Surface priming
Surface baiting is the best way to attract species such as mullet and sauper. The latter, in the vicinity of dykes, harbors and other areas frequented by humans, are very responsive to surface baiting.
Bread is generally used in its entirety when dry and only its crust when fresh. The crumb and crust of dry bread float even when soaked in water. The crust of fresh bread also floats, but the crumb tends to sink slowly, or even quickly when it is a bit packed.
This breadbaiting makes it easy to see fish feeding and to know if there is activity. However, this type of bait tends to drift quickly if the wind picks up. Mullet, oblates and sauper also tend to push the breadcrumbs around and can drive them away from your fishing area.
Background priming
A fast-sinking bait, or bottom bait, can fix a large number of fish in a small area. Sparids and rockfish are particularly fond of it and a feeding frenzy quickly sets in.
The groundbait is usually a mixture of flour, sand (to make the groundbait sink) and crushed pieces of sardines. You can also add pieces of flesh of different shellfish such as mussels, sea squirts or whelks to create an additional attraction.
It is very important that the groundbait is well sunk and packed into a compact ball before being thrown into the water. The goal is to keep the fish in the water as long as possible. If the groundbait is not compact enough, it may fall apart as it sinks and be eaten before it reaches the bottom. In rough seas, it's even more important to keep the groundbait from drifting away from your fishing area.
Cloud-based bootstrapping
It is also possible to fish between two waters when surface fish are wary or when you do not wish to fish for bottom fish. The principle is to slowly sink the bait over a large area to bring the fish from afar.
Breadcrumb baits are perfect for this type of technique. This technique can also be used when the fishing area is too deep to fish effectively with a jig. If you didn't originally plan to fish this way, you can use your standard groundbait, trying not to pack it down into fine particles.
While this technique is very effective in rounding up fish, it can be difficult to fish at the right depth. Too high in the water and your bait will be ignored, too low and the fish will have gorged themselves before finding your bait.
