Starting Carping Part 6 ? Bait

What size hooks and boilies do you normally use Dave?

i've got everything from 10mm's to 24mm's in the freezer, plus barrels and pillows - depends on where i'm fishing and what i fancy!

hookwise, between 12's and 6's - i tend to use as big as i feel i can get away with

Dave in what situations will you use the barrels and pillows?

whenever i can! to be honest most of the round baits i use get chopped when i can get them out.

I think the original controversy surrounding the heavy use of fish oils in fishmeal baits and by 'glugging' started following fish deaths at Harefield Dave? This is hardly the type of water where you describe they may create a problem, although I agree that 'hungry waters' are the prime candidates for bait abuse. Harry Haskell drew attention to the oil problem and disceted one of the Harefield mortalities to show a carp's liver literally swimming in oil. You'll need to go back to the very earliest 'Carpworlds' if you'd like to check this out though? I believe a fair number of the Darenth Tip Lake originals turned over at about the same time. The lake having oil slicks on the surface in the summer during the height of the 'glugging' fad, so I'm told, I don't fish 'circuit waters'. The fad went out of favour not long after, although no doubt someone will re-invent it?

Nice piece, but in all honesty the bait scene has been almost completely stagnant for getting on for 20 years now. The only really significant baits have been the 'halibuts'. Fluoros, odd shapes etc...are very old hat. When the EC ensured the price of pukka NZ milk products went through the roof, Lockey (Solar) and Geoff (Premier) re-invented birdfoods and fishmeals respectively, both very good baits though. Dave Moore later combined the 2 to produce Nutrabaits 'Big Fish Mix', although 'spiced' (Robin Red) fishmeals had been around for a while then.

The distinction between 'attractor' and 'food' baits has always been cloudy and the source of some arguement. Carp certainly love eating 'Tuttis' which stink to high heaven, are sickly sweet and have been around for over 20 years. Rob Maylin once listed semolina as his favourite ingredient! Though was probably on a wind-up of the self-appointed bait gurus of the time.

When ready-mades took off, bait experimentation really died. There was some very interesting progress with Aminos, but they were better released with pastes, as are most additives. I feel the use of enzymes and pre-digested foods (Bengers, Davina etc...) to increase the BV of milks was a red herring though?

One thing the last 20 years has proved is good bait remains good bait and a handful of flavours still dominate the market. This was not the gospel in the early days when companies marketed massive flavour lists and biggies supposedly only got caught on a particular smell once! Hutchies Scopex (and it is Hutchies), Monster Crab (includes N-butyric acid) and a few others have stood the test of time. Always preferred Geoff Kemp's range myself and still use them. Lockey and Baker do a few of his, but you could still get them from Geoff last time I wanted any. If you are in the know, that is!

Cheers, Jack

I want to get on the Malarky bait, do you have a contact number for Geoff Bowers.(Active Bait Solutions.) Cheers.

01304 620111 or mobile 07751387151

hard man to get hold of though, there are plenty of others that roll his bait. best to buy in bulk

Thanks, I will give him a go.

There's one other cheap bulk particle I would add that I have great success with as a groundbait, especially coloured red while cooking with simple food dye, and that's rice ! Especially good with Crucians and Tench as well as Carp.

Great particle bait, carbohydrate rich and tasty, takes on any flavour you care to add to the cooking water - sugar, vanilla, almond, banana, you name it - and best of all CHEAP !!!!

Dyed red it looks just like little red maggots and a kilo of rice is one hell of a lot cheaper feed than half a gallon of maggots. I have had great success with it mixed with chick peas and hemp and then fishing red maggot / dyed and undyed chickpeas / ditto sweet corn / red paste over the top of it...

And if your rice always ends up as a sticky glutinous unusable and inedible lump when you cook it here's a quick tip; if the rice says 10 minutes cooking then cook it in lots of water up to 7 minutes, then drain it in a sieve, rinse through with hot water, then back into the original saucepan with a kettle of freshly boiled water, bring back to the boil and give it the remaining 3 minutes, sieve / rinse again, then leave in the sieve on top of a folded tea towel to drain for another half hour or so (water drains off better by contact with the towel than it does by dripping). For differing cooking times vary as appropriate, eg. 8 + 4 for 12 minutes, 10+5 for 15 minutes etc.

If you're colouring your rice then shove it in at the beginning, doesn't need any more in the second lot of water, if you're flavouring then add it to the second lot of water.

Good luck...

PS. One thing I forgot but must add about rice; never ever use rice for anything if it has gone mouldy.

Boil and use that day or the next but keep uncovered in the fridge and throw away any cooked rice older than 48 hours since boiling; immediately regardless of age if showing any signs of mould growth.

The reason is simple. The mould is liable to be ricin, one of the very deadliest poisons known to man. Microgrammes kill. Remember the Bulgarian with the umbrella and a Mr. Markov - the impregnated ball bearing was less than the size of a pin head.

If you encounter mouldy rice do not touch, do not inhale deeply, cover your mouth if you can, and bin instantly and forthwith down the loo rather than into the bin - drowning in water kills the mould and dilutes any danger. So it's safe to fish with but does deserve that one word of caution and respect.





PPS. Any and all requests for fried rice* recipes with which to regale the Mother in law shall be referred to the regional crime squad.






* Frying kills the fungi and breaks down the toxin anyway. Much better to add it to make some nice cold rice pudding....

))))