Van Den Eynde super roach review
I’ve used Van Den Eynde groundbaits for as long as I’ve been fishing and thanks to the sheer size of the range on offer from the Belgian bait giants, every UK fishing base is covered from tench on estate lakes to carp on commercial fisheries.
For me though, 90% of my fishing year involves targeting roach on venues as diverse as big tidal Norfolk rivers to intricate Fenland drains and Midlands canals. The redfin is the dominant fish and they all seem have one thing in common - they love having a bit of groundbait thrown at them.
I could get technical and talk about using a groundbait mix that’s 20% of one thing, 30% of another and so on but I won’t. That’s down simply to Van Den Eynde Super Roach, a groundbait that’s incredibly versatile. In short, I only need to take this mix to tackle a wide range of fisheries.
Mixed on the dry side, Super Roach is spot on for shallower venues but overwet it and it becomes super sticky, perfect for deep fast flowing water. In either consistency, the groundbait can carry lots of particles without breaking up before you want it to and it’s also available in a natural brown or dark black colour for both summer and winter fishing.
Oh and don’t be fooled by the name – skimmers and bream don’t half love a bit of Super Roach too!
RRP: £3.99 for a kilo bag
bait-tech’s new pellets and mixes...
Bait-tech has added new pellets, groundbaits and liquids to its wide portfolio this season – and there’s no doubt these will all be welcomed with open arms, particularly by commercial match anglers.
The Suffolk company, known for using only high quality ingredients, has also expanded the popular Special G range.
Last year’s best-selling The Juice liquid is now also available as a stunning and easy-to-mix sweet fishmeal-flavoured groundbait with a rapid breakdown speed perfect for match fishing.
1) THE JUICE GROUNDBAIT
Bait-Tech’s new The Juice Groundbait is made to target large numbers of big fish quickly on commercials. A fast breakdown with low binding properties gives it endless mixing options, but it is particularly good when over-wetted as a ‘slop’ mix.
Packed with quality fishmeals, this groundbait has a characteristic sweet note common to all other The Juice products. Perfect for pole work, and any kind of feeder fishing, this intensely flavour-packed bait will get an instant reaction in your swim from carp, F1s, skimmers, bream, barbel and ide.
Price: £3.99
2) THE JUICE WAFTER dumbells
Following the success of its original The Juice hookbaits, Bait-Tech has added Pellet Wafters to the range. In 8mm and 10mm versions with two colours per pot, they enable you to match your hookbait to your feed pellets. Easily attached via a bait band or bait bayonet, carp of all sizes will find these critically-balanced offerings irresistible.
Price: £3.75
3) STICK MIX LIQUIDS
These will heighten the attraction of any feed or bait. All four flavours – Scopex, Berry, Pineapple and Krill – are PVA-friendly, and ideal for use with solid bags and mesh sticks, when their water-soluble rich flavours will leach off intense flavours around your hookbait. The liquids can also be used to bind micro pellets together for Method tactics.
Price: £7.99
4) HEMP AND CORN IN A CAN
Two great carp baits are brought together in a can, where they are cooked to seal in all the freshness without the need for chemicals or additives.
For its Super Seed particles range, Bait-Tech uses only the finest A Grade seeds.
Price: £2.25
5) SPECIAL G GLUG
Special G glug can enhance any spod mix, soak pellets, or be added to paste and groundbait mixes. The viscous liquid also works brilliantly when dripped directly on to your hookbait, as it slowly melts away to leave an attractive flavour trail.
Price: £6.99
6) SPECIAL G SOFT HOOKERS
These are versatile enough for both waggler and hair-rigged Method feeder work. They are made from Bait-Tech Xpanda pellets, pumped full of gelatine, fishmeal, and proven attractors prior to drying.
At the end of the manufacturing process you find pellets that are not only easy to use without splitting or crumbling, but brilliant fish-catchers. Special G Soft Hookers come in three variations – Dark, Green and Gold – to complement all Special G groundbaits.
Do note, these pellets are best stored in a dark, cool location as they can degrade if exposed to direct sunlight.
Price: £2.39
7) BIG CARP METHOD MIX
ADF technology processes the ingredients in Big Carp Method Mix, maintaining their high nutritional value.
Bait-Tech’s fishmeals are derived from human grade quality fish. The rich, high protein amino-packed food content of Big Carp Method Mix will hold feeding fish in your swim for a long time.
Price: £5.99
8) PRO NATURAL FINE LAKE DARK
New Pro Natural Fine Lake Dark, for use on rivers and natural stillwaters, is rich in milled coconut, molasses and hemp, with a sweet aroma to hold fish in your swim. Its sticky makes it perfect for carrying maggots, casters, hemp and pellets.
Price: £4.49
DYNAMITE SWIM STIM DURABLE HOOKERS
These pellets will stay on the hook or hair rig during long casts. With high leakage and strong flavours, they can be used with bait-stops and spikes, yet remain soft enough to strike through when directly hooked. In F1 Sweet, White Amino, Betaine Green, Red Krill and Amino Original flavours.
Price: £2.99
Ringer's Chocolate Orange Gel
Here's another sewn-on winner from family-run Ringers Baits. This latest gel additive perfectly matches the lip-smacking aroma of the award-winning Chocolate Orange Wafters.
Spray this sticky, viscous product directly on to wafters, mini-boilies, corn, meat or pellets and it will stick tenaciously to the lot, offering added taste and food appeal.
Price: £5.99
Floaters - The Krill
You can now harness the awesome pulling power of The Krill for surface fishing! Using a unique double coating process, these high-protein floating pellets leak out attraction to pull carp into your swim and hold them there.
The first coating breaks down as soon as the pellets hit the water, releasing food signals and carrying potent fragments of bait across the surface. The second coating then starts to pump super-soluble attractors into the water to draw up fish not already on the surface.
The attractive oils locked in during the coating process give off an impressive slick as the coatings break down, which flattens off any ripple and attracts carp without the need to carry extra oil for glugging.
They’re supplied in 3kg bags and available in 3mm, 6mm and 11mm.
RRP: £12.99
Adrenaline Nano Pellet Boost review
Angling Times takes a first look at new kid on the block Adrenaline Baits as unveils its super-potent range of additives.
Adrenaline Baits, which are distributed by the Middy Group, is about to introduce three very distinctive and highly potent bait additives – Plasma, Method Crystals and Nano Pellet Boost.
These can be used in conjunction with baits including pellets, meat, corn and all popular groundbaits.
Field trials have found the additives particularly effective when used in conjunction with Method tactics, so they are sure to be sought out by commercial match anglers looking for an edge.
To bank-test these baits I took them all along with me on a recent live tackle test.
In short, I was hugely impressed by all three products, but especially the four super-potent powdered White Cloud, Green Cloud, Red Cloud and Yellow Cloud Nano Pellet Boosts.
These are so strong that they can change the colour of standard coarse fish feed pellets and lighter coloured expander hookbaits, providing the angler with a host of pellet alternatives on hard-fished match venues.
VERDICT
‘Use sparingly’ it says on the packaging and, sure enough, a little goes a long way with all these Adrenaline Baits products.
Nano Boost pellet powder is unlike anything else on the market, such is its strength and vibrancy of colour.
Method Crystals leak off quickly, and are again extremely potent, so you don’t need loads when loading a Method feeder.
Finally, the viscous Plasma Liquids include a useful and unique Black Worm colour and flavour, likely to be of interest to anyone using chopped worm as feed or hookbait in clear water. As additives that offer both flavour and colour, they’re impressive!
METHOD CRYSTALS
Add just a few of these crystals into your feeder mould to give off a highly visible fish-attracting coloured fog over the lakebed. Secret trials revealed that Adrenaline Method Crystals will increase fish activity in your swim, giving you that all-important edge.
Available in Green Fog, Yellow Fog, Black Fog and Red Fog, the crystals can be used in tandem with Adrenaline Plasma for double the attraction.
Price: £3.99
PLASMA
Add Adrenaline Plasma to Method feeder set-ups, or neat to pellets, corn and meat, to create an irresistible trail of smell and colour. It’s thick and super-concentrated, with an incredibly potent aroma. Use it with Adrenaline Method Crystals to create a highly visible coloured fog around your feeder and draw fish to your bait.
Available in five versions – Black Worm, Red Worm, Yellow Corn, Pink Meat and Natural Pellet.
Price: £4.99
NANO PELLET BOOST
Add just a tiny pinch of this unique powdered attractant to dampened feeder pellets, meat or corn and the colour will be transformed. A s the bait falls through the water it will now give off an irresistible cloud - It's like having gold dust in a 30ml tub! Available in bright fluorescent Green, Yellow and red plus an outstanding white cloud that's ideal for the use with expander pellet hookbaits.
Price: £4.99
Mistral sweet biscuit floaters
The rubbery-textured baits are soft enough to pierce with a hook, yet can withstand a really good cast. They can be kept out in the water for several hours, so there’s no need to recast and risk spooking the fish.
Price: £3.99