The blog on liquidising bread has been receiving a lot of attention so I thought I’d add the other aspect of the method – the bait and getting it on the hook! This may appear to be simple but so many get worried about it or don’t think about this aspect.!

The Bait

I use any fresh loaf, my current favourite because I like it to eat is Warbuttons Toastie (the orange packed one). In reality any fresh sliced bread will do and the thickness of the bread sometimes has a bearing on the fish but even on hard days I will opt for the toastie.

Firstly cut off the crusts and then cut the slice into 4 quarters, now with the back of a knife lay it over the quarter and press down to flatten the bread, repeat this as many times as it takes so the whole quarter is flattened. Repeat for the other quarters. I tend to prepare two slices for a match and if I get through the two slices I’ve had a red lettered day!

Secondly open out some clingfilm and place the quarters on to it so there is a gap of half inch (1-1.5cm) or so between them. Now fold the clingfilm back over them and cut it away from the roll. You can now press down between the quarters so they are individually wrapped. I then fold the whole thing up on itself so that it is at most 2 quarters by one quarter in size.

You are now ready to go fishing! When I am at the peg I will only take one quarter out at a time and any left over will go into the freezer as a standby in case I have forgotten to do some!

Getting it on the hook

There are several styles of punch on the market, most have a slot that you are supposed to put the point of the hook through to hook the bread. I do not use this type, I much prefer the old (bought when I was 16ish) punch shown below. There are a series of different sized brass punches that are stored inside and screw in, Seymo do a similar version with a plastic body. You can see the 3 things needed to punch bread- the quarter, the punch and a solid surface to press onto. My method is to punch the bread then push the bend of the hook (point away from the punch) into the bread and turn slightly, I find this will keep the bread on allowing me to lift and drop. The flattened quarter is also much easier to hook.

You will find that once in the water the punched bread will swell considerably as the water undoes the flattening process with the knife but as a consequence the bread is far more secure on the hook. I tend to use the quarter as a counter, a fish results me in punching on the right, a missed bite, bumped fish, leaf,etc… I punch the left.

Proof of the pudding that the punch works

Hope this helps!