In my book Fantastic Feeder Fishing I described how using spices and groundbait improved my catches, particularly with perch, and this led me to go deeper into the use of spices in food; how they worked, and why. I also wanted to find out what went into a curry, and that’s when I got a shock. There are over 600 different curry recipes being used by different countries around the world, with many using items that others leave out. I ended up more confused than I started!

So my next step was to purchase several books on oriental cooking with spices, to find out what each individual item was used for. With this info, plus my own observations, I was able to come up with a blend that definitely attracted perch – after much field testing.

As usual a good additive will always attract other species, with carp always the first on the scene. Other species strongly attracted were roach, bream, and barbel. Xotic is very good added to maggots along with maize flour, dusted on to luncheon meat, and excellent mixed into groundbait. It’s an essential ingredient in my feeder or bait dropper mix when chopped worm fishing.

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