"he feels (and I agree) that the reason they work is that they are so different/in your face that they tempt/shock carp into a "curiosity" pick up."
I totaly agree,and for a long while i also thought it was the fact the flouros where so blatant,the carp had to investigate,but surely now,so many years down the road from the fluoro boom,we are still nabbing them on the same tactics,surely the "shock" factor should be lost by now? We all know fish "learn" by association,do they still work, not because of the colour,but because,99.9 percent of the time we use them with a more efficiant rig? (popups v bottom baits,IMHO popup rigs get in the carps mouth less often than bottom baits,but are better at pricking/hooking/making chances)
"Its just that I dont think it would give you any advantage and in many cases actually put fish off.You certainly wouldnt get the reaction that they were designed to promote".
Single flouros got the results,why couldnt a bed of them? As you said earlier,flouros where designed to shock/tempt a nibble,i still fail to see why a bright bed couldnt acheive the same thing? Granted i think its possible it could blow quickly,but you could have a lot of action before it does!
"I would personally not be in favour of feeding lots of (unnecessary) artificial chemicals to the carp I'm fishing for."
If you use "flavours" in your baits,you already are!
I am reliably informed the colour used in winter secret comes from the sweet industry, and is totaly inert
Tight ones,Jay