What's wrong with boilies? (Market research)

[laguna]

Laguna don't make boilies (I have my own reasons for not going down that particular road), but it is hoped after a recent revelation that we can start making a similar product as early as next year (plus pellets), using a totally different way of manufacture. We already have a name... they will be called BUNKERS and we will be asking for testers so please join the discussion if you can... particularly if you don't use boilies!

Before we start slagging off carpers :wh, here's a few positives to consider.. there may be others!

BOILIES
# convenient spherical shape, well balanced and aerodynamic
# a food that can potentially? contain everything the fish needs to sustain itself
# variably sized to suit different sized fish
# variable break down times (depending on ingredients/composition)
# cheap(ish) to roll, boil and make yourself or buy (labour/ingredients)
# carp will eat most things... so you can't go wrong!
# big boilies can keep 'nuisance' fish at bay

Okay so what's wrong with em?
Maybe you don't fish for carp and you consider boilies a carp only bait?
Are all boilies bad (really?) or are there some exceptions?
I'm not a carper! (old school attitude)
What do you think to the traditional way of making boilies?
If you fish for other species, would you ever consider using boilies to catch them, if not why not?
Do you think boilies are nutritious, good enough or can be improved somehow, is nutrition important? etc.

Thank you chaps!

 

[sagalout]

I don't use boilies because compared to pellets they are expensive and in general I like to catch a variety of species so a soft pellet or a hair rigged 6mm pellet will be taken but most things over a couple of ounces. Maggots sweetcorn, bread and worms are cheap and are readily taken by most species.

I buy my pellets in 25kg sacks for £34 delivered of t'interweb so that's basically, literally, like £1.36 a kilo. I am satisfied enough with my catch rate that I would only consider changing to a new bait if it was cheaper or proved to be better without being horrendously expensive.

I am not convinced the hook bait is as important as the feed and feed strategy. I think when the fish are in the swim and competing they are hoovering up so almost any thing on the hook will get picked up.

 

[greenie62]

...Okay so what's wrong with em?....

They are banned on a number of local waters - mainly due to the amounts used by previous anglers - and it's a pain to arrive at a water with a bucket of them only to find you have to take 'em back to the car before you can start fishing!

Would 'Bunkers' still be classed as boilies - from a fishery owners viewpoint? Will there be sufficient 're-education' to ensure they are not automatically banned?

Cheers Chris:thumbs:

 

[flightliner]

Summer and autumn I always carry a few tubs of mini boilies of varying colours and flavours along with change baits of casters, redworms, sweetcorn and maggots both natural and artificial if fishing for say tench.
It's surprising how sometimes fish will take one of the above seemingly in exclusion of all the rest.
Strangely altho there are carp present in the waters I fish I have only connected with one and that was on sweetcorn.
If a manufacturer could produce mini boilies the same size as the three millimetre screttings pellets they would be onto a real winner for sure!!!!.

 

[rayner]

I don't have any confidence in boilies.
I bought a small jar of 10mm pop ups for winter carp with no success, always do better when the temperature drops with popped up bread or meat on the bomb. Corn is my change bait.
I know folk do well with boilies on some waters, may be all waters. I'm convinced they are a manufacturing gimmick.
I get the feeling to change baits within 5 minutes of making a cast, my usual time I leave a bait in winter is 20 minutes so I leave it my normal 20 minutes but like I said I've never caught with boilies.

 

[steve2]

I am not a carper but I use mini boilies for roach on fisheries where small roach and rudd are a problem. Caught many of my best roach on them. Never found a need to use them elsewhere.

 

[robtherake]

I have a few tubs of mini-boilies and pop-ups and they come in useful on occasion - usually on the method - but for most of my fishing it's worms, prawns, maggots, meat, particles and bread. TBH, most of the waters where I lurk have boilie bans anyway.

I couldn't afford a concerted campaign using boilies, but when I can brew a bucket of particles for a few pence and use those instead I just don't see the need.

 

[peterjg]

I carp fished for many years and made my own boilies in bulk. Had the big rolling tables, baby Burco, bait gun, boilie freezer, etc. Boilies are, of course, a great bait when not too many people are using them. Eventually the carp wise up to boilies and realise that little round balls are dangerous. It's a bit like prebaiting in reverse, by repeat captures anglers are teaching the carp not to eat them: though this will apply to any bait. Changing flavour, size or colour - it's still a little round ball to a carp. Great bait in the right circumstances, better to ring the changes with alternative baits.

 

[Keith M]

The only time that I use boilies is when I'm after Carp, and I use them mainly because of their aerodynamics which means I can fire them out accurately at a long distance and they nearly all land in a small area (which is exactly what I want).

Of course taste and flavour leakage is very important to me as I rely on a flavour trail in the water so that carp can follow the trail back to the hookbait without the constant need for a large bed of bait to get them feeding in the area of the hookbait.

I am a firm believer that a bait used in quantity should be fairly nutritious as I'm sure that filling their stomachs with substances which are of no benefit to their health and their normal growth rates can't be good for them and would cause health problems in the long run..

One disadvantage with using shop bought boilees for me is that they are usually far too hard; I know this is sometimes an advantage and that Carp can very quickly demolish a hard bait in their throat teeth; but I have had a lot more successes when I have used slightly softer home made boilees as opposed to using shop bought marbles.

Floating boilees are also usually far too hard as well, and a cake textured boilee with a thin skin would be far more useful to me than using floating marbles.

Of course really hard baits do have their niche such as when you are trying to deter Crays and smaller fish from demolishing your baits but a choice would certainly be a good thing for me.

If you wanted a bait to stand out from the run of the mill boilee and possibly even fly further when launched from a catapult; then what about giving them small indentations like golf balls have on their surface (that's if you could do it without adding extra expense of course)?
NB: then if you got bored waiting for a run then you could then use your redundant throwing stick as a golf club Lol.

Keith

 

[laguna]

Would 'Bunkers' still be classed as boilies - from a fishery owners viewpoint? Will there be sufficient 're-education' to ensure they are not automatically banned?

Cheers Chris:thumbs:

It depends on why they are banned in the first place Greenie.
I can tell you they will NOT contain eggs, will NOT be boiled, will NOT contain added oils or contain any artificial flavours, but there is nothing to stop people altering with an extra boost of glug. The only similarity would be their shape - if we decide to make them round. Anglers putting in Kg's at a time is one of the main reasons for banning boilies, but its perfectly possible to make BUNKERS 'light' in terms of food value but equally nutritious should we decide. Eutrophication wouldn't be a problem from uneaten baits in such circumstances.
* Good luck to the competition trying to fathom it all out! :wh

If a manufacturer could produce mini boilies the same size as the three millimetre screttings pellets they would be onto a real winner for sure!!!!.

There is no limit to the size that we can make. We have made some pre-drilled 6mm ones. I suppose the only limitation is the size of the boilie stop.

If you wanted a bait to stand out from the run of the mill boilee and possibly even fly further when launched from a catapult; then what about giving them small indentations like golf balls have on their surface (that's if you could do it without adding extra expense of course)?

Keith they can be made textured like a golf ball or made smooth any size or shape is possible, even half's all pre-drilled boilies and pellets.



Thanks so far lads, much appreciated!

---------- Post added at 17:51 ---------- Previous post was at 17:35 ----------

Ps. Price depends on a number of factors; stockist willing to make shelf space, demand, economy of scale etc. hopefully they will eventually be comparable to a Kg of shop bought skrettings.

 

[tom_moran]

As you know I've made a few batches of boilies recently. My aim was to create something similar to boilies but unusual shapes and flavours that while appealing to carp would be something nobody else would be using.

Happy to test a batch out for you anytime.

Sent from my E6853 using Tapatalk

 

[laguna]

As you know I've made a few batches of boilies recently. My aim was to create something similar to boilies but unusual shapes and flavours that while appealing to carp would be something nobody else would be using.

Happy to test a batch out for you anytime.

Sent from my E6853 using Tapatalk

Thank you Tom, you would be more than welcome to try some, I've put your name down! :w

Any thoughts based on your own experiences on what size/shape/flavours to go with?

 

[tom_moran]

Thank you Tom, you would be more than welcome to try some, I've put your name down! :w

Any thoughts based on your own experiences on what size/shape/flavours to go with?

I would target tench and carp with them. Shape wise as random as you could make them, I've bought the chops in the past rather than round boilies and it's worked well.

As for flavour I think it would depend on season and species. A corn flavour would be good and if possible a worm or snail flavour for tench , I realise this may drive the price up though. As we know carp eat everything but as most of them have been bred on fishmeal based pellets I'd start with fish flavours, but I've done really well in colder months on skrettings pellets soaked in dare I say it korda almond goo

Size would be determined on stock levels, no point using 20mm baits for 2lb tench etc. I think a good starting point would be 8mm ish

Also hookbaits could be made of the same flavour and mix but maybe more potent then feed so once the fish are feeding in your swim they are drawn to it but it won't stand out as something to be wary of. These could be sold separately or even a small bag inside the say 1kg bags of bait you sold. Just a thought.

If I can think of anything else I'll let you know

Sent from my E6853 using Tapatalk

 

[Lord Paul of Sheffield]

I'm a boilie user if the conditions are right

Much as sleeper rod for carp bait boile fished with Pva bag of pellets and crushed boilies

 

[swizzle]

I use 10mm tutti frutti boilies for tench in the spring and the summer, I am planning on using boilies this autumn and winter for barbel when the rivers are up and coloured, I'd be happy to test some for you once they are ready for trialing.

 

[mikench]

At the moment I am easily seduced by the descriptions, colours and flavours of boilies and keen to try anything. I have bought a few small jars of boilies , pop ups, wafters, etc with the same success as the tried and trusted. I have various flavours and usually catch one or two with them all

Yesterday it was soft pellets and a piece of cheese. I reckon as fish will eat anything when in the mood you might as well try Uncle Joes mintballs

A really nice guy in my club , who insists on calling me Steve, is usually already fishing when I get to my favourite lake. We always have a chat and he asks what bait I propose to use. As per the fast show( LP will understand) I usually say" this week I has been using pineapple boilies". The look on his face and the language is wonderful when I catch a fish first cast. I usually give him a few and neither of us catch another !:

Like Rayner I ring the changes every 15 minutes or so if nothing is happening. I will give your spawn a try tomorrow; see how adventurous I am Chris! I will give your bunkers a try but I guess my experiences and success with them will hardly inspire you to mass production

 

[rayner]

Like Rayner I ring the changes every 15 minutes or so if nothing is happening. I will give your spawn a try tomorrow; see how adventurous I am Chris! I will give your bunkers a try but I guess my experiences and success with them will hardly inspire you to mass production

I don't ring the changes as you say every 15 mins Mike.
In winter I normally cast three times an hour, after I find any fish.
Or to stop me nodding off, fresh air and keeping warm affect me.

 

[thecrow]

A lot of barbel anglers use boilies at times I do myself, I like them to be fairly small fish proof but not so hard that they could kill a pheasant at 50 yards when fired out of a catapult, a fairly tight mix that leaked attractors slowly is something else I would look for. I like the idea of there being no artificial attractors as it so easy to overload a bait with chemicals.

I am a fan of paste wraps would there be any of that in the range?

 

[flightliner]

but not so hard that they could kill a pheasant at 50 yards when fired out of a catapult,

I,ll have some of them, they have to be cheaper than ball bearings!.

 

[Pete Shears]

I have made my own boilies for years now and for the last 5 years or more have made them with a 'no egg' mix which was first published in the 70's by Duncan Kay. It's a bit difficult to get the consistency right for it to roll properly but it does the job well and in smaller sizes it is good for roach and bream as well when being used as a paste.