Joe Carass gets out on the bank with the superb Pro Natural range from Bait-Tech.

Bait-Tech somewhat bucked the trend last year when it released the original Pro Natural groundbait. In a marketplace dominated by 2kg carp mixes, producing a blend for silver fish and natural venues was a bold move.

It is a move that has paid off, though, and Pro Natural has been a huge success for the brand, proving to be extremely effective for a wide range of natural-venue situations.

I must admit this is a mix that I have used a lot in the last 12 months. I like it because it is a one-bag mix – in the past I may have blended several different mixes together, but with this I can do a variety of things and it all comes out of one bag. It just makes fishing simpler.

The groundbait itself is actually quite fine, which is something I really like, and because of this it is extremely easy to mix. I have used it on canals, lakes and rivers, and with some great results. One tip that Bait-Tech’s Ian Didcote gave to me, and it has worked well, is to mix the groundbait the night before with warm water. This seems to activate the groundbait in a different way to cold water and it smells really strongly. It also deadens the mix, which helps when catching quality silvers.

Given this superb mix, there was always going to be room for other Pro Natural products and Bait-Tech has worked hard to produce two more great mixes that slot perfectly into the range.

The first is the Pro Natural Dark, fairly obviously a dark version of the original mix. This is a welcome addition, as although adding powdered dyes to brown mixes is a good idea it is not perfect as the dye can actually leach off the mix underwater and slowly the mix becomes lighter on the lake bed. Conquering this problem was one of Bait-Tech’s primary goals when developing this groundbait.

Although it is a dark blend, it is not really black. I am not that fond of overly black mixes as I think they defeat the object of trying to match the groundbait to the bottom. Too dark a mix and it actually becomes quite blatant on the bottom. I would say the colour of this is absolutely ideal – hardly surprising given Bait-Tech’s list of consultants who have put the hours in developing it. I like it and it is definitely going to find a place in my fishing.

The third and final mix in the range is the Pro Natural Bream. Now if ever there was a mix that smelled so good you could eat it, then this is it! It has a gorgeous smell, with that ace bream attractor Brazem making up
the primary aroma. It’s a sweet, traditional mix that just screams bream and skimmers.

It has been designed with feeder fishing in mind but is far from just a feeder-only mix and I would happily use it for pole fishing. Mix it with plenty of water and riddle it and you will end up with a lovely fluffy mix that breaks down from an open-ended feeder superbly well.

Again it is a mix that has been tested for a long time, with small tweaks to make it as good as it can be. One nice little tip is to add a small amount of a good-quality fishmeal, something like Special G Gold, in a 75/25 ratio (the bigger part being the Pro Natural Bream). This ‘sweet and sour’ approach has been brilliant for a few years and is a nice way to hedge your bets.

All in all the Pro Natural range is superb. With there being so many silver-fish mixes available, it can become a minefield when choosing one. This simple range of three will cut down on that confusion and, better still, they catch loads of fish!

Easy To Mix
All three of the Pro Natural range are incredibly easy to mix. You could get away without riddling them and still get a top result.

Great Size Bags
The 1.5kg bags are a great idea in my view. My shed is full of half-full bags and there is nothing worse. This size is just the right amount for most sessions.

Pro Natural Groundbait

Bait-Tech Pro-Natural Groundbait Mix, Built around 25 years of bait manufacturing experience and after more than 12 months of testing and development, Bait-Tech has launched its Pro Natural Groundbait Mix.