To prepare tares for fishing and safe for fish to eat, they must first be soaked and cooked. There are several ways to prepare tares for fishing, but I prefer to stew mine as follows.
Cooking tares
- Cover the dry seeds in cold water and leave to soak for 24 hours.
- The next day, put the seeds along with the water into a pan. Simmer for 15 to 20 minutes until they soften. To get them just right, I spoon out a few and squeeze one between my fingers. If I can feel any hardness within the tare, I leave them to simmer a little longer. Don’t overcook as they will turn to mush.
- When ready, douse the seeds in cold water to halt the cooking process.
Quantity to cook
Tares double their size when cooked. Half a pint of dry tares will result in just over a pint of prepared bait. Cook several pints at a time and freeze some for later.
Using tares for fishing
Tares have been used in conjunction with hemp for many years to catch river roach. The technique is to feed little and often with the hemp, then to trot a tare down through the swim on a size 16 wide gape hook. It can take a while for the fish to switch on, but once they do, they become very competitive.
Tares are best known as a roach, chub or barbel bait, but most fish will take them including tench and carp. They can also be used sparingly as feed along with hemp, corn, pellets and other particles.
Conclusion
Preparing tares for fishing is easy, just soak and simmer. It’s an excellent hook bait with a proven track record of catching fish. Dried tares are available from tackle shops, feed merchants and on-line. Best of luck.
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