No disrespect was perceived. Was just saying that bait is part of the whole picture. And seeing as i enjoy making my own bait this type of conversation is very helpful. Making my own is part of the fun to me.

I don't love carp fishing. I love all fishing.

In reply to Post #91
Nothing wrong in what your doing bud as enjoying it is what it is all about

I fish for cod and trout and coarse fish as well as i like all fishing also ,

i must admit that i used to get huge satisfaction when i caught on the bait i used to make , i went down the bait path many years ago , but not in the same calibre as some of the more informed and enlightened buffs on here.
Not knocking them but when i started to read some of the offerings by the likes of Paisley ect my brain turned to mush where i got overloaded and bogged down with bait syndrome.
My fishing started to suffer , and i was spending more time playing with bait than actually fishing ,i take my hat off to the bait gurus on here , but at the end of the day it is only a small part of what makes you successful at catching.

There is an old saying ,,

You can lead a horse to water but you can,t make it drink.

I only dabble. I am no bait buff by any means. Reading pieces by Tim Richardson ect just hurt my head. Far toooooo complicated for me.

I have decided to pick 1 lake to try and improve my understanding of it so i can put my hookbait in front of some nice carp.

In reply to Post #93
What i do find interesting is that some of the old writings regarding bait ph and water ph , to try and match the bait to the water .
I,m sure there is more to it , as some baits work well on one water and not on another , as some lakes we have fished blanking at the start a bait change has brought instant results and then we have caned it , like they just could not get enough of the stuff.
Well over my head , but there is a lot more to it , and not all waters are the same

Smurf's recipes were put on the forum to help peeps make a top class boiled bait considerably cheaper then the mainstream bait firms. They are the recipes he used when he was selling bait and I for one welcome his openness and candidness.

The bait posted below are nothing to do with mumbo-jumbo or scientific potions. They are top flight no-nonsense nutritional CARP BAITS and they WILL catch you fish without breaking the bank...I suggest therefore that they qualify more than any for the title of Forum Approved Bait Recipe, which is what this thread (originally) is all about.

@ Fred: That old guff about matching bait pH to lake pH was dead in the water before it was even printed. Within a few weeks of it first appearing in print that daft theory was totally dismissed as a) impossible and b) counter-productive.

Going of thread a bit

But i just made my first batch of my own baits and recipes, ive never followed a trend in my life so ive changed almost everything in the recipes compared to the ones pushed on websites. Feels great to make my own baits for the first time. I have 5 flavours to try out, about 200-400 grams of each flavour.

I think the OP is right in that it would be nice to have a sticky for a VERY simple recipe for the carpforum, but i can see why its pointless as we have seen you will get 100 opinions, than discussions about PH's and chemicals and blah blah blah.

Keep it simple is my moto, as another guy said he caught on milkbottles. All my PB'S are on cheap shelflifes with no spod or boilies chucked out just single baits yet ive used freezer baits from mainline and other companies for years now with no pb.

Hopefully my own will catch as if they do i will be eventually making kilos of it for a small amount of money, very small.

In reply to Post #95
Well thanks Ken for enlightening me as I respect your knowledge on this topic, looks like I will leave thebait theories to those who know what they are talking about

In reply to Post #96
Bait is such a subjective thing so none of this chat is pointless. We can all take as much or as little as we want from it to improve and develop what we are doing. Or there are people who have been there and done it just trying to share there knowledge wish is also great. A final recipe is pointless though i agree.

My mix has caught me a pb Tench this year, its a start, i'm happy.

The only thing i would say is that i had 3 possible mixes but it got that complicated i cut it down to 2. Glad i did, i am now happy with those 2.

I also agree that if they are not already, Smurfs recipes should be stickied. For all the baitmakers that use the forum those are the only 2 that I can remember where all is explained fully

Btw I still think that if you throw your gear where the fish are you will catch .... but if you are going to throw crap at them it might as well be good crap

In reply to Post #99
I think everyone will agree that bait is just one part of the puzzle. There are many other things to consider. Rigs, hooks, location, weather....... the list is a big one.

However, i believe a quality bait is as bigger part of the puzzle as the picture on the box. You can manage without it, But its a s**t load easier with it.

So for post 100 the forums recipes seems to stand at these.

BM1 (basic HNV mix)
30% LT94 fishmeal
15% Maize Protein Meal 60% (supergold 60)
13% Egg based bird food like CeDe
10% Semolina
10% Soya flour (heat treated)
8.5% pre-digested fishmeal
8.5% Calf or lambs milk powder such as Vitamelo
5% Equivite

BM2
22% Poultry protein meal
20% LT94
10% Maize Protien Meal 60% (supergold 60)
10% pre-digested fishmeal
10% Calf or lambs milk powder such as Vitamelo
7% Micronized Soya meal
6% Semolina
2.5% Micronised crushed hemp
2.5% Equivite

I think we owe Smurf a big . He could have kept them to himself and probably made money off them, but he chose to share with everyone. And there is also other recipes in the thread for people to work on too. Even if this thread does not get stickied, i think it is big enough for people to find in the future.

I'm still here Don't have time to read the forum daily now but pop in once or twice a week for a 5 minute browse.

I still use my 'BM1' mix with a few bits tweaked up and down...I can't ever leave it alone and just use it As Jesse from the fast show would say....'this year I have mostly been messing around with vanilla meal'

Didn't get much time for fishing this summer though so my conclusion was I made no conclusion

Hi

I have been trying to source some of these ingrediants and even with google and ebay i struggle to find them. Im not sure how if i add all the costs of postage and packaging these recipes would work out cheaper than shop bought boilies.

I understand the point is not to be cheap but good for the carp, but im on a tight budget so am learning how to make my own boilies.

Could someone pm me with a basemix thats not only cheap and easy to source but also good for carp, and maybe some advice on what shops to look into to get these ingrediants as i dont drive so order most food online.

Thanks Deano

In reply to Post #102
CCMoore is a good place to start for ingredients

In reply to Post #102
Just go to AA Baits or CC Moore and it is all on there for you. Smurf's BM1 mix can be knocked up for about £3.75 a kilo for the dry mix. You won't get something of the same qaulity for much less than that.

If you want a cheap as chips mix then just add 1/3 fishmeal to 1/3 semo and 1/3 soya. It will catch but is nowhere near as balanced as Smurf's recipe but can probably be made up for about £2.00 a kilo.

You also have to remember that 1 kilo of dry mix equates to about 1.3 kilos of boilies. Once you have factored in additives, eggs, postage etc the finished bait should work out between £5-6 a kilo which is still a damn site cheaper than a bag of shop boughts and a lot more effective in most cases.

Finished baits can be bought for £5-6 a kilo online from reputable sources so you have to weigh up whether it's worth the effort. Personally I think it is and I enjoy making and catching on my own (or Smurf's ) base mix.

thanks all

really appreciate the advice