In reply to Post #13
Dr Keith Sykes sums it up perfectly. I'm not plugging Hinders, but he is a well known go to for bait issues

Meet Dr Keith Hinders New Bait Scientist


Coffee with Keith January

In reply to Post #13
both

In reply to Post #12
And have a life time supply of wafters

In reply to Post #10

In reply to Post #18
wafters are a gimmick

In reply to Post #20
yes, neutral buoyancy baits are the one

I've always wondered about incorporating blended maggots. I've pondered for years whether it's the movement or their make up that makes them so attractive. For years I thought movement. But then Casters are a killer bait but obviously don't move.

Would make for a hellishly expensive boilie and I think I'd want to bind it at a very low temperature, maybe even steam them.

That said if you are going to that sort of expense and aggro I'm pretty sure it would be easier just to use the maggots as is.

That's great issue with some ingredients though isn't it. I mean as good as tiger nut meal is, is it actually as good as baiting with whole nuts? I'm not so sure.

In reply to Post #20
Rarely use them now - why would you want a bait flying all over the place when fish are feeding? Its not like they just sit there until a fish sucks at it like what the comics say.

I even overweight pop ups, I want them staying in one place.....

I'd get somebody else to make it

In reply to Post #22
Maggots are at their best alive.

With a lot of these live baits such as worms etc people have tried to put them into baits and it hasn't worked, they always seem better fresher. even frozen ones dont seem to have the same edge as live.

My understanding is that it's the chemicals the maggots excrete (ammonia, high pH) that give the attraction rather than maggots themselves. The maggots themselves are mostly water, although I don't doubt that popping a big mouthful of fresh maggots could give a positive feeding effect.

For starters I'd imagine the ultimate boilie wouldn't be boiled at all. Surely a paste bait or compressed pellet that has lost nothing through cooking is superior, just impractical for long stays or mass baiting?

In reply to Post #27
It's why I asked by what value we measure things. Catch rate / nutritional value / quality in relation to cost, adaptability etc.

You can't just put the best ingredients into a dough and end up with the best bait, it's a science of sorts.

And it's one I think it's linked to how we fish. Those who also stalk fish might want paste, long range specialists a very dense bait, those fishing weed might want lighter baits etc.

There's too many factors to ever have one answer, probably too many to have even ten lol