Part 2 – Flavours – Do they work?
A new column in which Dave Dowding (Mr Wriggles) will regularly look at the volatile, often confusing, but nevertheless intriguing world of baits and flavours. 
Without getting too confusing and technical it is important that you understand how the various flavours are made up and how they are designed to work.
There is no doubt that flavours work and you can be sure that the fish respond to the various smells and tastes we offer within our baits whether based on natural attractors or ones that are totally alien to their environment, such as Creamy Toffee and the good old Tutti Frutti or Scopex.
More and more baits are containing natural extracts and as these give off easily recognisable triggers they can only serve to make the baits instantly attractive to the fish. I have for a long time now used a mix of Green Lipped Mussel and Betaine as a dip with great success.
It seems as though the next generation of boilies and flavours are now stamping their effectiveness across the many big fish waters and magazines of late. Whether you use boilies or not most will have heard the name Activ-8 or Assasin-8 mentioned and now the new Multiplex. It seems these flavours are all based on purely natural ingredients and enzymes. 
Most modern flavours, even naturally derived ones, are based around a solvent as a carrier. The solvents serve two purposes; the first is to ensure all the ingredients used in the flavour dissolve, with the second acting as a preservative to the flavour.
A typical one may be alcohol, glycerol, oil or a derivative of one or the other. They should all really offer even qualities although some anglers say that flavours based on an EA (ethyl alcohol) carrier could tend to disperse too quickly in the water rapidly losing their effectiveness. But in the winter when the ideal situation is to get the flavour into the surrounding water as quickly as possible to attract the fish in low temperatures then the EA mixes can come into their own.
One thing all this development in flavours has allowed us is to fish flavours in ways not possible in previous years. The most important one being the PVA bag, using an oil based flavour in conjunction with a PVA bag allows the angler to pour a healthy glug of pure flavour into the bag. 
This will melt and the oil will literally spread in a flavour carpet across the lakebed, slowly dispersing with more effectiveness than breakdown pellets.
And if using pellets is your game then you can give them a good soak in oil based flavours in a bait box before you put them in the bag.
Then come the dips and the sprays, ideal for that ‘instant hit’. I find the sprays are brilliant for flavouring bread or floaters without making them too soggy with a dip.
This is why it is important what kind of make up your intended flavour has and to what concentration it is.
I have always believed in the ‘if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it’ idea. I have seen too many occasions when an angler sits with all his confidence in the two heavily glugged baits sitting out on both rods because he has read or heard how good the flavour is.
Again I must say that most of the flavours today will work, some much better than others, but if it’s new don’t edge all your bets on it. I know many of you will be reading this and saying “well that’s obvious”, but believe me I have seen it happen enough times to warrant mentioning it.
I have stayed with the same flavours for a long, long time now and I can honestly say that on many occasions during a slow session I have dipped a bait on one rod and have had a hit on it whilst the other rod stayed silent. I have then brought in the other rod and done the same and have had the same reaction on an otherwise fishless session.
But don’t rely on flavours as the ‘magic touch’ or you will be disappointed for sure as they will not work everywhere and every time. But at least keep a bottle of flavour or dip in the tackle bag and when things are slow give it a go – you could be pleasantly surprised.
My favourite standby is to use a thick dip that literally clings to the bait, as this will ensure that some of the dip goes to the bottom and seeps off in a controlled rate, not in a quick slick. This happens most with boilies due to their sealed skin, though this is not so obvious with other baits. 
I tend to puncture the boilie and score the surface with a drill or needle as I find this not only breaks the seal for the flavour to come out but also as I mainly use air dried boilies; they tend to shrink slightly as they dry out. By breaking the seal and dropping the bait into a thick dip the flavour has a better surface to cling to but also gets absorbed to a certain extent. This absorption gets better the longer you leave the bait dipped, as a lot of dips are natural based you can leave a bait soaking for days with no adverse effect on dip or bait.
I use the Cling-on dips from Hales Baits of Sheffield as I have total confidence in the make up, plus I have first hand experience on what a difference they can make. They are extremely thick and clingy and you can bring the bait back in hours later and still smell the flavour residue so are very effective over a period of time, not just an instant hit.
The other dips I use a lot are the ones from Baitstream. These are called Dip n Drys, the concept being you can use them as a conventional dip and cast out or you can let the coating dry to a gel. This coats the bait heavily and goes dry to the touch so the release rate is a lot steadier and slower. You can also dip it again to double coat giving an effective leak-off over a period of hours.
Now, just as you think you are finally getting your head round the flavour concept and have settled in your ways, something always comes along to upset your way of thinking, if you allow it to, that is.
This little paragraph should get the old brain cells working and totally throw the cat amongst the pigeons; If you have read the many carp and specialist magazines over the last few years it seems the ‘norm’ is to have a strong pungent flavour to your baits, especially the hookbaits for maximum effectiveness. In fact a lot of anglers state that they liked to over-flavour their hookbaits to make them stand out from the free offerings.
Why is it then that over the past year a lot of ‘name’ anglers actually say and recommend the soaking of hookbaits (boilies) in lake water to actually lower the flavour levels as they have found on a good few waters that a ‘new’ heavily flavoured bait is actually spooking the fish! Oh well back to the drawing board again!
To round off I thought it may be helpful to list a few of the ingredients regularly used in bait making and dips today as I often get quizzed on them by anglers.
MULTIMINO – A pre-digested food source that’s bright red in colour so remember this, as it will colour the bait. It produces a cloud effect just off bottom and is a proven fish attractor.
NUTRAMINO – One that’s been around for a long time now under a variety of names. It is a liquid food source that is high in protein and vitamins, most importantly fish love it.
CORN STEEP LIQUOR – A maize grain extract that a lot of people rave about. I love using it as a thick dip as it can really pull the fish.
BETAINE HC1 – Found in plants, yeasts and crustaceans, betaine is closely related to the amino acid flycine. Its fish attracting properties are well known and it is normally supplied in a granular form, though it is highly soluble. It can be dissolved in a dip, added dry to mixes, and even sprinkled over warm baits where it dries to a crisp coating for instant attraction.
In a future column I’ll look at general mixes and try to make head or tail of the low protein v HNV argument. What’s the difference, are they so special, should we use low protein, birdseed or High Nutritional Value?
Next: Flavouring and Colouring Deadbaits
