Boilies

Carp Fishing Baits have moved along in leaps and bounds from the early days of using bread and worms (although they are still good baits) with the introduction of high protein baits or boilies which have changed the face of Carp fishing forever.

When I began using boilies 25 years ago I made my own from mixing high protein ingredients such as fishmeal, soya protein, wheat gluten and even semolina, with eggs and various flavours. Now days anglers can buy these baits ready made for them. We have never had it so good!

Although most of these ready made boilies are of a good standard it has to be said that the frozen variety are superior to the shelf life ready made's. This is because a bait is always more effective when it is fresh and the freezer ready made baits are bound with the ingredients, rolled and frozen.

One of the best suppliers of quality frozen baits are The Bait and Feed Company. I can recommend them from personal experience having ordered a lot of bait from there and I have always been impressed with the quality. When your bait is delivered it is fresh not frozen, they deliver it just after it has been rolled so you just pop it straight in your freezer. No more spending hours rolling bait and annoying the wife with the stinking additives!

Air drying the boilies are another option which will make your life a little easier. Air-dryed boilies become very hard depending on the amount of time they are left to dry. Remove your baits from the freezer and place in an air drying bag or a bag made from mesh material. Leave in a space which is free from damp such as your shed, garage etc. Within 24 hours the baits will already have become fairly tough skinned. The longer you leave the baits the harder they will be.

Another option for the carp angler is to buy frozen ready made's from your local tackle shop, this type of bait has been made fresh and then frozen and so is a great option if you just want a kilo or two.

On some waters , particularly hard fish day ticket waters, boilies can become fished out. This means the carp have stopped picking them up due to their having been caught on them so often. Although boilies taste nice and are generally very good for fish, carp are not stupid creatures and will soon learn that boilies mean danger if caught on them to often. In these circumstances it might be worth chopping the baits into small uneven pieces. A favorite method of ours is to make the bait from scratch using a dry base mix and ingredients, this then gives you the opportunity to make your own shaped boilies.

To make your own boilies

Purchase your chosen bait mix, we recommend Rod Hutchinson's Monster Crab Mix. This mix has always produced well and in combination with his Amino Blend liquids is truly devastating.

Firstly crack open 6 free range eggs into a bowl.
Add your liquids in this case 20ml of Amino Blend Supreme
Blend the mixture until firm, then knead with your hands
When a pastry like texture is achieved.

If you are making conventional round boilies, place the mixture into a bait gun and squeeze sausages onto a bait rolling table and then roll. Or you can just roll the paste out flat using a rolling pin and the cut into small squares. This is a great method when carp are shying away from the conventional shaped round baits. Now that you have your soft baits rolled or cut, all you need to do is place them in boiling water for 1 - 2 minutes to create a tough skin which will help to avoid the attentions of smaller fish.

The list of ready made boilies is endless, but here's a list I have compiled of some of the most succesful freezer baits I have used.