Frothey
Senior Member
People talk of shelf life's as **** baits - why? And why is using preservatives a bad thing?
Shelflife baits - preservatives bad?
- Thread starter Frothey
- Start date
Most of my Carp this season came to shelf lifes. I don’t use allot, mainly just for hook baits and maybe a stringer or two. They are convenient and catch allot of fish.
Should we worry about expiry dates ? …I usually buy a few bags of what whatever’s being sold off at the end of the season….
Should we worry about expiry dates ? …I usually buy a few bags of what whatever’s being sold off at the end of the season….
flightliner
Well-known member
Hope they do what it says on the label, I have a 400 gramme bag of Nutrabaits "Trigga" in my carp bin, had em about fourteen years now so if they are no good when I open them I'll be down at Nutrabaits at canklow meadows --- lol
thecrow
Well-known member
Hope they do what it says on the label, I have a 400 gramme bag of Nutrabaits "Trigga" in my carp bin, had em about fourteen years now so if they are no good when I open them I'll be down at Nutrabaits at canklow meadows --- lol
Flippin eck Mick they aint shelf life their fossils
Frothey
Senior Member
Hope they do what it says on the label, I have a 400 gramme bag of Nutrabaits "Trigga" in my carp bin, had em about fourteen years now so if they are no good when I open them I'll be down at Nutrabaits at canklow meadows --- lol
It'd be a wasted trip, ain't sold out to another company ages ago. Rollin' don't roll for them either......
---------- Post added at 11:01 ---------- Previous post was at 11:00 ----------
I suppose I should've asked if you are bothered about what goes into a bait or not.....
benny samways
Well-known member
I am bothered. Mainly because i dont like parting with my hard earned for some marketing shyte.
Shelf lifes will last almost indefinitely. Would you like food that lasts forever? As an anology, and i know its incorrect to anthromorphisize, but have you ever seen one of those pictures of a mcdonalds meal that has been left for years and years? They dont change! No mould, rotting or anything. This is the equivalent of shelf lives, imo.
As an aside, shelf lives are normally very insoluble too. Which makes them useless for feed inducement, imo. They will catch you fish when something else in your feeding has induced them to feed.
Alot of boilies are inert little flavour balls and not worth wasting your hard earned on.
If you want shelf life then go with pellets designed for coarse fish.
Shelf lifes will last almost indefinitely. Would you like food that lasts forever? As an anology, and i know its incorrect to anthromorphisize, but have you ever seen one of those pictures of a mcdonalds meal that has been left for years and years? They dont change! No mould, rotting or anything. This is the equivalent of shelf lives, imo.
As an aside, shelf lives are normally very insoluble too. Which makes them useless for feed inducement, imo. They will catch you fish when something else in your feeding has induced them to feed.
Alot of boilies are inert little flavour balls and not worth wasting your hard earned on.
If you want shelf life then go with pellets designed for coarse fish.
sam vimes
Well-known member
Given a choice, I'd sooner eat fresh food. However, the reality is that it's not always practical or cost-effective to do so. In exactly the same vein, I'd sooner use fresh (freezer) bait. The reality is that I don't have the freezer space to store even modest amounts of frozen bait.
I can understand that fresh bait may be better bait in the longer term. I accept that preservatives aren't a particularly desirable thing. However, I would suggest that the types of preservatives used, and the quantity added, has got better and less over the years. Some shelf life baits aren't the horrendous harsh chemical cocktail that they once were. I recall shelfies in the mid-eighties that wouldn't break down in water for weeks on end. That's certainly not the case with the modern shelfies I tend to use. I couldn't honestly say that I've noticed shelfies being any less effective, though it's nigh on impossible to be absolutely certain on that score.
Ultimately, it's a question of practicality. In an ideal world, I'd use freezer bait.
I can understand that fresh bait may be better bait in the longer term. I accept that preservatives aren't a particularly desirable thing. However, I would suggest that the types of preservatives used, and the quantity added, has got better and less over the years. Some shelf life baits aren't the horrendous harsh chemical cocktail that they once were. I recall shelfies in the mid-eighties that wouldn't break down in water for weeks on end. That's certainly not the case with the modern shelfies I tend to use. I couldn't honestly say that I've noticed shelfies being any less effective, though it's nigh on impossible to be absolutely certain on that score.
Ultimately, it's a question of practicality. In an ideal world, I'd use freezer bait.
thecrow
Well-known member
I rarely buy boilies now but would like to know if there are any shelf life that have the ingredients used including preservatives on the bag?
mikench
Well-known member
One cannot and should not compare the culinary habits and tastes of humans with animals and fish! Bluntly the tastiest 3* Michelin appetiser would be , well , fishfood after it had sat at the bottom of a silty lake or river bed for any length of time. I am no longer taken in with the hype about baits particularly the boily variety!
Even a normal pellet looks to us fairly revolting after being sucked by a fish and left in the water for a while. Whether it started out as being fresh that week or 5 years past it's sell by date, it will be exactly the same to your average carp after 15 minutes in the water; they will either take it or leave it!
Even a normal pellet looks to us fairly revolting after being sucked by a fish and left in the water for a while. Whether it started out as being fresh that week or 5 years past it's sell by date, it will be exactly the same to your average carp after 15 minutes in the water; they will either take it or leave it!
thecrow
Well-known member
That's not exactly correct mike, there are differences between boilies that will make a difference to the fish feeding or not, its a very complex problem.
I am nowhere near qualified enough to give you a list of things that will attract fish or what will repel them I only know what I have found out myself over many years of making my own baits, if all baits were the same then Fred Wilton and friends would not have taken waters apart with their baits while others on the same waters struggled.
There is a lot of rubbish advertising when it comes to baits and unfortunately a lot of it gets believed with every new bait being "the next big thing" mostly anglers soon find out what is rubbish and what is not, if they don't they are not thinking about their angling.
Perhaps Chris will give a more detailed and scientific answer?
flightliner
Well-known member
Flippin eck Mick they aint shelf life their fossils
Exactly graham,
"The harder the better mate " was what a well known carp angler told me back in the early eighties.
A1 advice to anyone
robtherake
Well-known member
I'm led to believe that a proportion of current shelf-life baits are preservative-free. With some of these boilies it's the manufacturing process that imbues the bait with its keeping potential; that and a lower level of moisture.
Thought this was interesting, from a guy whose articles are always a good read.
The CARPology Debate 3 - Articles - CARPology Magazine
Thought this was interesting, from a guy whose articles are always a good read.
The CARPology Debate 3 - Articles - CARPology Magazine
thecrow
Well-known member
Good read Rob even though it was somewhat simplified by both due to space available for the article I would imagine.
Frothey
Senior Member
Are shelf life's just flavoured balls tho these days?
If you look st the shelfies that Essential/ccmoores/etc sell, they definitely aren't soya/semo balls with a bit of flavour and sweetener.
Then you've got the semi preserved baits that are good for 6 months that people like ABS sell - and t be fair, I'd trust Geoffs judgement on bait!
There's good and bad when it comes to preservatives. Some is fit for M&S and Waitrose, some is only fit for Bulgarian red!
---------- Post added at 16:20 ---------- Previous post was at 16:16 ----------
So why were Richworths readymade baits soft back then? The bit that made them so good isn't available any more, maybe why they weren't as effective recently. They were definitely not soya/semo baits.....although there was a thought that rock hard baits had to go to the back teeth to be crushed so more chance of a hook hold. Obv before line alinger!
If you look st the shelfies that Essential/ccmoores/etc sell, they definitely aren't soya/semo balls with a bit of flavour and sweetener.
Then you've got the semi preserved baits that are good for 6 months that people like ABS sell - and t be fair, I'd trust Geoffs judgement on bait!
There's good and bad when it comes to preservatives. Some is fit for M&S and Waitrose, some is only fit for Bulgarian red!
---------- Post added at 16:20 ---------- Previous post was at 16:16 ----------
Exactly graham,
"The harder the better mate " was what a well known carp angler told me back in the early eighties.
A1 advice to anyone
So why were Richworths readymade baits soft back then? The bit that made them so good isn't available any more, maybe why they weren't as effective recently. They were definitely not soya/semo baits.....although there was a thought that rock hard baits had to go to the back teeth to be crushed so more chance of a hook hold. Obv before line alinger!
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flightliner
Well-known member
No idea, I used em myself on easy "carp only waters" like cuttle but if I used them on a water with " niuscence fish presant I always hardened them off .