bait buffs’ excel for sure, knowing the science behind bait.”

4 When's Best?

When would you say ‘bit fishing’ the best tactic to use?
“My ‘bit fishing’ is a massive part of my day-to-day angling. Normally I adopt this approach when I’m trying to either kick-start a spot – i.e. to get the carp to drop; when the fishing becomes tricky; or when I’m priming a few spots for stalking with small balanced hookbaits.”

How to tie Ian's 'Bit' rig

STEP 1 Strip back four-inches of the outer-coating first.

STEP 2 Next tie a small Hair loop at this exposed end.

STEP 3 Thread a piece of silicone on to the shank and secure.

STEP 4 Now add a single grain of fake corn like so.

STEP 5 Secure with a bait stop, add a piece of putty and it’s job done.

5 End tackle

Do you have a preferred rig set-up?
“It has to be a balanced one, this can come by the way of a sliver of pop-up chopped just enough to be balanced out by the weight of the hook, or a rehydrated Velocity Wafter, generally a dumbell or irregular-shaped boilie fished with a laying flat wide gape Talon Tip tied to a semi-stiff coated braid, a blob of putty placed after the stripped section where you get a bunched up piece of coating and then a mini ring swivel sat in a loop or ‘D’ to mount the hookbait onto, giving you added movement on the hookbait. However, if the spot has leaf litter and general debris, I like a low lying combi rig with a size 8 or 10 curve-shanked hook hanging over like a claw ready to take hold, normally balanced up with a 10mm pop-up or a bit of artificial.

“Something that you must consider is rig length; I tend to fish mine around three- to four-inches on the hard stuff and lengthen it over scruffier substrate to perhaps six-inches. I think there’s too much play in longer hooklinks before resistance is met causing the hook to turn and catch hold, this is generally because the carp are not travelling much between baits, if at all.”

6 Lead set-up

What’s the best lead arrangement for ‘bit’ fishing then?
“Regarding lead arrangement, I prefer a heavy in-line (3-5oz) fished ‘drop-off’ style, especially when fishing for big ‘uns as playing fish without a cumbersome lead is much easier and there’s less chance of them shaking the hook. That said, I will change to a semi-fixed running 2.5oz for instance if I’m on a venue where I’m likely to encounter lots of takes (i.e. a runs water) and the scenario allows – i.e. little weed and fairly snag-free. Another scenario though, is if I’m dropping in on feeding fish and then I will opt for a light lead of say 1oz to create the least disturbance so not to spook them.

“In a nutshell, an in-line is my choice and I really like the GT Inline Bolt Bombs as they have a tapered type of body with the majority of the weight towards the front of the lead – the business end, which is a major mechanical factor in setting the hook upon a pick-up, definitely helping to convert more pick-ups into hooked fish, in my mind a very clever concept. I have tried all manner of lead arrangements from rotary to lead clip but feel that the in-line is the superior arrangement when bit fishing.”

7 Quick mix

Tell us a good ‘on-the-bank-quick-Stick mix’ then
“For me, a quick, on-the-bank Stick mix to complement the said subject is to grab an empty container/bucket, blend up some larger sized boilies in a hand grinder, add a handful of 10mm boilie, some Velocity C2-R 1.5mm and Gremlin 4.5mm pellet and then add a drop of your choice glug. Give it all a good stir, let the liquid soak up into the pellet and then simply place into PVA bags/Sticks. This mix gives you a variety of size, breakdown times and once again, gives you options for hookbaits.

“Something I’ve been doing recently is making up a mix then tying up a dozen or so mini PVA balls and dispatching them with a catapult over a couple of rods fished over an area, creating a similar baiting pattern to that of a boilie approach – i.e. getting the fish to move between bait spots. Once again, it’s giving you something different, a little niche, keeping the carp guessing and resulting in a more random baiting scenario.”

8 Super attractive

How about creating as dedicated Stick mix then?
“My favourite dedicated mix that I’ve used recently is Velocity’s Hemp Attak Crush, Hemp Attak oil and a helping of Hemp Attak P-40, all mixed up and yes, you guessed it, fished over whole hemp. The leakage and attraction which kicks out from this mix is incredible and will nearly always pull the carp down to the lakebed. My hookbait of choice is a Velocity Black and White 10mm Fluoro combo pop-up; it appears like a giant piece of hemp and this particular method has accounted for carp in the UK to a respectable 43lb 14oz – which was a target fish of mine to boot.”

9 Best hookers

Other favourite ‘bit fishing’ hookbaits?
“Regarding my favourite ‘bit fishing’ hookbait, it would have to be a 10mm or barrel-shaped wafter based on my results over the years. As for colour, generally my first choice nearly always starts with a white or pale colour.”