Washed Out Baits

[Baz (Angel of the North)]

I have been reading and thinking a lot just lately about useing washed out baits.

It was begining to make sense until I thought of the many different coloured boilies, and can Carp detect colour. Hi vis baits such as yellow seem to make a difference in the number of takes on certain days. I know of only one person who wouldn't fish with fresh baits (boilies).

Let's say you have been pre-baiting a swim for two weeks with a dark brown fish meal coloured boilie. After that two weeks, obviously the colour will have long been washed out of them. Then you come along to fish the spot (two weks later) and put fresh boilies on the same spot. So obviously there will be a colour change. So would it be wise to have a bottle of the lake water to soak your hook baits in and wash the colour out of them?

For some reason, which I can't quite work out yet, I am not fully sold on the idea of using washed out baits, any oppinions will be much appreciated.

 

[Lord Paul]

Baz

I've read a few articles on washed out baits and have wondered the same but never got round to trying it.

I suppose the best way to find out would be to be pre-bait and soak some boilies in lake water has you said and then fish 2 rods, one with the washed out baits and one with fresh boilies and see which performs best over a period of weeks

 

[will spencer]

if you're prebaiting daily for two weeks you'll have at the least day old boilies in the swim when you decide to fish.

how big is the water in question?

how many carp are present?

how much bait are you prebaiting?

 

[trev (100M bronze)]

Baz I asked the same question a long time ago and was basically told to go for it.

As I understand it, it is always a good idea to have some wash outs of your favourite brand. Everytime I go fishing I bring back a small 500ml plastic bottle of lake water and stick a small handfull of my chosen boilies in it, after a couple of days I then put it in my bait freezer. If im going back to the same lake at a later date I will always take my bottle of wash outs with me.

 

[Baz (Angel of the North)]

Sounds a good idea Paul/Trev.

Will.

I will only be pre-baiting once, possibly twice week. and fishing it a couple of days later, but this will be on a regular basis. The lake is only lightly stocked, of around 8-10 acres. I am thinking of baiting it with around 20 boilies, and a couple of spods of particle mix to start with, and then see how it goes.

 

[Frothey]

put some normal baits in the edge - if fish aren't spooking off them I wouldn't bother. Its become the new "must use" special edge that everyone uses.

overloaded fresh baits rule /forum/smilies/big_smile_smiley.gif

 

[Baz (Angel of the North)]

I was also thinking along the lines of dyeing my own washed out boilies to a more neautural colour. Or not adding any colour at all, and see what comes out the nearest to my washed out ones.

I also think there's also a lot of truth in what you say Dave. I have watched Carp feeding on free offerings of boilies, and they seem to avoid the one with the hook in it. But I suppose that could be any number of combinations. I'm just trying to narrow the possibilities down a bit.

 

[Baz (Angel of the North)]

I think the thing to do is to try things out if you have a mind to.

The end result could be that you/I find the perfect washed out or neautural coloured bait, and then go and add a bright yellow or other hi vis pop up to it to make it stand out from the rest, or do we need to make our hookbait stand out? None of it makes sense, but the trying is fun. and like they say, if it gives you confidence..................

 

[slime monster]

Slightly off tack but on the same theme when using meat i cut it with the top of the knife not the blade this gives a rough tumbled texture .

 

[Ian Whittaker]

Use mixed colours , heavily dyed /underdyed/no dye , that'll confuse 'em/forum/smilies/wink_smiley.gif

 

[Roto Fryer]

used washed out baits years ago, on some waters it was far more productive.

You never know until you try!

 

[marie marling]

baz i think some boilies are over flavoured when you buy them possibly making them to bitter/sweet and put the carp off its the same with pellets(Hali) the fish wont touch them until they have softened and some of the flavour has washed out a bit same with colour it cant hurt to try your own ones I think some days the carp just pick up new baits to see what they are .

 

[Baz (Angel of the North)]

Good points there Marie.

On easier waters, I can have a run pretty soon after casting in with boilies. On harder waters, the boilie has to have been in for some time before I get a run. So there is some experimenting to do on that one.

With hali pellets, almost all of my Chub or barbel have come to washed out or softened pellets that have been in for a while.

 

[Clive Moore 2]

Im not convinced it is as much to do with just a slight change in colour, but like marie said the flavour and attraction levels. washing the baits out will make them loose some flavour/attraction levels etc. so they may be more readily accepted if they are a food source that youve established and carp are regularly eating, after they are washed out a bit perhaps...../forum/smilies/i_dont_know_smiley.gif.as for high attract hookbaits, they do just that and attract quick for a bite, but you wouldnt feed overloaded baits like it to establish as a food source/prebait with....(i wouldn't)

personally, i have read about this, thought about and understoodits reasoning, and may consider it, but i dont use alot of boilies (EXPENSIVE!), so i cant really effectivley and consistantly try it out and acheive any sort of conclusion.

Good thread Baz, cheers.

 

[Baz (Angel of the North)]

Thanks Clive.

I was reading something by Frank Warwick the other day on washed out baits. He was saying to try and copy a washed out boilie by being precice with the boiling times as it also gives a softer bait the less time they are boiled for.

On high attract baits (pop ups) somebody else advises using bottom baits of the same hi vis colour? Not to keen on that myself though.

 

[marie marling]

baz try soaking them in lake water for 24 hours then they will match your free offerings .then the carp cant tell the difference

 

[Clive Moore 2]

try using corn.....the ultimate bait! i add chillis and spices to mine, freeze it, then when it thaws it takes on the flavour, has proven good.

 

[MJ]

Hey Baz,
I know someone who cracked a hard lake by watching the fish. The lake was clear, and had good vantage points up trees where he could watch the fish feed in the margins. After a lot of time watching fish, and a year of fishing the water hard, he figured out that most of the stock would happily feed over fresh bait, but the two biggest fish (his target fish), avoided anything fresh. They only seemed to feed over old particles or old bait that had been there for a few days. The clever old fish were avoiding strong bait signals.

He took a bucketfull of lake water and left some of his bait in there for 48 hrs. Next session at the lake, he baited up a known spot with the washed-out boilies, set his traps, and within 12 hours had banked a new lake record, a fish that had not been out for at least 18 months prior. He now swears by washed out baits. I know he even rolls his own'weak flavour' versions of popular baits that other anglers are using regularly on his waters on a paler base mix.

I like the theory, but it would depend on the water for me. If you are talking about where I think you are, there is plenty of other people trying to 'get the carp on their bait' with prolonged feeding campaigns. Something different like washed out baits could well unlock the key to fish that have wised up to everyone else's tactic. /forum/smilies/wink_smiley.gif good luck

 

[Baz (Angel of the North)]

That was a well deserved lake record mate.

I wasn't talking of anywhere in particular, But to do what he did, he would have to have complete confidence in what he was doing. I still have doubts if Carp are so clever as to do that. But it is certainly food for thought.

I have watched one lad in particular walking backwards and forwards for hours before he puts a bait in, up to the point of annoyance, looking for whatever he is looking for. But then again he is the most productive Carper on that same water. The only thing that I have been able to work out from him, is that he does not fish the hot spots.

 

[marie marling]

Baz ask him what he is looking for he might tell you .