What groundbait is

Groundbait is a mix thrown into the water so that fish gather where the tackle has been cast. It never goes on the hook: what's on the hook is hookbait — animal, plant or manufactured — and mixing the two up leads to the wrong expectations from both.

What it actually does

Fish in a body of water are spread across an area. An angler can present a hookbait in only one spot. Groundbait is a way of reconciling the two: not leading the fish to the hook, but making sure it ends up in the volume of water where the hook already is.

Three jobs, and the conflict between them

Attracting is a signal that travels far: cloud, a fine particle settling slowly. Holding is what the fish finds and what makes it stay: a coarse fraction on the bottom. Not feeding is the direct opposite of holding. A full fish is harder to catch than an absent one, and that's the main trap of baiting up.

Groundbait and pre-baiting aren't the same thing

Groundbait is put in on the same trip as the fishing itself. Pre-baiting is the same feed, laid in the spot in advance and repeatedly, so the fish gets used to coming there to feed. The mechanism behind them is different: one works through a signal, the other through habit.

The difference has a practical side too: pre-baiting is the first thing to fall under restrictions where they exist. In the German region of Westphalia, fishing with groundbait is allowed, but setting up a spot without fishing is not — and the regulation names it exactly that: baiting without fishing.

What it isn't

It isn't a lure: a lure imitates prey and works towards a specific bite, and lures have a separate root. It isn't a guarantee: groundbait gathers the fish that's already in the water and doesn't create any where there is none. And it isn't a substitute for finding a spot — a mix thrown into an unsuitable place stays a mix in an unsuitable place.

Why this branch won't have recipes

A recipe answers the question ‘what to use today on this water’ — that's a question for an article, and it depends on the season and the place. The wiki answers something else: why the recipe calls for exactly this, and what happens when one ingredient is swapped for another. The second answer doesn't go stale.

Where to start reading

Start with composition: the four roles any mix breaks down into. Then what happens to it in water, and only after that how much to use.