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In reply to Post #20
Hardness of baits isn't an issue, the baits are firm ( homemade V2.0.2 already) but not rock hard and have remained on the hair even after 8 hours of single bleeps and aborted takes.
Hookbaits are coming back in whole but the outermost baits have definitely seen some movement on the hair.
Also I'm day only so there is no need to have baits that resist the bream for 24 hours+. to hell with that bip...bip...bip-bip rigmarole all night. 
Just one that isn't jammed in the mouth of a persistent 3lb snotty.
My (over) thinking was a good simmered 'crust' and soft inner or alternatively, 18mm core & a softer outer made with water, albumen & blood ( cooked not paste wrap).
Two stage cooking.
Fairly convinced that the soluability of the bait is key.
Besides making the baits less attractive and giving them a bit more to choke on I don't think there is anything I can do about the doubles with industrial hoover sized mouths.
I think there is a need to create a feeding situation, not drawing a definitive conclusion but tigers and frugal use of shelfies seems to be the norm. 
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In reply to Post #19
I'd give 24mms a proper 2.5 to 3 minute boil. If soft and pasty then the bream will eat them too easily, and a paste wrap will be dinner bell time! Got to make the freebies less easy to eat.
Obviously avoid pellet and particle too.
A carp of 15lb+ will have no trouble with 24mm baits.
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I'm about to roll a kilo of 24mm hookbaits in an attempt to keep some of the smaller bream at bay,
Won't be stopping all of them, I had a hefty slab a couple of days ago and I have no doubt that they could fit a 30mm bait in their mouths.
The only questions- a 90 second dunk and leave the middle pasty, wrap paste around a harder 18mm core and blanch the outer layer. Or just make 30 x 24 barrels.
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Baitworks do 24mm baits. They also made me a kilo of 24mm hard hookbaits as well, just ask them.
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| | | slash | | Posts: 8339 |  | | MODERATOR | |
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'Forgotten Flavours' do some fantastic 28mm hard hookbaits in various old school flavours.
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In reply to Post #15
With tigers and avoiding hooking smaller fish in my case on the river lot trying not to hook chub,barbel and bream i would just use bigger stacks of them tipped with cork to stand it up and would think nothing of using 10 tigers on the stack.
With boilies double baits are a lot better in avoiding hooking smaller fish but i have still caught chub barbel and bream on double 24mm baits, but no doubt all the single free bait was taken
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In reply to Post #14
Yes, tigers help avoid the cats but does not deter the smaller carp. May try bunching 5-6 tigers on a hair and see it gets through to the larger carp.
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In reply to Post #1
Have you tried tiger nuts?
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Cats will absolutely devour the bigger baits in particular.
Yet here (Germany) most people fish prebaited spots with big baits 24mm minimum, more often 28, 30 or even 35mm to avoid smaller fish as good as possible.
It will result in a better average weight of fish on the bank (12-13kg plus on average) but its expensive and a lot of work. And will also attract the cats. Something to consider prebaiting with big baits in cat infested waters.
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In reply to Post #5
Baiting up strategy and spot selection will be as important as bait size.
There are many tactics to single out bigger fish.
For example:
1) bait up 5 - 10kg on a spot and fish 20m next to it.
2) select a spot that delivers less bites, if it goes it might be a bigg'un.
3) create 2 baited area's and fish a single bait in between.
4) fish a bait which isn't loaded with solubles and attractors. Plane bait can be more selective
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Moved to bait thread 
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In reply to Post #7
Kinda feel bad calling small carp nuisance fish lol.
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Have to say I also agree with the bigger hook bait getting better hook holds, seems a bit at odds even when I've used them with small hooks [ size 8 super specialists ] but definitely works.
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In reply to Post #6
A good few years ago I had a few months on a club water, nothing bigger than mid 20s. I used double 22mm baits and absolutely clubbed them, out fishing by a long way. Being different definitely gets you more bites
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In reply to Post #5
Hold on ! In your first post you state that there are no nuisance fish, other than catfish. Now you have loads of small carp to contend with. Make your mind up Lol. I had this issue when the lake I was on was unfortunately stocked with hundreds of small carp. Using 20 and 24 mm boilies did help to avoid catching them, but obviously not entirely. One too many 7 lb ers at 4 AM and that was me gone.
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In reply to Post #3
I think exactly the same Ian. Last winter I was using double 16mm hookbaits and the hookholds were superb, sometimes 3in back.
I'll risk fewer pickups if more of those pickups are converted to fish on the bank.
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In reply to Post #4
I really wish that was an option but with the number of small carp in the waters I fish I need to go with larger baits in an effort to keep the rods in the water long enough to get through to the larger fish in the shoals or the loners hanging around the edge of them. Don't get me wrong it's fun catching any size fish but there are times I want a nice lump in the net.
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In reply to Post #1
If nuisance fish aren't part of the equation I would fish 10mm instead of 24mm.
My experience is that smaller baits returns more bites 🙃
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In reply to Post #1
I think bigger baits are harder for the fish to reject when they feel a hook, so use them even when there aren't any small fish or anything to try to avoid. I've definitely found I er the years that bigger baits get me better hookholds
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In reply to Post #1
I fish a 300 acre reservoir where the nuisance species (bream, roach and hybrids) ARE an absolute nightmare. For that reason, the smallest baits I use are 20mm. I also use 24mm quite a bit at certain times when they are being particularly troublesome. My hookbaits are either 20mm bottom baits, 20mm wafters, snowmen with 20mm+16mm, double 20's, single or double 24's, or snowmen with 24mm+18. At times though, you will still catch 6oz roach on double 24's, but there's nothing you can do about it.
If it wasn't for the nuisance fish, I'd just use straight 20mm. To me they're the perfect balance between number of food items per kilo and maximum range useable with a throwing stick. 18mm just don't seem to go anywhere near as far with a throwing stick for me.
In your position with no nuisance fish except catfish, I'd just use 20mm exclusively.
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I am fishing for wild, unpressured carp and roll my own boilies, which I have settled on 18mm for the past 20 years. I have occasionally rolled 24 and 30mm baits in the past but have not done so in 8-10 years. I have been thinking about rolling bigger baits again but can only justify doing it for baiting at range with a stick. Do any of you guys who have fished the big Euro bodies of waters (lake, river, reservoirs, etc) have any thoughts on why bigger baits would be beneficial on wild waters? I don't have to deal with nuisance other than catfish which have as big, if not bigger mouths than the carp. Just want to make sure I'm not overlooking a good reason to have 24mm+ boilies on hand. Thanks guys.
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