Setting up

Get all your fishing kit setup up and use a marker float to find the areas where you fancy putting your bait. Even if your planning to fish close to the bank in the margins I recommend getting a marker float in there to ensure its free of any snags especially if you have never fished that area it before. You can easy find on Google tips and tricks of using a marker float. But they are worth every penny.

Place your bait boat onto your unhooking mat to protect it and pull your rig in from underneath. Put as much bait into the boat as you require, I then usually pull my rig to the top of the bait pile keeping the lead and hook as straight as possible. This prevents your rig getting tangled and twisted when you drop. You can also use a piece if PVA foam on your hook to ensure it doesn’t get snagged up in any weed etc.  Setup a couple of separate bank sticks that you can lie your rod on when your taking your boat out. I do this for a couple of reasons, the first being that you can have your sticks near to the water so the wind won’t take any slack line and the second reason being because your rod will always be in the same position, and the same distance from the water, this way, if you have been clipping your line or used marker tape, you’ll know that when your line hits your clip, you’ll be exactly the same distance as your previous or next drop.

Taking the boat out

Take the boat out in the direction of your marker float in the straightest line possible, I usually make a mental note of a point on the opposite bank so you know that you can head the same direction for your next trip. I.e. a tree or telephone pole or something. Choose something you can see in the dark in case you get a run in the night. Keep your line tight and avoid any slack. When happy that you are in position you want drop your load. Let it go and wait for your lead to hit the bottom and pull in any slack, but only to your lead you don’t want to be moving your hook bait away from the nice pile of tempting bait. Use some electrical tape or the expensive marker tape to mark your line so you can remove it from the reel clip.

Depending which boat you are using you can now repeat the procedure to drop your next rig, although from experience, if I am on my own, I usually only take one rig at a time because I always end up getting into a right birds nest, but practice makes perfect (well nearly). Set your rod on your pod, and wait.

Other bait boat tips

Always give your boat the once over when you have returned it to ensure that there is no weed etc on the props.

I place a piece of electrical tape over the small draining holes on the front of the boat when taking it out, as if the water is a little choppy, water can actually get in these. Remove the tape when you have returned it.

Watch out for thieves, bait boats are an expensive piece of kit, always keep it out of site when not in use and I take mine into the bivvy at night.

There are a ton of accessories available for your boat inc GPS, fish finders, additional lighting etc. I find at night some etc light is needed if taking into margin swims with lots of snags. I tape a small torch to the handle for this or use a head torch with an adjustable strap around the carrying handle.