Pork rind transformed my tench fishing! - Mick Cutler

“When plastic imitation baits were banned on my syndicate water I was hugely disappointed, because they had been really beneficial in my tench fishing and helped me to avoid nuisance species.
“They revolutionised the way we fished, and after the ban I just couldn’t get the same results. I’d just enjoyed two seasons of the best tench fishing ever, catching 11 doubles in the first year and six more in the following one.
“I was keen to make it 20 doubles from the venue, but then the ban was imposed.
“Although I caught well on alternatives such as mini boilies, my results started to decline and I was still agonisingly short of my 20-doubles target by just one fish. The frustration was made worse by the fact that real maggots and worms didn’t last five minutes before being attacked by other species, especially eels.
“A solution eventually came thanks to my friend, Frank Wheeler, who often visited me on his early-morning arrivals at the lake. After he’d listened to my dilemma, he just said: ‘Leave it with me’.
“As well as once being an experienced angler, Frank was also a butcher by trade. The following week he greeted me at the lake with a small bottle which was filled with what looked like rubber-red maggots.
“Frank explained that they were, in fact, pork rind which he’d cut into the shape of maggots, flavoured and dyed red. In its natural state the rind is colourless and odourless, but it can float, absorbs any colour or flavouring and, just like a fake bait, it’s robust enough to be hair-rigged.

“That evening, I put the rind to the test and ended up catching a 33lb common carp. It was a revelation! The baits transformed my fishing and overnight my 20th and 21st double-figure tench were banked.
“Due to the water’s publicity ban, I’m unable to share pictures of my tench catches although I’ve since caught specimens to 11lb 5oz (pictured) by using the rind on other venues.
“I now have total confidence in pork rind as a bait! It just goes to show that the only barrier to using different baits is your own imagination.”

Mick Cutler’s 11lb 5oz tench fell to his new found pork rind hookbait