I've had a spell using a basemix based around cat biscuits and found that by adding a bit of fishmeal, pdfm and garlic with nampla and salmon oil I caught really well. I actually used Aldi or Lidl biscuits as they were pretty consistent. Grinding wise I used a hand grain mill with the handle removed and a drill attached, could grind 500g in about 1 minute

In reply to Post #10
Ah thats possibly the problem. The lake is surrounded by fields in the bottom of a valley and with the recent rain may have had some run off and the farmer has been muck spreading recently. To be fair to the club they have informed me that are testing the water and have got aerators on 24hrs so hopefully nipped in the bud

In reply to Post #8
I've escalated through the club and to be fair to them they have gone to the ea for advice so will see what the outcome is

In reply to Post #4
I did think that but never seen anything like it before

In reply to Post #2
Nothing else showing on the surface but catch rate has taken a sudden downturn. Edit, it's a 3 acre well stocked lake

Hi all. Maybe a bit of a weird one this but does anyone know if there's any link between bad water quality and eels swimming around on the surface. Never seen this before so thought I'd asked

I picked up some dried beef from the market yesterday as a bit of fun. Once ground to a fine powder it became apparent the the protein element is very water soluble just leaving the remaining sinews etc and the resulting liquid is a very strong smelling one. It seems that liver dried at lower temps retains almost all protein as soluble. As another point, it's been well documented that liver goes well with yeast which have good nucleotide properties so the combo of liver/sodium inosinate/msg could bring good results. I don't think liver is that reliant on amino acids as an attractant but is actually a very good palatant with the added bonus of ffaa's mixed with a good array of aromatic compounds derived from maillards reaction plus fats just makes a bloody tasty treat. To then have nucleotidea added just adds to the attraction.

Wow, fantastic comments lads and I appreciate it. So if we say that although some elements aren't soluble as they are but can become partially soluble on a solvent base then this is enough reason to at least try it and let the fish decide , in the real world.perhaps this is a bit like oils being insoluble yet obviously attractive to carp until you realise that, like a flavour, oils are indeed soluble even if only partially. So if I was to make my own concoction to achieve the desired flavour effect then don't worry about solubility as such. Obviously I don't know as much as some here but i have investigated the reaction between amino acids, sugars and heat and the outcome that is very very similar to the solubles emitted from a certain brilliant bait.

More questions than answers is the way forward

In reply to Post #2
I actually think plain glycerol is a winner but then again I did really well fishing baits soaked in amyl acetate which would suggest they could detect it but maybe a different receptor?

Edit, I should have said that I currently use no liquid at all , just the basemix and let that do the taking in terms of olfactory response

I've been looking more and more at flavours, especially water solubility of compounds within those flavours. So many of those compounds like amyl acetate in pineapple type flavours are insoluble in water amongst many many others unless they are mixed with glycerol which does make some of them partially soluble. With that in mind do you lads think flavours are more to aid gustatory reaction rather than olfactory?