|
|
|
|
In reply to Post #34
Grange was with plum and their bio extract mix was with milky toffee and their bio serum……..both them baits made **** anglers great anglers overnight……. 
|
|
|
|
In reply to Post #37
I’m sure all the fish that we saw published in articles back in the day from Raduta were big silvery commons weren’t they? If that’s what’s in there, that’s what you’re gonna catch lol 
|
|
|
|
In reply to Post #35
Did it really pick out the big commons though?
Probably caught a couple and then the confirmation bias kicked in.
|
|
|
|
In reply to Post #35
Yes he used Grange with robin red and plum
|
|
|
|
In reply to Post #34
I could be wrong but I remember reading about Tim Paisley using Mainline Grange with Plum when he went to Lake Raduta. He reckoned it picked out the big commons. I'm sure someone will correct me if I'm wrong.
|
|
|
|
In reply to Post #30
My mate rolls me a plum fish meal boilie. I have been thinking for a while to add some activ-8 activator. Anybody used activ -8 with plum together ?
been racking my brains on this, there was another A-8 combo, it might have been plum- talking 20-25 years ago.
That was the good thing about buying base and liquids you could customise it
|
|
|
|
In reply to Post #32
I emailed them back in August when I started my last bottle of activator. They said they were expecting the next batch in November/December. Even buying 5-10 bottles at a time, you can never be sure if it’s the last lot you’re ever going to get, so I gave up and moved on for this year.
|
|
|
|
|
I emailed Johnson Ross and they will be receiving a big mainline delivery including all activators and base mixes in the next couple of weeks. It’s on order just waiting for delivery 👍
|
|
|
|
In reply to Post #30
tbh I never bothered, plain or maple the activator @ 15-20ml worked on its own.
probably would work but I found that just caught fish and quickly when they were seeing a lot of other baits.
The old edges were 25-30% fishmeal in the base and/or Robin Red
Fishmeal base, no colour, no hydros... low level liver, squid meal and butyric acid worked rather well.
|
|
|
|
|
My mate rolls me a plum fish meal boilie. I have been thinking for a while to add some activ-8 activator. Anybody used activ -8 with plum together ?
|
|
|
|
In reply to Post #26
Maybe it’s the carbs and an enzyme 
|
|
|
|
In reply to Post #27
Wonder what they are using. The mirage baits stuff is two parts I believe, mmmmm…
|
|
|
|
In reply to Post #25
AA Baits do active CSL. You have to keep it in the fridge or it explodes lol, volatile stuff!
|
|
|
|
In reply to Post #25
probably works on the low protein ingredients, much cheapness- we've been told/sold HNV and feed quality over instant baits for 40 years but Mainlines dough balls keep catching.
I've had recipes that have had the full spectrum of (higher) digestable proteins, vits and minerals, superb 'feed' but hadn't been 'bait' until bulked out.
|
|
|
|
In reply to Post #23
You probably improved the profile with that, Mainline bases were not what you would call HNV, although saying that, they didn’t need to be, they just worked as a package 
Always done that if I have been rolling a popular based that others were on, twisted
Mirage baits I noticed do and activated CSL…
|
|
|
|
In reply to Post #23
No I think home rolling with 25-30% fishmeal was standard proceedure
definietly something about the activator, I rolled it on my own basemix and was pretty much one or two fish each 24hr session for last summer I that used it.
Similar results, I'd tried a few maple flavours, liver as the label, Keramin, squid-liver hydro and a couple of shellfish/crustacean flavours but they were straight on the Activ-M8.
Literally drop a bait & a couple of freebies in front of a fish going down the margin....
|
|
|
|
In reply to Post #22
So it wasn’t just me bulking it out with extra fishmeal to improve it and make it cheaper then? I also added Nash Shellfish Sense Appeal to it. Best bait I’ve ever used bar none and caught from the off absolutely everywhere!
This was how I used it:
10kg bucket Activ-8 basemix,
3kg bag Sardine & Anchovy fishmeal.
Per mix:
500g basemix,
15ml Activator,
2ml Nash Shellfish Sense Appeal,
4 large eggs.
Amazing bait!!
As I said earlier, last year when I learned that JR were doing the Activators again, I bought 5 bottles straight away (enough for 100x 4 egg mixes/50kg of boilies) and had the whole year on it and had my best season in many many years!
This time around I ditched the Activ-8 basemix altogether and used AA Baits HNV Fishmeal basemix, 15ml Activator, 2.5ml AA Baits Monster Crab flavour. This combo did really well for me and it came out exactly as I remember it always used to, I couldn’t tell any difference.
What this tells me is that there’s definitely something special in that Activator bottle!
I’ve previously tried to recreate the old bait, but with the Activator substituted for various other experimental liquid foods, like Minamino and CSL for instance. I gave each experimental recipe long enough to gauge results, but not until last year when adding the Activator back in, did I get the results I was hoping for and expecting!
|
|
|
|
In reply to Post #21
Starting to show our age
Very true.
Grange Milky-Toffee 
I didn't buy much ready rolled, early days a kilo would go a long way with stringers.
Every now and then somebody would have a freezer full of 10kg tubes going cheap although tbh a couple of times the bulk bags were definitely a bit iffy..
But mostly I rolled my own, it was easy to pick up a bucket of base, 20ml of activator didn't make any noticeable difference to 30ml and bulking Activ-8 out 25% with LT94 & PDFM certainly improved it
|
|
|
|
In reply to Post #20
Starting to show our age Vinnie when we talk about Activ 8, Assasin 8 , Activ maple 8 , The Grange . I use to meet a guy in a car park on the A12 and pick up my Mainline at a great price all those years ago.
Sometimes I would go to Bevan”s carp shop and I remember he had a mainline bait I think it was a milky Toffee.
The old brain is a bit hazy from all those years ago.
|
|
|
|
In reply to Post #1
It smelt nice but the bream loved it. Active 8 and assassin 8 smelt lovely, god that’s going back a good 25years. Shame some baits are no longer about, one I miss the most is solar club mix with squid and octopus
|
|
|
|
In reply to Post #16
Sure keramine was an inclusion in the original A8.
I tried Keramine about 15 years ago, another one of those horrible powders to work with.
Very fine, light, and stuck to everything just opening the bag, used half, the remainer set solid even double bagged.
Did it improve the catch rate..? The cork balls caught, the bottom baits didn't 
|
|
|
|
In reply to Post #16
Same here I loved it. I remember when I left school I bought a kilo bag of the freezer baits and 5kg of the matching response pellets and the glug. it lasted me all summer holidays and into winter. Used the boilie as hookbaits and stringers and fed handfuls of pellet over the top. Loved the stuff, if I could still get the original stuff I’d never use anything else. I used it for 4/5 years then it changed.
|
|
|
|
In reply to Post #16
Me too
|
|
|
|
In reply to Post #13
Sure keramine was an inclusion in the original A8....incidentally the best bait I've ever used by a country mile
|
|
|
|
In reply to Post #13
I used 20ml cod liver oil c/w 5ml butyric acid per 500ml.
Garlic at your own risk...you're not going to be popular at home anyway but you might want to hang your air dry bag about 10 yards down wind
|
|
|
|
In reply to Post #13
A bit of garlic eo would add some whoomph.
Do you have any spicy stuff added to boost the taste.
|
|
|
|
So for the bait gurus what would be your educated guess as to what goes into the activator ?
I have a hnv fishmeal basemix that im happy with, just the liquid additive im not so sure on thinking
20ml Salmon oil
3ml ultra maple (cc moore)
1ml secret agent (forgotten flavours)
Need a little something extra ? I have powdered glm. Yeast and betain in the mix
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
In reply to Post #10
As much as I enjoyed catching loads on A8 last year, once I started getting supply issues, I had to come up with an alternative for this year. I’m now down to my last 5kg of it from 50kg that I rolled, so will be all gone in a couple of weeks 
|
|
|
|
In reply to Post #8
Just had a look at JR. base mix in foil bags 
They are advertising activators but out of stock. Looks like same as the Mainline site for most folks now
|
|
|
|
In reply to Post #7
Interesting
|
|
|
|
In reply to Post #7
Johnson Ross is the place to look for Mainline basemixes and activators etc. last year I had a very successful and nostalgic year home rolling Activ-8. They did however run out of activator and said they’d be getting the next batch November/December. However, last time I checked a couple of weeks back, they still hadn’t got any. It’s the home rolling section you have to look in.
|
|
|
|
In reply to Post #6
I've got a strong recollection this was discussed on the forum recently but can't find it.
Something to do with Mainline restricting sales because other bait companies were using those/their products and using the name or capitalising on the products.
I'm sure it was said they are still selling them but only directly.
|
|
|
|
In reply to Post #5
Interesting, i have some, didn't think it was that long ago when i bought it 
Edit - Just had a look at the mainline site, seems they have stopped selling flavors, and the activators?
|
|
|
|
In reply to Post #4
Mainline no longer make maple ade or at least i can't find it on any search engine
|
|
|
|
In reply to Post #1
Mainline activ maple ade would be a good starter
|
|
|
|
In reply to Post #2
The baf maple+ is good, comes through even over the same level of monster crab.
Can't see it on their site, and minimum order means try maybe AA baits option.
|
|
|
|
Was thinking the same thing today,
I have two litres of aging Activ-8/Maple-8, sealed and stored out of the light, I mixed the two 3-1..
25% maple-8. was as much of the stuff as I could live with rolling/handling on the bank,
I added 2ml of Maple-ade to 20ml of 8 ball liquid for a while and that was minging in a fishmeal/squid meal.
apparently the BAF Maple plus is very good.- but out of stock.
Minimum quantities and orders over £150 only don't help either.
Nutrabaits don't list a maple anymore
JBs - reassuringly expensive
CC moore? Ultra Maple
Secret Agent? Hunt down the last bottles?
|
|
|
|
ahhh... the memories, loved that bait
if i were to try and recreate the smell what would you recommend ? mainline no longer make maple ade, so which companies maple comes close ? there was also a back note of something spicy ..fenugreek maybe ?
any ideas please
|
|
