I’ve sat back and watched this thread with a keen eye based on making my own boilies of late. Very interesting and very informative so thanks to all contributors, as once again my mind is racing! I have a couple of points (as usual) so here goes. Red ones, green ones, some as big as your nose! There are far too many boilie baits in different sizes, flavours and colours available on the market today. Trying to choose the right bait for the right venue could be deemed a nightmare for the beginner and in fact the experienced angler too. I couldn’t say that I’ve experimented enough with my own baits yet to say what’s right and what’s wrong, but I’ve certainly seen some interesting results of late. I’ll explain. My baits are heavy in substance, mustard in colour and extremely strong in flavour, they are of a birdseed base mix and of a sweet smell. As far as I know they are quite unique.
My uncle was fishing at Par Lake in Essex, I popped over to see how he was doing and was informed he hadn’t had a take since beginning his session some six hours previously. I asked him and his fishing partner to give my baits a try. They had six rods out and two of these carried my bait. The onsite bailiff was fishing and had been field testing the new NRG baits for months, piling them in by the sack full every other day or so. The NRG baits would have been classed as safe baits due to the amount put in and the fact that the bailiff had only just started to use them on the hook. Eight fish came out within 24 hours and only one to the NRG. NRG are a very good bait, but it certainly wasn’t the flavour of the day, why was that? Location? – NO as all fish were in the same area ranging some eighty yards and crashing like good-uns. Rigs? – No all used pretty much the same, colour? -- Possibly. Flavouring – definitely! (imho).
Same again when fishing with Carp Angler and Cakey, three fish hooked on my baits with hardly any other runs on the lake. These baits had never been used on the venue before! Am I a better angler than Rik and Cakey when it comes to carp fishing? – definitely not, these guys are pro’s and work far harder than I ever could. Is it luck? - I don’t think so, was it swim location? Don’t think so as we were all lined up together.
This say’s many things to me, maybe I’ve cracked a ‘super bait’ I don’t know, but what this does tell me is that all the articles I read about ‘find out what’s being used on a venue and follow suit’ is not adding up to me. A brand new bait, never been used before on virgin waters is producing, there’s not loads and loads going out, in fact I was only putting 6-10 per hook bait. This has happened on quite a few occasions of late and across many varied venues too.
I can’t speak for others and carp fishing is relatively new to me, but, I over load my baits with flavour, probably against the advice given in magazines, but it’s getting me results in situations where others are blanking (and I don’t mean Carp Angler and Cakey before you start).
My advice to other new-comers, is make your own, personalise them to suit YOU, go against the norm and stick with them. New venues will take never before introduced baits, that’s A FACT! Steer clear of advice given to sell magazines and stick with your own theories and of course the help of experts on here!
