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Shelf Life or Frozen?


Will Greenhill

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Carp, clever? - no doubt

 

However, one has to question how so, when I have caught them on fake sweetcorn with no groundbait or loose feed - essentialy just a bit of rubber or plastic....

 

It's a contentious issue - I use our Quantum range which are made by Browning and I think they work well - but then - I don't doubt it varies from lake to lake!

Ian W

 

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As a general rule of thumb.

 

If you fish frequently then I would suggest fresh/shelflife boilies. If you are an occasional carp angler I would advocate the use of frozen boilies. If you don't use them all in one go you can simply pop them in the freezer for future use with no ill effects to the catching power of the bait.

 

 

i'd ave to say if i was a occasional carper i'd stick to ready mades as ther is alot more pulling power for short sessions wheras a frozen is designed for more long term use that will benifit the fish

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I to am an occasional carper, when not using meat or bread, I have in the last 2 years started using bolies,

I have been using the mainline frozen baits, mainly active8 and fusion sometimes maple 8, I have had some for upto 18 months and still caught fish on them, they are re frozen as soon as I get home, and have been fine. they are catching some nice carp into double figures.

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Some funny comments here thats for sure!

 

I suppose ideally we would always use freshly made bait but that is simply not practical.

 

Frozen baits used to be my next choice as you could make up a seasons worth then freeze them and take out with you what you needed.A bit of a pain on long sessions though as they rapidly deteriorate once defrosted.

 

Air dried/shelf lives would have been next on my list due to the fact that they would keep well on a long session.

 

I never thought that Shelf life/air dried baits were as attractive as fresh/frozen and the longer they were kept the less attractive they would become.

 

All this was base on when I used to fish solidly for carp from the start of the season untill end of October.And when I say solid I mean solid!

 

Now I carp fish less frequently (and take it no where near as seriously) I use air dried boillies all the time.Do you know what? fish to rod hours my catch rate hasnt changed at all! I even caught just as well on an old batch of bait I wanted to use up which was over 6 years old and had only been kept in some old buckets! I certainly dont fish easy waters.

 

No these days the last thing I would worry about was which the carp preffered! My choice would be made on the convienience factor alone,yes air dried for me every time.

And thats my "non indicative opinion"!

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air dried baits are just frozen ones that have been dried as soon as you put them in the water they rehydrate and are as good as when you took them out of the freezer....i always air dry my baits when i'm going on a long session

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How long do the air dried baits last?

 

Ive just made a small amount of boilies and I might try it.

 

once they are air dried thats is they'll last weeks or even months....i normally only dry out wot i'm gonna use....then rehydrate them in hemp or lake water when i'm on the bank....stick them on a towel and put in a warm room for a few days....in summer can jus hang them in a sack up a tree and then they dry while on the bank!!!

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Like I said Josh I had some that caught well after 6 years!

 

I think that some mixes definately keep better than others and you do need to make sure they are totally dried out before putting them in an air tight container to get the max life from them.

 

Two tips I can give are that Bird food and fishmeal mixes seem better suited than milk protein ones.After you have dried them and put them in the container check them daily for the first week.This is to make sure they are indeed totally dehydrated.If not when you undo the container you will find they will have "sweated" and require more drying.

 

If you do cock up and get a bit of mould on them then its ok to wash them off and start the drying process again.

 

Definately better to put them in a air tight bucket once theyve dried rather than leaving them in a basket/net as this avoids insects etc.

And thats my "non indicative opinion"!

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