28 February, 2022 | Match & Coarse | Angler Blogs | Tips | Articles

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Top 5 Groundbait Mixes for Late River Season Roach

With only a couple of weeks left of the river season, the roach are hunting for bait… One of the best ways to attract them into your peg is with groundbait. England Youth International Josh Newman shares his top 5 Groundbait Mixes, for when it comes to catching big bags of late season roach!

He says:

1 – Silver X Roach

One of my go to mixes for roach fishing is Silver X Roach

Made with ingredients such as Sweet Biscuit, Coriander and Hempseed most roach find it irresistible!

The two mixes in the range cater for most of my fishing… As a general rule, I will mix both the Natural and Super Black variants together. This allows me to adjust the colour of my mix depending on what river conditions you are faced with. For example… If it was a low clear river, the darker the mix the better; this makes the fish feel more confident feeding over the groundbait, as it is less likely for them to be attacked by predators. However, if I was faced with a bit more colour in the water, or a venue with less predation, then I wouldn’t be scared to lighten my mix, as it can attract a bigger stamp of fish!

 

 

Top Tip: Creating a cloud in the water can be deadly for big river roach. Try over-wetting some of your groundbait as it may snare those few extra fish…

2 – Frenzied Hempseed

Hemp is renowned for being one of the best roach baits of all time… Therefore, I will always try to incorporate it into my mixes. For me the Frenzied Hempseed range is perfect for this! It allows me to increase the feed content in my groundbait, whilst also adding an extra boost of attraction from the hemp oils. I find ‘Worm Meal’ brilliant for drawing fish into your peg, due to the high amino and protein levels, whilst its dark colour also helps tone the mix down!

Top Tip: Mixing Frenzied Hempseed with a groundbait such as Silver X Roach can be super effective when it comes to targeting silverfish on rivers!

 

3 – Marine Halibut Sweet Fishmeal

What can’t be overlooked on rivers nowadays is fishmeal… Venues such as the Trent, Thames and Avon are fished week in, week out with pellets and boilies. Therefore, naturally the roach and silverfish have acquired a taste for it, and in some instances you will simply not be able to compete if you don’t use it!

My go to fishmeal mix for silverfish is Marine Halibut Sweet Fishmeal. Being made from ground down Marine Halibut pellets, it is a high feed; high energy groundbait. However, with the addition of Sweet Palatant, it’s made super attractive to all species!

 

 

Top Tip:  With the fish feeding in preparation for spawning after the River Season, adding some 2mm halibut pellets to your groundbait mixes can be deadly due to their high feed/oil content!

4 – Silver X River

As well as Silver X Roach, I also find Silver X River a fantastic mix for river silverfish! With slightly different properties to the Roach, I find River helpful for when I want to get my bait down to the bottom right to where the fish a feeding.

I will always mix River with another groundbait from the range; something like Silver X Roach or Frenzied Hempseed is perfect! As well as adding weight to a mix, it also has the benefits of being a fantastic binder… This is hugely important in my fishing, as on venues such as the fenland drains, you a required to feed large amounts of particles in your groundbait mixes, and for baits such as pinkies, a sticky groundbait is essential in order to get the bait to the bottom!

 

5 – Pure Brown Crumb / Crushed Hempseed

Compared to the other Groundbaits in this list, these are slightly different however, still play an equally important role in my angling…

Like the Frenzied Hempseed, I use the Rich Brown Crumb to add food content to my mixes. Not only that, but it creates a perfectly fluffy mix, which whether you’re fishing on the pole or running line tactics, is perfect for drawing in those extra fish!

For me, I use the Crushed Hempseed as an attractant… By preparing it in different ways, you can alter the way in which it reacts with the water. By soaking it in cold water for a couple of hours, you will guarantee that all the particles sink, however they will fizz and pop up once the ball of groundbait has broke down on the bottom, attracting those wary fish into feeding. Equally however, by covering the product in boiling water and letting it sit over night, you will have a dormant bottom bait, that oozes attraction and adds extra food content to your groundbait mix!

 

 

Top Tip: Once you’ve soaked your crushed hemp, DONT THROW AWAY THE WATER! This is ideal for mixing into your groundbait and adding that extra bit of attraction!