Tag Archives: Bait

Fishing Strategies

HOMEMADE CARP BAIT RECIPES and Making Readymade Fishing Baits Catch More Fish!

 

When you need some powerful advice on designing carp and catfish baits and recipes for boilies, pastes and pellets, here is some very practical advice that really works on big wary fish and easy small fish, that will not merely help your catches right now but improve your understanding of how to achieve better results in summer or winter for years! These bait tips will work for anyone; so read on and reap your big rewards now!

 

Many anglers want a bait recipe. But how is this going to really help when still fail to create opportunities that are possible to catch more fish, or fail to maximise situations that result in potentially great catches being missed! What is important is that you really get to understand far better what fish are really about and how and why they do what they do in their watery medium. I say this because the watery medium aspect is totally vital in improving your success equation OK!

 

So many anglers merrily put out free baits and expect miracles. A very big part of fishing success comes down to ground baiting or free baiting skills, knowledge and experience. But remember one key thing. Fish can be excited or repelled by what you put out there and even if your bait is a popular and previously successful readymade bait it can actually work against you or reduce your chances if you do not realise what that bait is doing in the water, how and why it impacts of fish, and why it may make them excited or make them unduly suspicious.

 

Familiar ingredients additives and flavours can all be a turn off for fish for many reasons right down to simply not requiring the nutrition from a certain bait because they have been filled with them for so long, quite apart from being afraid of familiar baits and their potential dangers of hooks and capture etc.

 

One thing most anglers must have noticed is how many anglers us the same format of baits these days. Boilies are so commonly used in big carp and catfish fishing, and certainly they catch the majority of big carp around the world. But part of this is because so many anglers use them. I make my own pellets because they are different to standard boilies and unique baits in the presence of very wary fish can be a massive advantage and this is well proven time after time.

 

Whether you use readymade baits or homemade baits here is one thing I advise you to consider OK! Consider how hard and how well sealed your baits are in water, and how long it takes for the majority of soluble material and liquids to become soluble and become solution as part of the water column – thus attracting fish and inducing feeding type of responses that we require in order to most efficiently hook them.

 

So many readymade baits are hard, even if they sit in dips or bait soaks for a long time. Such baits might be useful in situations where nuisance fish and crayfish abound but even in such situations I have always found it far more effective to use soluble baits that break down pretty quickly –say within 5 hours as opposed to 12, 24 or 48 hours plus! Ideally what I want is my baits to actually become part of the water and not sitting there as a bed of baits on the bottom.

 

Even in stronger currents of rivers I aim to have such baits constantly breaking down and pulling in and triggering feeding. For rivers I might make baits square or disc shapes or rectangle odd shapes and make them using certain heavier ingredients but note in such baits you do not have to compromise on bait impacts and you can easily add things like crushed egg and oyster shell to add weight to soluble mixes OK! Crushed finely these kinds of ingredients are great too for when you want to launch hook baits and free baits into the distance.

 

In fact fishing moving water situations is an ideal place to seriously hone your bait effectiveness skills. Many barbel anglers have benefited from my experience of combining refining baits adapted from carp and catfish recipes, and used in search of river chub and other species where baits get washed out very quickly in moving water.

 

Imagine the power of being able to refine the impacts and potency of your bait in moving water, and then using those skills in the pretty still waters of lakes for instance. The impacts of such refined, so well adapted baits on fish and fish responses and feeding is hugely increased – by comparison to conventional baits, and catches differ very significantly! This is especially when compared to boilies made using eggs and the boiled or steamed; thus sealing inside the baits the vast majority of more water-soluble material and liquids within these baits!

 

I like countless anglers used to boil lots of my homemade baits. In fact I regard boiling as very detrimental to your baits in so many ways. All you need to do is compare the amount of stimulating bait material left in the water baits are boiled in, to realise that you are losing loads of potential catching ability of the baits – by leaving it behind in the boiling water!

 

I noticed my catch rates using homemade boiled baits really improved when I used to boil my baits in water that was first treated with additional soluble substances. Sure some of these lowered the boiling temperature of the water, among other effects but they really worked to improve my catches. For instance you might add condensed milk, evaporated milk, flavours, enhancers, marine and vegetable extracts, Horlicks powders, milk powders, milkshake powders, honey, chocolate source, raspberry puree or tomato puree, salmon, shrimp or crab paste etc, condiments of many kinds, sugars, sweeteners, syrups, yeast powders, enzyme-treated fish or liver among an endless list of others I know work.

 

The list is endless, but I advise you to look into hygroscopic substances and form you own personal list! But I would not only add these to water if you want to boil your baits, but soak these into readymade baits freshly defrosting, and to air-dried baits and also to particles, pellets, meat and marine baits, ground baits of many kinds including stick mixes, method mixes, spod mixes and so on! Take good note of this and you will reap big rewards! Revealed in my unique readymade bait and homemade bait carp and catfish bait secrets ebooks is far more powerful information – look up my unique website (Baitbigfish) and see my biography below for details of my ebooks deals right now!

 

By Tim Richardson.

Seize this moment to improve your catches for life with these unique fishing bibles: “BIG CARP FLAVOURS FEEDING TRIGGERS AND CARP SENSES EXPLOITATION SECRETS!” “BIG CARP AND CATFISH BAIT SECRETS!” And “BIG CARP BAIT SECRETS!” For these and much more now visit:

http://www.baitbigfish.com

FOR FREE BAIT SECRETS VIDEOS FROM BAITBIGFISH SEE:

http://www.youtube.com/user/BAITBIGFISH7KAIZEN#p/u/1/eUbFBwq6l9w

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Fishing Strategies

Get the Best Out of Your Bait in Winter and Maximise the Money You Spend on It! These are a Handful of Very Well Proven Expert Tips to Help You Catch

Why not find out more how to maximise the money you spend on your baits in winter and spring and achieve better catches?! See these expert tips proven to work for more cold water carp again and again and save you money! Use these tips to help you right now!

Carp get filled by boilies and other potentially more difficult to digest baits, and it is well known that feeding too many of them in winter is not only often the kiss of death of a swim, but a big waste of money too which certainly does not maximise your chances of bites! Many methods have evolved to provide attraction near your hook bait without over-filling carp. Boilies threaded onto a water soluble PVA stringer next to the hook is very effective and this kind of idea has also spawned countless variations on the theme and really helps maximise bites, while minimising bait costs and usage.

In ground baiting for winter and spring carp it is wise to pre-bait if at all possible and then apply minimal bait while actually fishing, perhaps using soluble pellets, stick or method or spod mixes incorporating broken boilies as opposed to whole boilies at this time. You choice of what to ground bait with and how to do it is a skill and art form that very many carp anglers really need to develop far more as it is vital in manipulating suitable carp feeding behavioural responses to your hook baits! Ground bait using bread is a very reliable method and almost anything excluding indigestible oils can be added; for example boilie base mix and homemade boilie liquid additives and foods.

Bread is often and over-looked ground bait base and it is soluble and digestible enough to really be ideal for the job at this time, and it is very well known not to be just a small fish bait! Fishing over all kinds of forms of bread-based ground baits in winter and spring has proven successful time and again. You can always fish reliable boilies on your hooks and these will of course always remain successful.

Anything you do to raise the likelihood of a curious or hungry carp sampling your hook baits in winter and spring in particular are of vital significance. Solubility and digestibility of your free baits in extremely important so choose very carefully; winterised boilies and carp pellets low in oil are good examples. Low oil pellets designed specifically for carp (as opposed to halibut pellets for instance,) are far more preferable at this time and many great boilie recipes and pellets contain high levels of ingredients ideal for low water temperatures; such as betaine, and Robin Red.

If you find you struggle by still sticking with your usual halibut pellets for winter and spring ground baiting try something like CSL or hemp pellets instead! Cold water-soluble attraction is so vitally important to fish attraction at this time! Soluble attraction dispersing easily from bait through the water column is really the name of the game at this time. Adding Vitamealo from Ccmoore for instance to your ground baits and particles will really boost water clouding and add loads of water soluble milky carp attraction…

Glugs and soaks and dips based on liquid proteins, spleen and liver extracts, and things like herb and spice terpenes and flavour components like butyric acid and so on, really can help catches now. Extra liquid foods and boosting attraction substances will multiply the performance and catch rates on hook baits and ground baits ranging from bread to boilies, pellets, particles and even maggots and fake baits. Thinking far more about your winter and spring hook baits and ground baits, and their incredibly important method and rate of application is so underestimated by very many carp anglers; try to stimulate carp senses as much as possible and build on your knowledge of tips and edges to draw on!

When the huge importance of the relationships between carp senses and your effective (or ineffective) choices of hook baits and ground baits become cornerstones of your fishing attack, you will not stop until you have read as much as possible on this subject and gathered an extremely effective arsenal to stop you wasting as much money on blanks and wasted bait as possible; so keep reading on…

By Tim Richardson.

For the unique and acclaimed new massive expert bait making / enhancing ‘bibles’ ebooks / books:

“BIG CATFISH AND CARP BAIT SECRETS!”

And: “BIG CARP BAIT SECRETS!” (AND “FLAVOUR, FEEDING TRIGGERS AND CHEMORECEPTION SECRETS”) SEE:


http://www.baitbigfish.com


Tim Richardson is a homemade carp and catfish bait-maker, and proven big fish angler. His bait making and bait enhancing books / ebooks are even used by members of the “British Carp Study Group” for reference. View this dedicated bait secrets website now…

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    Carp Fishing Basics

    Homemade Carp Bait Secrets of Enzymes Bacteria Fermentation and Bait Attractors

    Ideally, we fishermen would deliver the hook on its own, direct into the mouth of the fish by magic!

    Well, there is ‘magic’ available if we look a little deeper…

    People have thought of many unique and advanced methods to get their fishing hook delivery ‘fool-proof;’ from using semi-permeable membranes filled with amino acids, to ‘sponge hooks’ full of irresistible goodies! The next best thing is to deliver a bait which is ‘alive’ with amino acids, because it is being actively digested by various means!

    There are various enzymes that act upon the different food groups, some which may be sourced, to use in your bait to predigest its food group ingredients, making your bait a far more energy-efficient nutrition source, so making it as attractive as possible:

    Proteins (proteases): trypsin pH (3.5 to 6), bromelain pH 3 to 10, papain, acetyltyrosine, actinidine, fincin

    Carbohydrates and starch (amylases): amylase, bromelain, diastase

    Fats and oils (lipase)

    Milk constituents: lactase

    White sugar (sucrase): iron sucrose

    Malt sugars and grains (maltase, diastase)

    Dietary fiber / Cellulose: (cellulase)

    The crystalline forms of trypsin, amylase and can be used for example. Fishing bait companies offer it. They are the enzymes the carp use themselves in digestion.

    For natural enzymic application, for example, amylolytic yeast strain enzymes have shown similar optimum temperature and pH ranges in tests on wheat, as amylases from bacteria.

    Betaine is ‘closely related to’ cystine, and is a proven attractor. Used in bait, it has been claimed to work best with the combined use of plenty of amino acids. It is recommended at 1 to 2 grams per pound, although it is more effective at far higher doses…

    It is also used in aquaculture feeds and been used by ‘select’ anglers for years as in ‘Finnstim’ in milk protein baits.

    The crystal form of bromelain (from pineapple) is supplied by health food companies as a ‘tonic,’ and taken at up to 1000 mgs a day as a human digestion aid. It efficiently ‘hydrolyses’ most soluble proteins at pH 3 to 10, at a wide range of temperatures for liquid and many amazing carp attracting substances.

    Casein, hemoglobin, gelatin, soya protein, fish and shellfish proteins, etc. These are converted to peptides and amino acids. It has (very conveniently for us) a wide range of effective acid-base levels (pH), and temperatures.

    Mixed with base mix ingredients, they gradually reduce the structure to a mush, if levels are too high; a teaspoon per pound is sufficient to begin the effect. Once boilies and other baits have been prepared and left to cool and dry after boiling, freeze immediately, to prevent baits predigesting too quickly in advance of fishing. Enzyme-treated baits lose much of their unique attractiveness if the enzyme activity is reduced or stopped for any reason, before ‘backside’ use.

    In the 1980s, I once met the world carp record holder (at that time), Kevin Ellis, while he was fishing. He was throwing his free baits out before casting out. He explained that the large drum, full to the top with bait (looked like many ‘kilos’) would all have to go into the water immediately – before it all ‘melted;’ because it was so extremely enzyme-active! (But obviously very highly effective!)

    Using enzymes, it’s recommended by some to keep hook baits in a pre warmed flask, e.g. 60 plus degrees, to keep the enzymes active right up to the point of use. This is all worthwhile. Results on such baits can be truly amazing when sufficient bait has been applied to a water, extracting the very biggest fish, even, at times, in days rather than weeks!

    I’d always keep my hook baits warm, even if only to allow more bacteria to act and begin ‘bioactive fermentation’ on the bait, making them feel ‘sticky’ and smell slightly ‘sickly’, as sugars and alcohols are produced.

    You can use a pre warmed flask to keep your hook baits actively curing, even if you’re not using enzymes in your bait. Getting your baits to begin to ferment is one of the best ways to deliberately maximize your ‘finished’ boilies’ attraction. ‘Bioactivity’ by natural bacterial enzymes can be used on any ‘chemically unpreserved’ fresh or frozen bait.

    This is one of the ‘secret’ methods those anglers ‘in the know’ have always used as an edge. Even use it on any frozen fresh shop-bought baits. Defrost them an average 2 to 3 days before use, and keep them warm until use! (Bring them more ‘alive’ by encouraging bacterial ‘bioactivity!’)

    It is obvious that bacteria play a vital role in the way carp source and are able to synthesis food because the digestive tract is so short and inefficient compared to our own. The carp digestive tract has evolved in a way that reflects the aquatic food sources available. It seems to extract maximum nutritional benefits in ways that are very different from our own digestion! What a carp eats and how it prefers it in a particular state of breakdown may seem amazing and even disgusting to us!

    Did you know that 10 out of 10 dogs prefer their food sweetened! Specialist bacteria are put into dog food to create more of this effect to trigger the dogs into ‘salivating’ and consequently picking up their food and eating it. Dog food companies spend £1000’s in research to develop the best of this effect in their products!

    The action of these enzymes has much in common with what we are aiming to achieve, in baits for carp!

    Modern ‘Balanced profile’ carp boilie baits mean ‘optimally attractive’, correct ratios of proteins, carbohydrates, fats, and supplemental vitamins, minerals, salt, and trace elements. These are not at all necessary to catch carp, but they certainly have many many benefits on catches and carp general health and growth rates!

    Remember, the carp has a very short, alkaline digestive tract! Ideally, this food needs to be in a form that is actively breaking down, for the carp to derive best benefits from it, or, in an easily digestible form, like that in bloodworms, fly larvae, shrimps or water snails, etc.

    One thing in favour of paste or dough baits and even pellets of different types, is they do not suffer the harmful effects of boiling.

    Sometimes, this point is reached in ‘free baits’, days after you’ve gone home, as bacteria act on them in the water. It is more than likely that this is the easiest form for the carp to digest!

    The absolute ‘cutting edge’ of carp bait production, may be in keeping enzymes stable in baits after boiling, and may even involve using natural bacterial enzymes in combination with balanced casein / soya bean ‘peptone’ content, for example. It may be possible that more enzymes are produced as more pre-digested materials are produced inside the ‘active’ boilie bait, (like pork or milk, or yeast, or liver extracts,) as bacteria levels are improved and become more abundant?

    One important area is the science of retaining enzyme stability in heat and changing pH conditions in the bait. PH ‘buffers’ are involved to protect enzyme potential and activity.

    In experiments involving ‘thermos table alkaline enzyme and industrial bacteria’, the best naturally produced, protein digesting enzyme (protease) levels, occurred using: (Peptone 1V), ‘Soy tone’, Corn steep liquor, Casein, Gelatin and beef extract.

    Enzyme production using the industrial ‘peptone 1V’ was dependant upon its concentration: too much, and there was an excessive nitrogen build-up, as in amino acids and ammonia, which then reduced the protease production. (The peptone was the nitrogen and carbon source). ‘Soy tone’ produced the second-best enzyme production, and the third was corn steep liquor.

    I would surmise from this, that not only can corn steep liquor be effective in translating whole food proteins into digestible forms by bacterial enzyme or other means, but also it may stimulate the production of free L-glutamic acid, within the bait ingredients producing a self digesting, self taste-enhancing bait!

    Top catches are mostly achieved by those people who ‘push barriers a little,’ who think and do things a little differently to the majority. So go on; why not be a little bit different; the fantastic rewards are just waiting for you!

    The author has many more fishing and bait ‘edges’ up his sleeve. Every single one can have a huge impact on catches.

    By Tim Richardson.

    For the unique and acclaimed new massive expert bait making / enhancing ‘bibles’ ebooks / books:

    “BIG CATFISH AND CARP BAIT SECRETS!”

    And: “BIG CARP BAIT SECRETS!” (AND “FLAVOUR, FEEDING TRIGGERS AND CHEMORECEPTION SECRETS”) SEE:


    http://www.baitbigfish.com


    Tim Richardson is a homemade carp and catfish bait-maker, and proven big fish angler. His bait making and bait enhancing books / ebooks are even used by members of the “British Carp Study Group” for reference. View this dedicated bait secrets website now…

    Related Blogs

    Fishing Tips

    Maize carp bait?

    Maize is a bizarre bait. At times carp seem to stuff themselves silly on the little yellow grains. The majority of carp anglers that I encounter who use maize seem to prefer to use it uncooked after a 24 hour soak in flavored water. In this form the grains are bullet-hard and pass straight through the carp more or less intact. I feel that maize is a hundred times more effective if it is not only soaked for at least 2-3 days, but is also then cooked for about thirty minutes. After this prepa­ration most of the grains split and soften and they are far more palatable.

     

    Maize takes on flavor very well and I have also found that it benefits from the addition of a sweetener of some kind. This does not necessarily have to be an artificial sweetener but could quite easily be ordinary white sugar, icing sugar or caster sugar. On the rare occasions that I use maize in France, I flavor a large bucket of 5 kilos of maize with 20ml Strawberry and 500g of ordinary
    sugar. The flavor is added to the sugar which is then dissolved in boiling water which is in turn poured over the maize. I add sufficient boiling water to cover the maize by an inch or so, then leave the grains to soak up the sweetened, flavoured water for 24-72 hours, then I boil the grains for half an hour.

    After boiling, return the cooked maize and the water in which they have been boiled to the bucket and allow them to cool. Do not drain off the water as contin­ued soaking will encourage the cooked maize to ferment. The liquor will thicken and the maize will start to leak its attractive sugars. The maize is then at its most effective. I am encountering fewer and fewer waters  where maize is still effective. For many years it was the bait of choice for most French carp anglers as well as with visiting carp men from all over Europe, but with the enormous growth in the popularity of carp angling in France, the widespread use of maize is proving less and less effective.

    On the other hand, maize is not a popular particle bait in the UK and provid­ed the bait is properly prepared and applied, I see no reason why it shouldn’t be successful on many British carp lakes.

    www.carp-tricks.blogspot.com

    Carp fishing blog with loads of usefull information about carp fishing carp fishing tricks

    Fishing Tips

    Particles carp bait?

    Maybe it is my imagination but there seems to be far fewer carp being caught on particle baits these days. At the peak of their popularity in the past  a great many carp anglers were using a particle bait of some kind, but recently many club and private carp waters have introduced particle bans and this may account for the fall in their popularity.

    I believe that the main reason for the decrease in the popularity of particle baits is the growth of the bait industry and the ready availability of really top class ready-mades, boilie-making ingredients, base mixes, flavors and attractors. Nowadays it is possible to make a wide variety of superb boiled baits and, quite simply, particles have become less effective. There is no shadow of doubt in my mind that boilies catch more fish, catch bigger fish and do them good at the same time.

    Apart from using a few kilos of cooked maize from time to time when fishing in France, I have not used a particle bait for nearly ten years and quite frankly I doubt if I shall be tempted to do so again. The use of mass baits, pellets, ball pellets and groundbaits in conjunction with well formulated boilies is a far more effective method of catching carp than the use of particle baits.

    Frankly I am pleased that the widespread use of particles has lost its popu­larity. Particles are poor food baits that do the carp little good and I believe that it is important that we, as anglers, give back a little to our quarry in the form of decent, nutritional food baits that compensate them in part for the stress we impose by catching them.

    www.carp-tricks.blogspot.com

     

    Carp fishing blog with loads of usefull information about carp fishing carp fishing tricks