I've purchased some shelf life Techni Spice just to use as a high attract, low volume thing for the first few weeks of the season before going onto another brand and a wholesome food bait for the rest of the spring and majority of the season. I am limited to shelf life baits apart from 5kg that I might be able to get in my freezer.
Reason for choosing is because I just think it's different to what many will be doing for the first few weeks when the fish are waking up.
First impressions- smells good. Baits break open and break up ok, not too soft but not so hard that I'd be worried about them breaking down in the water. Texture seems ok.
Couple of pop-ups with hooks in currently in a glass, let's see how long they stay up for
Will probably keep a bag of it back as I sure the chub and barbel will love it in the summer.
Reason for choosing is because I just think it's different to what many will be doing for the first few weeks when the fish are waking up.
First impressions- smells good. Baits break open and break up ok, not too soft but not so hard that I'd be worried about them breaking down in the water. Texture seems ok.
Couple of pop-ups with hooks in currently in a glass, let's see how long they stay up for
Will probably keep a bag of it back as I sure the chub and barbel will love it in the summer.
In reply to Post #44
You're right about it being a cut-throat industry. I'm sure I read years ago that after a certain amount of time, 9 out of 10 bait companies will hit a peak and then gradually lose money until the: vanish, change tack, try and hoodwink people with big reputation but low grade ingredients
You're right about it being a cut-throat industry. I'm sure I read years ago that after a certain amount of time, 9 out of 10 bait companies will hit a peak and then gradually lose money until the: vanish, change tack, try and hoodwink people with big reputation but low grade ingredients
In reply to Post #49
I bet that could be said for most of the products that are available in carpfishing, but a lot of quality bait firms have had it hard or gone under
For me certain big manufacturers have managed to condition the anglers more than the anglers have conditioned the carp! As soon as something is released with all the hype behind it they flock in their masses like sheep for the must have bog roll bag that is obviously going to put them more carp on the bank!
I think it's become more of a camping and a look at me pastime than it has about catching big old carp as a personal passion?
It's full of sheep nowadays and that's why companies will always rise with the tide and fall with it, bait, tackle or whatever is carpy!
I posted this before, a bloke I know used to have a tackle shop, His passion was bait, rolled his own and stocked a few of the popular brands. In the end he was fed up, he was sick of the market trends, as soon as a company would release a new hyped up bait in a foil bag everybody was asking for it, he would stock the freezers up for them, few months later, everybody was asking for the next new wonder bait and he was left with freezers full of bait that he could not shift, other than dropping the price and selling at a loss.
We are in an era where a lot of people know **** all about bait other than they are round balls and they change it more than their underpants. Same can said for the level of angling capability too, it's full of sheep and trends set by Manufacturers, I mean sales companies flogging Chinese crap to the masses fronted by some ****ing over energised idiots doing the hard sell for them. The sheep are just getting continually conditioned, cannot think for themselves anymore, they just follow, £££££££££££££. Baaaaaaaaaa
I bet that could be said for most of the products that are available in carpfishing, but a lot of quality bait firms have had it hard or gone under
For me certain big manufacturers have managed to condition the anglers more than the anglers have conditioned the carp! As soon as something is released with all the hype behind it they flock in their masses like sheep for the must have bog roll bag that is obviously going to put them more carp on the bank!
I think it's become more of a camping and a look at me pastime than it has about catching big old carp as a personal passion?
It's full of sheep nowadays and that's why companies will always rise with the tide and fall with it, bait, tackle or whatever is carpy!
I posted this before, a bloke I know used to have a tackle shop, His passion was bait, rolled his own and stocked a few of the popular brands. In the end he was fed up, he was sick of the market trends, as soon as a company would release a new hyped up bait in a foil bag everybody was asking for it, he would stock the freezers up for them, few months later, everybody was asking for the next new wonder bait and he was left with freezers full of bait that he could not shift, other than dropping the price and selling at a loss.
We are in an era where a lot of people know **** all about bait other than they are round balls and they change it more than their underpants. Same can said for the level of angling capability too, it's full of sheep and trends set by Manufacturers, I mean sales companies flogging Chinese crap to the masses fronted by some ****ing over energised idiots doing the hard sell for them. The sheep are just getting continually conditioned, cannot think for themselves anymore, they just follow, £££££££££££££. Baaaaaaaaaa
In reply to Post #50
Yep summed it up nicely Scozza
Yep summed it up nicely Scozza
In reply to Post #50
Glad you've got that off your chest mate
Haha. In all seriousness you're spot on. I've been thinking about this a lot recently, how the fundamentals of carp fishing are very easy. You need a rig that ideally resets itself, with a sharp hook in a presentable spot in an area you know the carp are in. That's basically it. There are variables of course, but having the latest wonder bait, or for that matter the latest bivvy, stove, tools or whatever other gimmicks there are does not alter those variables! Your hook bait needs to be where the carp are, and ideally the conditions are such that they feel like eating!
Bait is a big thing and a small thing. I know someone that caught one in france off the top on a fag butt. Carp dont have arms, they use their mouths to investigate. You can nick a bite on practically anything (especially in early spring when it's like lure fishing with bright singles in some places)
But finding a decent, sustained food source is something else. Without doubt the best way all round is to learn a bit about the science behind bait, go through some trial and error with making your own, and then arrive at something you have no reason to alter.
I am stuck for two reasons - one I could I am sure put together something half decent, spend a week in March rolling it all and be set for a good portion of the season. But the other side of the coin is I wouldn't be content with half decent. I am one of life's great over thinkers, I know for a fact I would do my own head in if I picked up a book about bait. I'd never know when to stop!
The other part is I have a tiny freezer so have to use shelfies.
Glad you've got that off your chest mate
Haha. In all seriousness you're spot on. I've been thinking about this a lot recently, how the fundamentals of carp fishing are very easy. You need a rig that ideally resets itself, with a sharp hook in a presentable spot in an area you know the carp are in. That's basically it. There are variables of course, but having the latest wonder bait, or for that matter the latest bivvy, stove, tools or whatever other gimmicks there are does not alter those variables! Your hook bait needs to be where the carp are, and ideally the conditions are such that they feel like eating!
Bait is a big thing and a small thing. I know someone that caught one in france off the top on a fag butt. Carp dont have arms, they use their mouths to investigate. You can nick a bite on practically anything (especially in early spring when it's like lure fishing with bright singles in some places)
But finding a decent, sustained food source is something else. Without doubt the best way all round is to learn a bit about the science behind bait, go through some trial and error with making your own, and then arrive at something you have no reason to alter.
I am stuck for two reasons - one I could I am sure put together something half decent, spend a week in March rolling it all and be set for a good portion of the season. But the other side of the coin is I wouldn't be content with half decent. I am one of life's great over thinkers, I know for a fact I would do my own head in if I picked up a book about bait. I'd never know when to stop!
The other part is I have a tiny freezer so have to use shelfies.
In reply to Post #52
Spot on with all of that for me mate
When it comes to bait debates one simple thing to consider always, plastic sweetcorn, that is never right but it works in the ways you mention the fag butt
You can nick a bite on practically anything (especially in early spring when it's like lure fishing with bright singles in some places)
But finding a decent, sustained food source is something else.
The food source has been my preferred style for many years, otherwise for me your hoping for some luck. I like to try and stick the odds in my favour!
Consistently catching carp is something else and that is why a quality boilie has been my choice for a long time
There's a problem though and it's called angling pressure and idiots
Angling pressure seriously changes carp habits and a top quality bait is not always the answer, they have seen it all and that is why different things and something new can work so well
Couple this with idiots spodding out the granny art of it with hemp, pellets and pigeon conditioner etc. by the bucket load, Mr carp can happily graze on these items without the fear of getting hooked, to the point it changes the fishing again and you end up messing about with 10mm bits and pieces to get a bite for something that could fit an orange in its mouth!
VERY brief summary but I guess you can see where I'm coming from mate?
Ps. It's good to be a thinker otherwise you become one dimensional and even numb. I bet all of us from where we started out fishing to our last fishing session will have gone full circle, round and round and what was once was, is far from the reality. That's the beauty of this magnificent pastime, we are where we are now, nobody is right
Spot on with all of that for me mate
When it comes to bait debates one simple thing to consider always, plastic sweetcorn, that is never right but it works in the ways you mention the fag butt
You can nick a bite on practically anything (especially in early spring when it's like lure fishing with bright singles in some places)
But finding a decent, sustained food source is something else.
The food source has been my preferred style for many years, otherwise for me your hoping for some luck. I like to try and stick the odds in my favour!
Consistently catching carp is something else and that is why a quality boilie has been my choice for a long time
There's a problem though and it's called angling pressure and idiots
Angling pressure seriously changes carp habits and a top quality bait is not always the answer, they have seen it all and that is why different things and something new can work so well
Couple this with idiots spodding out the granny art of it with hemp, pellets and pigeon conditioner etc. by the bucket load, Mr carp can happily graze on these items without the fear of getting hooked, to the point it changes the fishing again and you end up messing about with 10mm bits and pieces to get a bite for something that could fit an orange in its mouth!
VERY brief summary but I guess you can see where I'm coming from mate?
Ps. It's good to be a thinker otherwise you become one dimensional and even numb. I bet all of us from where we started out fishing to our last fishing session will have gone full circle, round and round and what was once was, is far from the reality. That's the beauty of this magnificent pastime, we are where we are now, nobody is right
Imho Nutrabaits no longer exisits. The long and short of it sadly. Big Bill now uses RG baits, if the company was true to the core values of Nutrabaits, then surely Bill would have carried on using the products?
The popular old 90's bait firms such as Richworth, Dave Thorpe, Solar Bait, Premier Baits etc, have all changed to a certain degree over the years, but Nutrabaits demise seems to have been a lot worse and chaotic. A real shame.
Whatever that muck is packaged inside the BFM bags and cranberry nutrafruit bottles nowadays... is beyond me.
The popular old 90's bait firms such as Richworth, Dave Thorpe, Solar Bait, Premier Baits etc, have all changed to a certain degree over the years, but Nutrabaits demise seems to have been a lot worse and chaotic. A real shame.
Whatever that muck is packaged inside the BFM bags and cranberry nutrafruit bottles nowadays... is beyond me.
In reply to Post #54
I have got rid of all my liquids and pop ups from nutrabaits through eBay and all I've got left is around 2.5/3 kilos of trigga ice and I'm using them to prevail the canal a week before I'm on there.
I'm now trying dna slk so fingers crossed I can get another 30 out of there.
I have got rid of all my liquids and pop ups from nutrabaits through eBay and all I've got left is around 2.5/3 kilos of trigga ice and I'm using them to prevail the canal a week before I'm on there.
I'm now trying dna slk so fingers crossed I can get another 30 out of there.
Sam and Pete did a very good interview / podcast with Bill Cottam recently on their Chronicles podcast; worth a listen for sure..
In reply to Post #56
With part 2 soon...
Thought bill was very honest considering he was a bait maker or rather a bait seller
In such
Half the things they sold he didn't care what made them work or how only they did
Much respect to him
With part 2 soon...
Thought bill was very honest considering he was a bait maker or rather a bait seller
In such
Half the things they sold he didn't care what made them work or how only they did
Much respect to him
In reply to Post #57
I enjoyed that podcast looking forward to part 2 soon
I enjoyed that podcast looking forward to part 2 soon
You lot must of listened to it before they took it down. Was there anything on it that might of been the reason why they had to take it down?
In reply to Post #59
Nothing untoward from what I heard at all
He didn't slag any one off
It's still on the podcast player I use
Nothing untoward from what I heard at all
He didn't slag any one off
It's still on the podcast player I use
In reply to Post #60
What podcast platform is this Mark? All the podcast platforms I use Sam has put up a holding message saying they've had to take it down.
What podcast platform is this Mark? All the podcast platforms I use Sam has put up a holding message saying they've had to take it down.
Can't think of anything on there that could have caused a problem. It was a good podcast. Sam and Pete are producing the best content going at the minute imo.
Is Pete just a lurker on here these days?!
Is Pete just a lurker on here these days?!