I have been experimenting for some time with Chinese paste mixes but before I go further I have to explain that the way paste is fished in China is different from over in the UK. Big differences include using two hooks, having a firmer paste that allows casting, plumbing up using the paste as a plummet plus more. I am going to China later on this year and will do a write up of paste fishing there.

So firstly the paste, if you think we have a wide range of groundbaits then think the same for paste but more so. Paste for varying speeds of break down, for different species(tilapia, carp, black carp, sea fish, crucians, bream…), different flavours within each species, you get the idea! I have stuck to a limited range and experimented within that narrow selection. The paste I have available currently …

As you can see the packets are all in Mandarin so the diagram at the back is helpful as a starting point. Anyway let me show you it in practice. The venue is Crookwood Lake on the Devizes ticket peg 23.

Once I got my box set up I began on the paste preparation.

Left to right, top to bottom – main bulk paste; second paste; mixed in ratio 70/30%; two full pole pots of water added and stirred in then left while I sorted out the rest of my kit. Mix after 15 minutes: Octopus powder, this forms a stringy texture to the paste; Octopus powder added/sprinkled on; paste after quick mixing and kneading.

In China they use very long floats for paste fishing with rolled lead strip making a form of olivette, the lead strip is trimmed to get the weight correct so the float cocks just at the top of the body, the paste then acts as the weight for the long antenna.

I tend to try and adapt the paste to UK style venues so use two basic rigs- the float used can change but the shotting is the same. First a bulk with one dropper, the second just the bulk.

You will notice the relatively small hook by UK standards for the paste – a 16. Partly because Crookwood is a true mixed fishery so I wanted to see what I could catch on a 16 rather than a 10 or 12 which is usual for paste when it is used mainly for carp. Bait size was roughly a small walnut of paste, feeding a few 4mm pellets in the toss-pot with the paste in the area marked by the lillies.

I began at 10:15 and stopped at 1:25 when the ball of paste had run out. The float was constantly dipping and moving but I ended up with tench of 3lb and 5lb in the net together with a bream of 2.5lb, 5 skimmers and 3 roach. I also had 4 small carp (best 1-04) and two crucians of 12oz and 1-04, these where returned straight away as club rules do not allow carp to be retained in keepnets.

To be honest I probably put too little octopus powder on the mix as it was not as stringy as usual but it works. At some point I am going to have a go with a Chinese two hook set up if I find a venue that allows two hooks! Similarly I am tempted to try the paste on a river to see what would happen!