I've been using CC Moore's live system frozen bait and was thinking of keeping a bag of shelf life in the van for emergencies. I was wondering how the two compared and if there was no noticeable difference would it not pay to just use shelf life to make life easier . I'd be interested to hear your views , thanks .
In reply to Post #1
These modern shelf-life baits are nothing like the ones of old, I moved over to them due to circumstances and will most likely never go back.
They are very convenient, work straight out the bag but also can be doctored/boosted easily if that's your thing?
I've only brought 2 companies baits but both have produced very good responses from the fish.
These modern shelf-life baits are nothing like the ones of old, I moved over to them due to circumstances and will most likely never go back.
They are very convenient, work straight out the bag but also can be doctored/boosted easily if that's your thing?
I've only brought 2 companies baits but both have produced very good responses from the fish.
In reply to Post #1
Im a big fan of essential B5, i have used it in it's freezer form for years. I did try their shelf life but i had little confidence, for no other reason than they where bullet hard.
Like the poster before me, these days shelf life have vastly improved but for me i just cant get past the "freezer is better".
Im a big fan of essential B5, i have used it in it's freezer form for years. I did try their shelf life but i had little confidence, for no other reason than they where bullet hard.
Like the poster before me, these days shelf life have vastly improved but for me i just cant get past the "freezer is better".
In reply to Post #1
You could always air dry a couple of kilos, once they have been dried they won't go off. Then re hydrate when you want to use them. I certainly prefer an air dried bait to a shelf life.
You could always air dry a couple of kilos, once they have been dried they won't go off. Then re hydrate when you want to use them. I certainly prefer an air dried bait to a shelf life.
Live system was the bait that made me move away from frozen, I trialled the selfies against the frozen on different venues easy and hard and couldn't notice any difference at all
In reply to Post #1
Ive always used frozens, to me readymades were a poor imitation. But a couple of years ago at a show I tool a look at the Pacific Tuna and liked it, I just assumed it was the frozen. I was amazed when i was told it was a shelf life. I realised i was being ignorant. So i started to seek out the self life versions of a few different manufacturers. Ive got a few kilos of frozen left in my bait freezer, but ive made the decision to switch onto readymades from now on.
For what its worth I found sticky, DNA and CC Moores to all be perfectly fine in readymade.
I'm basing all my fishing this year around the DNA shelfies once my freezer is run down. When the lockdown started i gave up a lot of freezer space for food as obviously at the start it was getting a bit hard to get hold of. Ive decided to keep my big chest freezer as a food freezer from now on.
I never just use round whole baits, all my boilies get crushed, chopped, mixed with liquids, mixed with particles and pellets. So i dont see as them being shelf life's gonna matter.
I agree with the comment about B5 readymades, I didnt feel they were as good as the excellent freezer baits, they were definitely dried out too much compared to others that ive mentioned here.
Ive always used frozens, to me readymades were a poor imitation. But a couple of years ago at a show I tool a look at the Pacific Tuna and liked it, I just assumed it was the frozen. I was amazed when i was told it was a shelf life. I realised i was being ignorant. So i started to seek out the self life versions of a few different manufacturers. Ive got a few kilos of frozen left in my bait freezer, but ive made the decision to switch onto readymades from now on.
For what its worth I found sticky, DNA and CC Moores to all be perfectly fine in readymade.
I'm basing all my fishing this year around the DNA shelfies once my freezer is run down. When the lockdown started i gave up a lot of freezer space for food as obviously at the start it was getting a bit hard to get hold of. Ive decided to keep my big chest freezer as a food freezer from now on.
I never just use round whole baits, all my boilies get crushed, chopped, mixed with liquids, mixed with particles and pellets. So i dont see as them being shelf life's gonna matter.
I agree with the comment about B5 readymades, I didnt feel they were as good as the excellent freezer baits, they were definitely dried out too much compared to others that ive mentioned here.
I allways try to use frozen or fresh baits cos they are different to any modern shelf-life baits.
Think all shelf-life baits use the same kind of preservative these days, so all sl baits must have the same preservativ 'smell' to our little friends.
Think all shelf-life baits use the same kind of preservative these days, so all sl baits must have the same preservativ 'smell' to our little friends.
In reply to Post #7
They might well do, but they catch a load of fish, so for all we know the low levels of preservative might actually be an attractor? Who knows?
They might well do, but they catch a load of fish, so for all we know the low levels of preservative might actually be an attractor? Who knows?
In reply to Post #8
Yeah, who knows. In that case most sl baits use the same attractor....
Yeah, who knows. In that case most sl baits use the same attractor....
Depends on the bait for me, some baits are best fresh out the freezer, these lend themselves to shelf life.
Others get better if you give them a bit of time to ferment in a bucket, and this isn't possible with shelf life's without adding something to kick-start it
I don't actually find shelf life that much more convenient to store tbh
Others get better if you give them a bit of time to ferment in a bucket, and this isn't possible with shelf life's without adding something to kick-start it
I don't actually find shelf life that much more convenient to store tbh
In reply to Post #1
I've quoted the first two thread posts below, although there is another one about the preservative used that is relevant.
For years I preferred frozen boilies, (not milk proteins) I knew what was in them I made my own, no preservatives, a low level flavour and usually an essential oil. I also noticed that usually in summer, warm weather they turned sticky, then a white fuzz started appearing on them. At this point, when used, the attraction was higher and fish seemed turned on by them.
This phenonemon is the salts and sugars coming to the surface and is called Efflorescence. As the water comes to the surface it brings these salts and sugars with it as it evaporates. The baits normally also broke down reasonably well, although the occasional mix did float up and go off after a few days.
Early Shelf lifes were designed mostly as attractor baits, higher flavour levels, a bit of preservative and quite often fairly high sugar levels. They relied on that rather than being a food source.
I would not have been using many shelfies every session. A kilo bag would last me a few weeks!
In the 1990's certain shelf lifes were improving, Trigga in both shelf life and frozen were both a reasonable food source, although the shelf life had more instant attraction compared to frozen, both caught. I started mixing frozen and shelf life baits of the type.
Shelf lifes were starting to be made from exactly the same ingredients as the frozen bait, the difference in preservation, the shelf lifes were dried and then rolled in a glycerine sugar syrup to preserve them.
Shelf lifes still have instant attraction, whereas the frozen still have the longer term effects of the efflorescence.
The glycerine itself is an attractor as well as a preservative.
The thing with glycerine sugar syrup is that unlike older preservatives it breaks down and is more environmentally friendly.
Not a perfect explanation
In reply to Post #1
These modern shelf-life baits are nothing like the ones of old, I moved over to them due to circumstances and will most likely never go back.
They are very convenient, work straight out the bag but also can be doctored/boosted easily if that's your thing?
I've only brought 2 companies baits but both have produced very good responses from the fish.
I've been using CC Moore's live system frozen bait and was thinking of keeping a bag of shelf life in the van for emergencies. I was wondering how the two compared and if there was no noticeable difference would it not pay to just use shelf life to make life easier . I'd be interested to hear your views , thanks .
I've quoted the first two thread posts below, although there is another one about the preservative used that is relevant.
For years I preferred frozen boilies, (not milk proteins) I knew what was in them I made my own, no preservatives, a low level flavour and usually an essential oil. I also noticed that usually in summer, warm weather they turned sticky, then a white fuzz started appearing on them. At this point, when used, the attraction was higher and fish seemed turned on by them.
This phenonemon is the salts and sugars coming to the surface and is called Efflorescence. As the water comes to the surface it brings these salts and sugars with it as it evaporates. The baits normally also broke down reasonably well, although the occasional mix did float up and go off after a few days.
Early Shelf lifes were designed mostly as attractor baits, higher flavour levels, a bit of preservative and quite often fairly high sugar levels. They relied on that rather than being a food source.
I would not have been using many shelfies every session. A kilo bag would last me a few weeks!
In the 1990's certain shelf lifes were improving, Trigga in both shelf life and frozen were both a reasonable food source, although the shelf life had more instant attraction compared to frozen, both caught. I started mixing frozen and shelf life baits of the type.
Shelf lifes were starting to be made from exactly the same ingredients as the frozen bait, the difference in preservation, the shelf lifes were dried and then rolled in a glycerine sugar syrup to preserve them.
Shelf lifes still have instant attraction, whereas the frozen still have the longer term effects of the efflorescence.
The glycerine itself is an attractor as well as a preservative.
The thing with glycerine sugar syrup is that unlike older preservatives it breaks down and is more environmentally friendly.
Not a perfect explanation
In reply to Post #1
These modern shelf-life baits are nothing like the ones of old, I moved over to them due to circumstances and will most likely never go back.
They are very convenient, work straight out the bag but also can be doctored/boosted easily if that's your thing?
I've only brought 2 companies baits but both have produced very good responses from the fish.
I've been using CC Moore's live system frozen bait and was thinking of keeping a bag of shelf life in the van for emergencies. I was wondering how the two compared and if there was no noticeable difference would it not pay to just use shelf life to make life easier . I'd be interested to hear your views , thanks .
In reply to Post #11
Thanks gents . It seems like shelfies have come a long way in recent years . 👍
Thanks gents . It seems like shelfies have come a long way in recent years . 👍
In reply to Post #1
Shelf life from Baitworks are spot on and not like Nash bullets
Shelf life from Baitworks are spot on and not like Nash bullets
In reply to Post #12
They have. I used only bait from frozen for donkeys years (always rolled my own). Then started to play with preservatives and switched to 'shelf life' with no detriment to catches. I only used to buy ready mades when I needed a lot of bait, but these days, the quality is so much better than I gave up rolling my own, although I still make my own hook baits and pop ups. Oh, CC Moore Live System, that's quite literally all I use, everywhere, from syndicate waters to club lakes, it's never let me down. Provided your store your bait properly, I just can't see why you'd want to use frozen bait these days...
They have. I used only bait from frozen for donkeys years (always rolled my own). Then started to play with preservatives and switched to 'shelf life' with no detriment to catches. I only used to buy ready mades when I needed a lot of bait, but these days, the quality is so much better than I gave up rolling my own, although I still make my own hook baits and pop ups. Oh, CC Moore Live System, that's quite literally all I use, everywhere, from syndicate waters to club lakes, it's never let me down. Provided your store your bait properly, I just can't see why you'd want to use frozen bait these days...
In reply to Post #13
Are they soft(er), baitworks shelflifes that it?
Are they soft(er), baitworks shelflifes that it?