GIVE BURLEY A GO

We regularly get queries regarding burley in the shop and any staff member can help out with their tried and tested formula.  For those of us who turn to the inter-web for everything, yes there is plenty of information on burley...as long as you know how to find it.  Many people are unaware that the term burley is used only in Australia, the term is chumming in other parts of the world. Chumming came about in the 19^th century in California when fish guts and pig's heads were tossed off the end of a pier to bring the sharks in for tourists to see. For those anglers looking for burley recipes online, be sure to type the word chum into the search - results will be plentiful including great recipes from America and local recipes with Chum dog food in the ingredient list!

The use of burley is by far the best way to attract fish from all over the place to your bait via a trail of food particles. It is commonly used by boat and bank anglers in the river and in offshore waters to increase your catch rate. Not many anglers use burley off the beach but if the correct technique is used in the surf gutters there can be great advantages.

HOW TO USE BURLEY:

Current, tide and wave action are two strong factors that influence where your burley will end up. Make sure you take these factors into consideration when positioning a burley dispenser. A small cylinder style burley pot with plenty of small holes or slits that allow a slow and steady flow of burley is the only instrument that you need. Homemade pots are cheap and easy to make - head to your local hardware store and get some PVC pipe from the plumbing section if you are handy and creative, or pick up a readymade pot from your local tackle store for around $10. Attach the pot with a length of rope to your boat, a tree or a sand spike in the sand so that the burley can disperse gradually within close proximity to where you are fishing.

If beach fishing, you want the burley bucket to sit just in front of you and be washed around in the shore break so small amounts are released with each surge. Depending on the current and the waves, place the pot up current so that the burley ends up in the general area where your bait is sitting. When you re-cast your bait out, make sure it lands on the upside of the burley pot and with the current, it sinks into the trail.

BURLEY TO USE:

Any fishing scraps and off cuts from cleaned fish can be used as burley. Chook pellets, bread crumbs, old bread, pilchards and prawns are also good. When using pellets or bread, it is well worth adding a small amount of 100% tuna oil to give the fish plenty of sent to follow. The main aim is to crush or cut up all of the solid material into small pieces that will slowly break up and flow out of the burley buckets holes.

If you want to keep costs down buy yourself a second hand food processor or a meat grinder. Blitzing up old bread into crumbs and then adding minced up meat and seafood scraps so that you get a fine composition. Then you can freeze good handfuls of the mix into old stockings (tied off and bagged) - check first before you raid your other half's hosiery draw though!

Waste not - want not: this old saying is what my granddad lives by - he is the king of burley. Grandad added old leftover bait to his mixture. Rather than throwing old bait into the river after a day's fishing, he would process it into a fine paste and add to breadcrumb mixture. Prawn heads, squid, whitebait or any pilchard as well as the frames and guts of any fish he caught went into the freezer for the next burley making session!