Last time, we spoke about how to make the boiled baits which you make at home far more effective by cold fermenting the paste. Today, we are going to speak about how to make your shop purchased freezer, or readymade boilies, far more effective in a pressured carp fishing situation. Any and all of them. Not many of us have the time to roll our own boilies at home anymore, so these are what most of us use.
I'm going to help you to catch more carp than all of your mates. Next time you go to France or you go on a social with your friends... You are going to be a so much better angler, because of what you are about to read. You will catch more carp than those around you because of it. Everybody wants to catch more carp, that's why we all go in the first place. No one is trying to sell you anything at all. Last time, the only extra ingredient you needed, was time. This time, there's one more extra ingredient which you are going to need on top of your normal freezer/readymade baits. You will need a little water. Previously boiled tap water will be fine. If you have some good quality honey at home, that will help too, but it's not essential, the luke warm water is.
Boilies have played an incredible part in the history of carp angling. They pretty much transformed carp fishing along with the hair rig. Allowing us to keep baits in the water for far longer than before. Since their inception many years ago though, carp fishing has changed out of all recognition. The fish are now more pressured than ever before. If you work five days a week and you get very little time. You need to maximise your time on the bank to the very limits. The convenience of boilies, is one of the greatest things about them. We are able to store them in a freezer, or readymade ones we can keep in a bucket. All water obviously needs to be removed from them during production for storage purposes. The problem is, a carp is a wild creature that lives under water. So water, is a very important part of the equation for a carp, regarding anything it eats. That seems to be lost on us as carp anglers a little though. We would rather convenience for storage, and are also obsessed with how things smell in our environment of air. If you throw a completely dried-out piece of sweetcorn, next to a big carp sitting in some snags... It will not even realise that it is food, until it soaks up a little water. Throw a normal wet piece of sweetcorn next to the same carp... It can sense it in an instant. Hemp, tigers, natural baits like this that we put into the water, they are all already wet. They are instantly attractive to carp. If you really think about it, why would you throw dried out 20mm balls of food into the lake, if you only have a day session or maybe a single night to fish? Most of them take ages to actually fill up with water. Simply understanding the mechanics of how things work underwater regarding bait... Is far more important to you than any fancy rig, or £500 fishing rod. It is, if you actually want to catch more carp anyway. Here's another great example of the same thing. Have you ever wondered why boilie crumb, is more attractive to a carp than the same 20mm boilie which it was crumbed from? Simple water transfer is the answer. The 20mm boilie is bound together with eggs. This creates a hardened skin around the outside which helps to deter smaller fish. But it also slows down water ingress. That's a big problem. By crumbing that same boilie, you are opening it up, allowing the water to fill every particle rapidly when it's thrown into the water. It's the same thing, but one is more attractive than the other. Why? Speedy water transfer is why. That is the biggest downfall of the humble boilie. Put your favourite boilie into a glass of cold water, see how long it takes for it to get wet right through to the centre. It could be upwards of twelve hours or more. Do you work five days a week? Do you really have twelve hours to waste waiting for your bait to reach its full potential when you go fishing? No, nor do I.
I'm going to help you to catch more carp than all of your mates. Next time you go to France or you go on a social with your friends... You are going to be a so much better angler, because of what you are about to read. You will catch more carp than those around you because of it. Everybody wants to catch more carp, that's why we all go in the first place. No one is trying to sell you anything at all. Last time, the only extra ingredient you needed, was time. This time, there's one more extra ingredient which you are going to need on top of your normal freezer/readymade baits. You will need a little water. Previously boiled tap water will be fine. If you have some good quality honey at home, that will help too, but it's not essential, the luke warm water is.
Boilies have played an incredible part in the history of carp angling. They pretty much transformed carp fishing along with the hair rig. Allowing us to keep baits in the water for far longer than before. Since their inception many years ago though, carp fishing has changed out of all recognition. The fish are now more pressured than ever before. If you work five days a week and you get very little time. You need to maximise your time on the bank to the very limits. The convenience of boilies, is one of the greatest things about them. We are able to store them in a freezer, or readymade ones we can keep in a bucket. All water obviously needs to be removed from them during production for storage purposes. The problem is, a carp is a wild creature that lives under water. So water, is a very important part of the equation for a carp, regarding anything it eats. That seems to be lost on us as carp anglers a little though. We would rather convenience for storage, and are also obsessed with how things smell in our environment of air. If you throw a completely dried-out piece of sweetcorn, next to a big carp sitting in some snags... It will not even realise that it is food, until it soaks up a little water. Throw a normal wet piece of sweetcorn next to the same carp... It can sense it in an instant. Hemp, tigers, natural baits like this that we put into the water, they are all already wet. They are instantly attractive to carp. If you really think about it, why would you throw dried out 20mm balls of food into the lake, if you only have a day session or maybe a single night to fish? Most of them take ages to actually fill up with water. Simply understanding the mechanics of how things work underwater regarding bait... Is far more important to you than any fancy rig, or £500 fishing rod. It is, if you actually want to catch more carp anyway. Here's another great example of the same thing. Have you ever wondered why boilie crumb, is more attractive to a carp than the same 20mm boilie which it was crumbed from? Simple water transfer is the answer. The 20mm boilie is bound together with eggs. This creates a hardened skin around the outside which helps to deter smaller fish. But it also slows down water ingress. That's a big problem. By crumbing that same boilie, you are opening it up, allowing the water to fill every particle rapidly when it's thrown into the water. It's the same thing, but one is more attractive than the other. Why? Speedy water transfer is why. That is the biggest downfall of the humble boilie. Put your favourite boilie into a glass of cold water, see how long it takes for it to get wet right through to the centre. It could be upwards of twelve hours or more. Do you work five days a week? Do you really have twelve hours to waste waiting for your bait to reach its full potential when you go fishing? No, nor do I.
interesting and thought provoking Mark - I've fished soaked baits for a few years now and particularly on pressured waters it's definitely a massive edge when everyone else is firing in rock hard baits.
thanks
Matt
thanks
Matt
In reply to Post #1529
or make your own boilies and only lightly boil them, paste-like in the middle, just different to the majority.
Edit: Ive just read Marks last 3 posts aimed at the ready rolled boilie, makes my post a little irrelevant
Now thinking even more about bait absorption, texture and water solubility
or make your own boilies and only lightly boil them, paste-like in the middle, just different to the majority.
Edit: Ive just read Marks last 3 posts aimed at the ready rolled boilie, makes my post a little irrelevant
Now thinking even more about bait absorption, texture and water solubility
In reply to Post #1529
Thanks Matt, i hope you are well.
Thanks Matt, i hope you are well.
13 & 16mm pink S2 balanced.
12mm red S3 corkballs
13 & 16mm red S3 crushed cork pop ups.
13 & 16mm white S3 crushed cork pop ups.
13mm GPB1 crushed cork pop ups.
16/12mm GPB1 bottom bait barrels.
16/12mm GPB2 bottom bait barrels
These have all been added to the website tonight. Unfortunately all prices have had to be increased very slightly. Been holding off, but it had to happen. Everything we buy in has skyrocketed. We have put prices up by approx 5-6% (£1 per tub). Our costs have gone up so much more than that recently. Some things have literally doubled.
12mm red S3 corkballs
13 & 16mm red S3 crushed cork pop ups.
13 & 16mm white S3 crushed cork pop ups.
13mm GPB1 crushed cork pop ups.
16/12mm GPB1 bottom bait barrels.
16/12mm GPB2 bottom bait barrels
These have all been added to the website tonight. Unfortunately all prices have had to be increased very slightly. Been holding off, but it had to happen. Everything we buy in has skyrocketed. We have put prices up by approx 5-6% (£1 per tub). Our costs have gone up so much more than that recently. Some things have literally doubled.
Hi Mark, yes fine thanks for asking, you are certainly doing well fair play to you.
Just one more thought on this in my early carp fishing days in the late 80s we used to roll Geoff Aminos with salmon oil peach and black pepper literally on the bank....it was still warm when it was fed and hadn't skinned. Best bait I have ever used....maybe that's why, same principle it would have still had a lot of water in it from boiling.
Cheers
Matt
Just one more thought on this in my early carp fishing days in the late 80s we used to roll Geoff Aminos with salmon oil peach and black pepper literally on the bank....it was still warm when it was fed and hadn't skinned. Best bait I have ever used....maybe that's why, same principle it would have still had a lot of water in it from boiling.
Cheers
Matt
In reply to Post #1534
Thank you. That's exactly why Matt. It's also a massive part of why sweetcorn is so attractive to all fish... Because it's mainly water. Because of that, lake water transfer happens instantly when the sweetcorn goes into the lake. Every attractive food signal, floods out of it to a fish instantly.
What I am telling anglers to do with their boilies, will make exactly the same boilie, so much more attractive to a carp, instantly. It cannot fail to catch you more carp over a period of time if you use boilies. Lots more carp.
Watch all your favourite anglers on YouTube, or in the mags/books over the last 30 years... They will virtually all be using dry boilies straight from the bag. I don't get to go fishing much anymore, I'm a sad joey now.... So giving up any of my little edges in my own angling, ain't the end of the world.
This one, should completely change the way a smart carp angler thinks about his bait.
Thank you. That's exactly why Matt. It's also a massive part of why sweetcorn is so attractive to all fish... Because it's mainly water. Because of that, lake water transfer happens instantly when the sweetcorn goes into the lake. Every attractive food signal, floods out of it to a fish instantly.
What I am telling anglers to do with their boilies, will make exactly the same boilie, so much more attractive to a carp, instantly. It cannot fail to catch you more carp over a period of time if you use boilies. Lots more carp.
Watch all your favourite anglers on YouTube, or in the mags/books over the last 30 years... They will virtually all be using dry boilies straight from the bag. I don't get to go fishing much anymore, I'm a sad joey now.... So giving up any of my little edges in my own angling, ain't the end of the world.
This one, should completely change the way a smart carp angler thinks about his bait.
Got too many captures to even mention, it's clubbing season now. But this one needs a mention. Another forum member Mark, with a pukka 47lb15oz club lake common. A new PB. Bloody well done Mark. (Looks a winter capture too from that backdrop).
S3
S3
Just ordered a tub of pink ballanced s2's 👍🏻
New pb common for David, S2
Wade S2, Riverton
Mark S2 Frimley. Mark has been red carded, caught them all now.
Dinton Black Swan, John S2
Andy, new syndicate first fish GPB2
Will, new PB, S2
Chris, 50+ wild French lake S2/GPB1
Ricci S2
Wade S2, Riverton
Mark S2 Frimley. Mark has been red carded, caught them all now.
Dinton Black Swan, John S2
Andy, new syndicate first fish GPB2
Will, new PB, S2
Chris, 50+ wild French lake S2/GPB1
Ricci S2
In reply to Post #1538
Forum member Chris is clearly still there at his wild French lake and smacking them. GPB1 & white S2 balanced combined. They can't keep the GPB2 in the water because the cats are smashing them in minutes.
Forum member Chris is clearly still there at his wild French lake and smacking them. GPB1 & white S2 balanced combined. They can't keep the GPB2 in the water because the cats are smashing them in minutes.
Russ, GPB2
Mark S2
Ricci GPB2/S2
Mark S2
Ricci GPB2/S2
Hello Mark.
Have been playing around with the cold fermentation this week and blimey doesn't the paste comes out of the bag a heap more pungent from when it went in!
After many years of designing and making my own bait, have never before tried the cold ferment - so thank you for the suggestion and education.
One thing I would add for anyone else reading this (depending on your base mix).
Is that you will need to play around with the moisture/consistency of your paste before putting into the fridge and then back out.
My first test batch, I found a little dry after being out of the fridge for 12hrs and was hard to make little round balls without a crack down the middle.
I since addressed this by making more test batches more moist before undergoing the cold ferment and seems to have done the trick. This is of course all relative to my mix and the dry ingredients that are incorporated.
I have also done away with boiling the little round balls as per conventional methods and have adopted using a kettle. This has helped create a ball of paste with a firm surface around the bait, resulting in a breakdown time of approximately 10 to 12hrs in cold tap water.
I shall continue the tests until the season starts and I can put them into actual practice. As I have also incorporated a curing process to use instead of using traditional conventional flavours.
Top man Mark. Thanks for the knowledge you have shared!
Have been playing around with the cold fermentation this week and blimey doesn't the paste comes out of the bag a heap more pungent from when it went in!
After many years of designing and making my own bait, have never before tried the cold ferment - so thank you for the suggestion and education.
One thing I would add for anyone else reading this (depending on your base mix).
Is that you will need to play around with the moisture/consistency of your paste before putting into the fridge and then back out.
My first test batch, I found a little dry after being out of the fridge for 12hrs and was hard to make little round balls without a crack down the middle.
I since addressed this by making more test batches more moist before undergoing the cold ferment and seems to have done the trick. This is of course all relative to my mix and the dry ingredients that are incorporated.
I have also done away with boiling the little round balls as per conventional methods and have adopted using a kettle. This has helped create a ball of paste with a firm surface around the bait, resulting in a breakdown time of approximately 10 to 12hrs in cold tap water.
I shall continue the tests until the season starts and I can put them into actual practice. As I have also incorporated a curing process to use instead of using traditional conventional flavours.
Top man Mark. Thanks for the knowledge you have shared!
In reply to Post #1541
It makes a big difference. Part of the reason for that difference, is why your paste dried out. Thank you for that. It's something that I never even thought of when I wrote that. I am telling you to do something with boilie paste, which we do with a hook bait paste. The difference between those two, is ours is milled to within an inch of its life and then sieved, sieved and sieved again. There are no lumps.
Your boilie pastes will all be full up with far coarser ingredients. By cold fermenting the paste, all of those lumps in the mix will soak up far more, like they never normally do. That will draw in more extra moisture (egg) than you usually use. Normally those chunks of food are rolled and boiled immediately after the paste is made. You are proving something to yourself as you go Jamie.
The colour of your paste (if a lighter mix), the smell and more importantly the taste will all be drastically changed by what you have done. Something so simple, will actually make your bait so much better than any magic ingredient you can add. You created this yourself.
This will take you down a path where you will not do things the way you have always been traditionally told to do them. You will start doing other things now, how you think it should be done. That will lead you to a much better place Jamie for your bait making.
If your paste ever dries out again, it is quite simple to remedy. Open your plastic bag which the paste is sealed up in. Tap an egg with the back of a knife to create a small slit, and allow some of the runny watery part of the egg white to dribble out of the slit over the paste in the bag. Use the outside of the bag to manipulate it all over the paste ball. Then kneed it from outside the bag. Seal it back up again and wait an hour. It will soak up most of the egg. As you load the gun each time, manipulate the paste even more. You can bring it back to perfect.
It makes a big difference. Part of the reason for that difference, is why your paste dried out. Thank you for that. It's something that I never even thought of when I wrote that. I am telling you to do something with boilie paste, which we do with a hook bait paste. The difference between those two, is ours is milled to within an inch of its life and then sieved, sieved and sieved again. There are no lumps.
Your boilie pastes will all be full up with far coarser ingredients. By cold fermenting the paste, all of those lumps in the mix will soak up far more, like they never normally do. That will draw in more extra moisture (egg) than you usually use. Normally those chunks of food are rolled and boiled immediately after the paste is made. You are proving something to yourself as you go Jamie.
The colour of your paste (if a lighter mix), the smell and more importantly the taste will all be drastically changed by what you have done. Something so simple, will actually make your bait so much better than any magic ingredient you can add. You created this yourself.
This will take you down a path where you will not do things the way you have always been traditionally told to do them. You will start doing other things now, how you think it should be done. That will lead you to a much better place Jamie for your bait making.
If your paste ever dries out again, it is quite simple to remedy. Open your plastic bag which the paste is sealed up in. Tap an egg with the back of a knife to create a small slit, and allow some of the runny watery part of the egg white to dribble out of the slit over the paste in the bag. Use the outside of the bag to manipulate it all over the paste ball. Then kneed it from outside the bag. Seal it back up again and wait an hour. It will soak up most of the egg. As you load the gun each time, manipulate the paste even more. You can bring it back to perfect.
Mark, Frimley S2
Craig, Yateley Car Park GPB2
Ricci GPB2/S2
Forum member Sam GPB2
Forum member Andy S2
Russ S2
GPB2
Andy GPB2
Craig, Yateley Car Park GPB2
Ricci GPB2/S2
Forum member Sam GPB2
Forum member Andy S2
Russ S2
GPB2
Andy GPB2