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Raison’s ‘taboo’ mix that skimmers can’t resist.
“If someone had told me 12 months ago that I would be mixing fishmeal groundbaits and leams together to target skimmers, I would have laughed at them. It is something I have always dismissed, but, as I have recently found out, it is a deadly tactic!”

These were the words of Daiwa and Old Ghost-backed ace Will Raison. Former World Champion Will has recently banked three big weights of skimmers on the tactic – and genuinely believes he has only touched the tip of the iceberg with regard to the potential of the method.

“Match fishing is constantly evolving, and in order to stay one step ahead of the competition you have to think of new edges that the fish haven’t seen before. There is no doubt that skimmers love fishmeal groundbait, but as temperatures drop it often proves too rich for their palette. I have experimented a lot with mixing different quantities of fishmeal with given amounts of leam, and have stumbled across a mix that seems dead right. Lots of top anglers, including myself up to a few weeks ago, seem to think that mixing fishmeal groundbait and leam is taboo – but having tried it I can vouch for how effective it is!

"The mix comprises one part Old Ghost Bream, one part Green Alga (both of which I pass through a flour sieve) and two parts black leam. The groundbait has a strong smell, but because it is sieved and contains 50 per cent leam it has a relatively low food content. In practice this means that it has a lot of attraction but doesn’t fill the fish up – so they have no choice but to gorge themselves on the particles contained within your mix. Generally, I fish the mix with bloodworm and joker, and presenting a bunch of bloodworm over the top of the mix is a real recipe for success.”