Just as Leon Bartropp thought spring was around the corner, nature kicked him in the teeth and a massive cold front came in with snow, wind and sleet.


It’s been that bad that most lakes have completely frozen over the last couple of weeks. We even endured temperatures of minus 12ºC on one of those nights!

However, it’s not all doom and gloom and every cloud has a silver lining. I may not have been able to get out there on the bank but there is plenty that I have preoccupied myself with in between work and family commitments.

In some respects the enforced layoff has fired up the enthusiasm to get out there when the big thaw comes, which it inevitably will. It has also enabled me to do all those jobs that I’ve been putting off. I’ve managed to give my tackle the once-over with an early spring clean, I’ve respooled the reels with line and checked that I am fully supplied with end tackle like hooks, leads and suchlike.

While not as much of a chore, I’ve been making some special, slow, balanced bottom baits. It takes time to lovingly make these but I’ve done very well in previous springs using my hand-rolled, special, balanced bottom hook baits. I don’t see many anglers using these anymore. They used to be all the rage but seem to have gone out of fashion. Well, you could be missing a trick because I’ve done very well on them and here’s how I make them extra special.

Basically, I crack an egg into a bowl, add my liquid attractors, a small amount of my base mix and blend it all together. I add base mix until I get a nice sticky paste. I then pop this into a plastic bag to stop it drying out. I’ll now roll a small amount of paste around 10mm cork balls to produce boilies of roughly 15 millimetres. I boil them for 60 seconds and leave them to dry on a towel. I then transfer them to the airing cupboard for a few days to air dry until all the moisture has evaporated.

The beauty of these little gems is that I can now add my favourite liquid combination of Pure Krill and L-Zero-30, and let them soak to their heart’s content. I’ve had some glugging for 12 months. The longer you leave them, the better they become.

I’ve observed these hook baits from up a tree and the amount of attraction that they give out is unbelievable. Fish literally stop in their tracks up in the water column as they react to the liquids and drop down to investigate.

So, as you can see, it hasn’t been a wasted couple of weeks. I’ve managed to get all those jobs done that I’ve been putting off over the winter and I’m now better placed to reap the rewards once spring finally arrives. It may be sooner than we think because the weather forecast is for temperatures of 12ºC by the end of this week. Happy days!

Pictured below:
• It hasn’t been a wasted couple of weeks; I’ve been busy.
• Glugtastic!