Bait feed-back

[Kiwi Matt]

As I live in a country thousands of miles from a decent tackle or bait shop, I have to create my own boillies from scratch. Just lately I have been having some success with a base mix of 8oz each of powdered trout pellets and semolina flour. To this I add 4-5 eggs and then a flavour. I have tried many different flavours (all supermarket bought)with not much success. I also had to learn the hard way (biteless blanks!)about how much or little to add. I am even having doubts on the benifit of flavouring baits with anything! I do however, seem to be on the right track by adding maple syrup before I mix the eggs. Has anyone out there had much experience with this type of formula and can offer some ideas, suggestions for a novice bait maker to think about? It might seem a basic topic to many, but in New Zealand NO-ONE fishes for carp and I have no experienced anglers to bounce ideas off! weep

Regards

Kiwi Matt

[RobStubbs]

Matt,

You don't actually mention why you want to use boilies. I either wouldn't bother or if I did I would fish them alongside a natural bait that I had confidence in (such as sweetcorn etc). On the boilie front you can just grind up trout pellets and mix them with eggs and boil. As for flavours if you must add them then add very little, something like a couple of drops per egg. The best way to experiment is to make up one egg mixes, boil the baits then freeze them. Take a couple out of the freezer and see what they smell like after thawing out and taste them if you're brave enough. Another 'flavour' which might work with your trout pellet boilies is black pepper oil.

 

Rob.

[Butt Banger]

Hi Matt

 

A walk around a supermarket or a Chinese/Asian supermarket will throw up some interesting additives:

 

Marmite,vegimite,bovril etc

 

Anchovy essence,Anchovy paste,Thai Fish sauce,shrimp block etc

 

All will go well in a trout pellet based boilie and none will break the bank.They are all natural too so you don't need to worry too much about adding too much.

 

Hope that helps.

 

Butt Banger

[Gaffer]

Just to add to the previous replies, you could try Vecon which is a vegetarian version of Bovril with a very unmistakeable aroma, kinda like a very well known/used boilie.

[Butt Banger]

Gaffer

 

I have used Vecon myself and can safely say that it neither tastes or smells anything like the rumours suggest it should

 

Butt Banger

[Gaffer]

Butt Banger:

Gaffer

 

I have used Vecon myself and can safely say that it neither tastes or smells anything like the rumours suggest it should    

 

Butt Banger

Hmmm, I dunno, IMO there certainly is a likeness.

[Newt]

Matt - the US is very similar to your situation.

 

The guys here who are serious carpers will tell you that for reasons no one has been able to figure out, some lakes do well with boilies immediately and others you are pretty well guarenteed to blank until you have done a long and serious baiting campaign to introduce boilies and flavors to your carp.

 

Unless you are having serious problems with other fish taking your offerings (which is pretty much why the UK folks first started boiling paste baits) or just want to play around with boilies for fun, you will probably do better with other baits.

 

I can say that strawberry flavor is one that carp seem to take to quickly.

 

Also, take a look in the articles section on AN at a piece I did on pack baits a year or so ago. They work great with uneducated carp. South African carpers use a similar idea called a Mielie Bom.

 

Are you doing any sort of serious pre-baiting of the areas you intend to fish?

[Kiwi Matt]

Many thanks to the Gaffer, Rob, Butt hanger and Newt for your response and ideas. I will certainly experiment with the Anchovey flavour. Vecon doesnt seem to be marketed in NZ, I'll do some research. My doubts about the use of flavours in boiled baits springs from my own years of fishing but, in particular the last 10yrs in pursuit of Carp. Nick Bus asks similar questions about effectivness in his excellent book "From the Privey" I'm begining to think he's right!

 

Dear Rob, (sigh) Thank you for taking the trouble to respond and if you had read my other post about "Home made bolt rigs" you would have found the reasons why I fish with boillies. While I am (to my knowledge) the only dedicated Carp angler in New Zealand (there are NO Carp in the South Island and Carp are only found in the north of the North Island)there are many ex-pats that like to general fish on the water in question. As a consequence there has been considerable pressure with baits such as sweetcorn. (a natural??)

Corn will still catch the smaller shoals of Carp but, the larger specimens are quite "educated" to avoid even bread, corn or worms no matter how you present the baits. I have often seen the larger fish bolt at the sight of sweet-corn, bread or a bed of ground-bait! For a few years I have been able to target the dozen or so mid to high doubles with particles. I tend to get enjoyment from sharing success and knowledge with others and the larger fish have now become equally as cautious of particles (Chicks, black-eye etc, must try dyes next summer!) as they have been with corn. It has become common to see the club men fishing with Chick-peas and catching up to 5lb fish. I have developed several paste baits over the years that have proved to be dynamite but, on this water the large Rudd and Goldfish (look like a true Cruscion) will drive you nuts and often pick the bait to bits inside 5 mins of casting! Whew, hope it is clear to you Rob why I am going down the path with boilies and bolt rigs! There are 3 maybe 5 20pound plus fish in the water and as far as I know none have been caught for at least 5 years. Your idea on freezing small batches is a good one. I have been experimenting in this way for some time.

Once again, many thanks for all your responses, it's nice to talk Carp with someone! Oh by the way Newt, re: your comments on boillies effectivness on some and not other waters, I have been able to pre-bait this water ahead of using the baits. I would guess that (depending on the stock in numbers) some of your Carp need to learn that the boillie is actually food! One water I didnt pre-bait until I finished a session took a month for the first real run. The other water responded from my first session after 3 weeks of 30-40 prebaits every other day. What do you reckon? I figure that if your serious about creating a successful, designer bait it is well worth the effort.

Kind Regards

Kiwi Matt

[Kiwi Matt]

Sorry, meant to respond to Newt about his article on "Pack-Baits".

Thanks Newt, I read the piece and found a few great ideas to try. I had never used "Puffs" as a hook-bait before and Carp certainly recognise them as food the moment they see them! I have had some good fish this way and until recently I would fish "pack-bait" style for most of the winter. (or on the few waters that don't hold ever-hungry shoals of Rudd)

PVA bags change your world, not to mention casting distance and presentation. So thanks for the article Newt, you gave me "Sugar Puffs"

Kind Regards

Kiwi Matt

[RobStubbs]

Kiwi,

Just an other comment. If the fish are slow in recognising boilies (little round balls) as bait then try crumbling some up. This not only increases the attraction but you may well find that smaller fish can eat the crumbled baits, creating the feeding frenzy and encouraging the carp to come in and investigate. Whether the theory is sound I don't know, but the act has deffinately worked for me in the past.

 

Also if you seriously want to pre bait then I'd suggest upping the amount of boilies - 30 - 40 baits is a feed for a single fish, or perhaps a couple of small fish. Depending on the water size and stock I'd contemplate putting in a kilo or more. Ideally put the bait in where you can see it on the bottom and assuming it's eaten then keep topping up. I would probably go in with a smaller amount of bait initially until I knew it was being eaten. Up the amounts and maybe bait up a few swims up until you fish.

 

ATB,

 

Rob.

 

[ 03 May 2002, 08:13 AM: Message edited by: RobStubbs ]