Mini-Maize

by Ken Townley

Frank Warwick caught this with Haith's Mini Maize

We all know how effective sweetcorn was in the old days. Kevin Clifford established it as one of the great baits during his amazing campaigns on Redmire in the mid 70s. Since then it has enjoyed a fluctuating success story. On some waters it continues to catch, on others it is nothing like as effective. On the latter waters standard maize has become the bait of choice. The by now well-documented tactic of fishing maize over hemp has accounted for many carp from some of the most difficult waters in the UK. Now even standard maize is beginning to loose its effectiveness on many waters. Ho 24324f522y wever, do not despair, as there is a new sweetcorn/maize product just around the corner that is destined to become bigger than both of them, popcorn- or mini-maize.

I can recall when tiger nuts first hit the scene. Standard sized nuts worked brilliantly but then seemed to drop off. Next step was the jumbo tiger nut. Again these enjoyed a brief spell in the limelight but quickly fell from grace as we realised that they were nothing like as effective and standard tigers. Finally things swung from jumbo to micro with the arrival of smaller-than-average tigers and these mini-tigers have enjoyed considerable success over the past two seasons.

In much the same way I can see the success of mini-maize mirroring that of the mini-tigers. In fact, I can see them being even better!

Mini-maize is a brilliant product that is streets ahead of both standard maize and giant maize on waters where these last two have been hammered. You get a dozen grains of mini-maize for each grain of giant so you can see for yourself that the preoccupation possibilities are endless. In addition the grains of tiny corn smell almost as good as sweetcorn, not something that maize or giant maize can truthfully claim.

To prepare mini-maize I like to follow much the same procedure as with standard maize. However, I never add flavour, as this tends to mask the beautiful natural smell that mini-maize exudes after preparation. If I add anything at all I sometimes sweeten the water in which I soak the grains, as this tends to draw out the wonderful smell even better.

So here's a step-by-step guide to preparing mini-maize:

First empty the dry grains into a saucepan or a bucket if you wish to make a larger quantity. (I have found that a little mini-maize tends to go a long way so I usually prepare a couple of kilos, dry weight, at a time. This gives you about 5lb of prepared bait, which is generally enough for a days fishing.)

2) Next add your preferred flavouring and additives. For each kilo of dry bait use a teaspoonful of Nutrabaits Creamy Super Sweet but I have also done very well using 2ml/kg (dry weight) of Sweet Cajouser. Of course, you will probably have your own favourite sweetener so by all means chose that if you wish.

3) Next add water. I know some pundits say that they prefer to use lake water as it is less chemical in nature but I have never found Cornish tap water to be that repellent! Fill the container with water until the grains are covered. (Note: Mini-maize does not swell to quite the same extent as other grains and particles so you do not need to over-fill the container.)

Now leave the container and its contents to soak for 24+ hours. This is the minimum length of time you need to soak the grains. (In fact I like to leave them in soak for 2-3 days.)

During the soaking period stir the container from time to time.

6) Now we come to the cooking process. I like to cook the grains in the same water in which they have been soaking. This ensures that all the smell and liquor is kept in the grains during cooking.

Bring the water to the boil and then turn the heat down so that the grains simmer gently on a low, well-dispersed heat for 20 minutes.

After this time check a few grains to see if they are beginning to soften. Note: the grains will remain fairly hard even after 20-25 minutes.

Once they are cooked turn off the heat and transfer the grains and the water in which they have been cooking to a bait bucket (or whatever).

10) Leave them to cool for at least 48 hours. They should start to ferment slightly (but not as much as standard maize) after 2-3 days. This is when they are at their best.

If you are preparing mini-maize at the lakeside you will find that they will draw fish better if you introduce them to the water while they are still hot. (This is true of most pulses and grains, in fact.)

As with any tiny particle getting them into your swim can be a bit of a challenge. Obviously they won't go far out of the 'pult and even the best ones will only put them out twenty yards or so. My favourite approach is actually to find a spot that I can bait up by hand, either in my own margins or by going round and baiting an unfishable bank, then casting across. By baiting up like this you can ensure that the bait carpet is properly positioned to maximum effect. You can also see when the carp arrive on the bait (as they surely will!). Being such a bright yellow colour mini-maize forms a vivid background against which any carp arriving in the swim can usually be seen clearly.

Of course such a course of action is not always possible so the next best step is to use a spod. First cast your marker float to find the feature you want to fish, then fire out a couple of pounds of prepared bait. Do try to keep the bait carpet tightly packed. In my experience the carp feed on the tiny yellow grains in exactly the same preoccupied manner as when they are feeding on hempseed and I think most experts will confirm that hempseed is at its best when the bait carpet is tightly packed with masses of small grains.

Finally we have the choice of what to fish over the top of the bait. I know when I was researching the Particles Masterclass Series for Crafty Carper I saw with my own eyes that in the case of groats and hempseed carp often preferred to pick a single alternative hookbait off the top of the bait carpet. On the other hand I also scored heavily using small stocking-wrapped parcels of either bait as a hookbait. In other words fishing an identical hookbait to the bait carpet. So far my experiments with mini-maize have lead me to the conclusion that both tactics work equally well, though if push came to shove I would use the rig shown here for preference.

Mini-maize is going to be the next big biggie so take my advice...Get on it quick!

Dry popcorn- or mini-maize from Haith's.

Use 1 teaspoonful of sweetener per kilo dry weight of mini-maize.

Cover with water and allow to soak for at least 24-hour minimum.

Now bring to the boil and simmer on a low heat for 20-25 minutes.

After this time you will note a few of the grains have split open to reveal a pithy, soft inside.

However, the majority of the grains still maintain their shape. (Compare these prepared grains to those in soak in photo 3. Don't they look appetising!)

Top Tip!

If push came to shove I prefer to fish mini-maize hookbaits over a carpet of mini-maize. After all, how are they going to sort out the hookbait among that little lot?