The Truth About Bait

This article was written by albino (phil) and i have his permission to use it. It is unedited in anyway and is exactly how he wrote it.

Please enjoy.

The Truth About Bait
Part 1

Alot has been writen about bait over the years...But have you stopped to think..BY WHO !!
Most so called experts are in some way linked with bait companies..!!..So for example when Tim nice but dim writes about the latest super wonder bait from a well known company this is in part because he has 100 kg (free or minimum cost) sitting in his freezer..! So he has probably fished with the bait and hoofed 10 kgs at a time into his local (syndicate lake) and over a couple of months (Well blow me he's had a couple of the bigguns)...The average carp fisherman cant afford to do this (as we could be talking about 100+ kgs of bait)...

I had the advantage of being able to do this so i know what im talking about (but never took the mickey and have always been generouse when ive met other fishermen on the bank that are struggling)...You see a fairly good bait hoofed in in large quantities will undoubtidly outfish alot of other baits going into a water...But if a realy good quality bait (one you make yourself or from a small hands on bait company)is used it will in most cases outfish anything else !!

I have a big problem with the larger bait firms..Although some do put more effort into what goes in there baits than others .most are in it for the money and genuinly couldnt give a toss if you blank or not for your 10 quid a KG....They have testers and or own lakes that will supply them with any number of photo's and publicity they need for the carp mags...Leading us lot to believe that the new wonder bait does actually exsist !....The truth is that these larger companies (as ive already pointed out use machines to roll there bait and the mix is all dependant on the machine and not on nutrition)

Fishmeal is not that expensive now if bought by the sack neither is a good powdered carp pellet or dryed blood and liver powders etc etc...All are a good sourse of protein which will be benificial to out quarry...Soya and semo along with wheat flour rice flour and cheep milk powders also contain protiens and are all used by many of the big companies...But there are benificial and unbenificial protiens...Most of the latter with the exclusion of milk powders (good ones) i wouldnt use in a bait other than in small quantities which can be done when rolling by hand

Im off for a xmas drink and when i sober up i will go more indepth with the second part of part 1 (if you get my drift)..But i hope i have pesuaded at least a few of you to give it a go yourselfs or with a few mates who fish together
Merry xmas PHILL ( Albino )

The Truth About Bait
Part 2

Atractors and or additives because for me certain do both jobs and to define one from the other in most cases is difficult..!!
Attractors are as they seem...For attracting fish into the swim by use of Olfactory receptor stimulation...The same effect you get from smelling freshly baked bread or in you northern guys case walking past a pie shop...It stimulates us into wanting to feed...Carp are the same...!

The only difference is that carp have these Olfactory receptors on several parts of there body and can detect minute particles in water...Smell is not the correct term as they sence certain products (attractors) rather than smelling them..When we talk about attractors its a general term as many base mix ingredients such as fishmeals ans GLM contain natural attractors such as oils ..

Im a big believer in using natural attractors in my bait...Although some are non benificial (not harmfull)..like chemichaly made attractors a dirivitive from the petrochemical industry like MPG (Monopropolynglycol) used in shampoos and fibreglass these are only used as a base for other chemichals essential oils and sugar based products....Ethyl alchol is also a base which in conjunction with other flavours and oils is used widely in the fabrication of bait...It has great leak off properties and works even in cold water temperatures...As its an alchol which wont freeze...

These are nothing new..But i have been playing with naturel attractors for a couple of years and it is possible to mix betroot and other sugar based attractors with essential oils and other products quite easily and by doing so not using there chemichal brothers (excuse the pun)....
Betaine along with liver powders GLM and fishmeals salmon (and other oils) are all attractors in there own right...Some would say they are additives.... ....Surely anything that attracts carp into a swim is an attractor...It doesnt have to be chemically made and smell of strawberry to work....

Embutric acids are also attractors but have another job along with other enzime active products...So how do you distinguish between attractors and additives enzimes etc...The problem is many have multi uses and so cannot be put into just one catagory...!!!...
In the case of attracting carp into a swim i would go with the most natural you can get...Oils and sugars in the summer and water based (soluable) or essential oils like geranium and or black pepper in the colder water temperatures...

I wont do a list (of synthetic atractors) as it would be up for too much critisism...But companies like CC.Moors and many others will be happy to help you out should you wish to know the latest super wonder attractor on the market...Some cheep ones that can be used in both the bait and as glugs or boosters are
SUGARS
Mollases...CSL..Liquid sugar cane...Treakle..Honey
OILS
Salmon oil..Sardine oil..Shark oil..Hemp oil..Nut oils essential oils such as geranium..Bergamot..Black pepper..etc
PROTIENS
Fishmeals (varying qualities so be warned) + LT fishmeals
Liver powders (again varying qualities and some are banned in certain european countries)
Blood meals (just ask a keen tench angler about these)
Bone meals ( reletively new to most of us but an interesting product)
SPICES
Robin red (who hasnt heard of this)
Paprika (and chilli powders )
mixed spice (curry etc)
Chineese 5 spice etc
FISH PRODUCTS
Belachen (shrimp block smells of maggots and very salty)
fishmeals and oils

Many products you buy as (attractors/ external/boosters) are a con as in the case of liquid robin red...It doesnt take a rocket scientist to make his own..Just a bit of thought...Same goes for liquid betain and liquid liver products... Most powders will mix on a sugar based dip or glug if not try an oil based one if not try heating the oil before adding the powder etc etc

My advice would be to have a play yourself and if you are in anyway unsure about a product look it up on the web for detrimental effects on carp and inclusion rates and to keep it simple and to use natural attractors with a nutritional benifit to the carp we all fish for..!!

The Truth About Bait
Part 3

Artificial colours in bait are widely used in the industry and many among us believe that certain colours are more visible to carp (or are led to believe this)…Obviously big and small companies alike will jump on this bandwagon as offering choise to fishermen is good buisiness sense..Mr Levi didnt just make one size of jeans….That would be stupid…Mr Ronald Mc Donald doesnt just make one hamburger...Again that would be stupid...They sell there products for differing tastes and clients...And its the same in the Bait making industry...

PROBLEM IS ...These baits are formulated in the most part for us...Yes us the carp fisherman who picks up a pack of red boillies smelling of strawberry and shows it to his mate saying “wow smell that its pucca”....Problem is the product is (but SHOULDNT be aimed at us) as it ends up being fed to fish....

I realy dont believe that the fish in the Pads lake all get together to agree apon the fact that the strawberry boillie there mate showed them realy do smell of strawberry....HOW DO CARP KNOW....Its not how it works...You have all heard about the tank tests carried out on baits in germany and England ....”Inconclusive”..Some say...But the people saying this are themselves bait manufacturers or suppliers of ingredients...NO couldnt be true...200 scientists couldnt be right.......OK guys everyone has to make a living..Just dont rip people off blatently...And bullshit us into buying your crap !

RANT RANT RANT....Colourants in bait are probably the biggest bug bear for me as they are a cheap alternative to other more expensive substitutes and are dangerouse to carp (depending on the colour used and in what quantity)....Say for example Mr Starmouse or Mr gnasher wants to make a bait that he’s selling as a fishmeal....By using cheep ingredients he can use the minimum of fishmeal possible but incorporate a brown colouring...And hey presto...Its got fishmeal in it...(even if it was a handfull thrown from 10 ft away in the general direction of the mixer)...But its brown....And with a bit of artificial fishy flavour....GEE WIZ...Smells like a fishmeal...Looks like a fishmeal...MUST BE A FISHMEAL...TO US....!!...Benifit to the carp...Well..OK beats looking for 2000 bloodworm per day...But in the words of Paul Daniels..Not alot...

Ever seen the effects of certain red food colourants on children....If you have kids you know...Face full of Haribo and 20 mins later they are unstoppable tazmanien devils on crack...
Manufactured flavours and colourants.....Did you know that alot of colourants used in bait manufacture in England are banned in other countries....?....And thats for human consumption...Children that weigh alot more than the average carp...But still we feed this muck to a fish we claim to have respect for..Begs the question...

I know alot of suppliers of flavours and colourants in England and 2 in France...These people deal with the food and drinks industry....(a couple now specialise in carp related flavours)...And 1 or 2 even know a bit about what they are talking about if you have several hours to spare....But most as i say are food and drink related....So someone please tell me how this relates to fish....And what we know about them...(and if you can be bothered to read up on it there are hundreds and hundreds of tests done each year on variouse foodstufs and flavours colours etc).....Have you got a computer....Then you can access Google...No probs...Unsure ...Look it up...

I could list all the questionable colours used..... Reds Blues Yellows and what countries banned them and why....But you have Google so if your that interested.....GOOGLE IT
If not ...just be warned the next time you pick up a bag of Bannana boillies that are bright yellow and rolled by a machine....Or a lovely smelling strawberry bait that is a telephone box red....
YOU MAY THINK ITS THE NUTS BUT WHATS IN IT...!????

If nobody is available to help you with your bait choice or roll you a bait to your spec...My advice is to steer well clear....Roll your own...Or use a company that WILL help you and roll to your own recipie....
In laymens terms....Fishmeals oils and other benificial nutritional ingredients.....Difficult to roll by machine...
Soya.Semo.wheat.rice.mais flour and colourings....Easy to roll by machine....Loads of advertising....Fancy packaging....Hey presto..Bobs your uncle...Everyones a millionair and can retire to France to steal fish from the Froggies....YEEEEHHHHAAAAA

The Truth About Bait
Part 4

Bait prices and how they are configured

This should put the cat among the pigeons...Im going to start with small companies...Like myself (coz i like talking about myself as ive made that many F**k ups its unbelievable..But as i dont take life seriously and dont mind looking stupid...Who cares) when i first started i thought to myself...What would i want in a bait...A good food bait that pulls fish in..Benifits them nutritionally and keeps catching year in year out...So i played about for a year or so with a couple of french friends using different mixes and differing levels of oils etc...Then i went on the Internet and did ALOT of reserch....6 months of reserch infact into the nutritional values of all the products i was using..Benifits ..Pros and cons etc.

My origional base mix was a powdered carp pellet made for the fishfarming industry and powdered down by me using a flour mill (which i had access to..living on a farm)...Now this in itself was great but needed a few tweeks to get it to roll propperly...(Ah i hear the sceptics among you saying..”easier to roll...must have cut it with something”)....Yep i did exactly that...10% wheat flour and 5% mais flour....Neither of which are particularly benificial to carp..BUT...Do aid rolling....”HIPPOCRIT” i hear you say....Not at all...By adding some high grade fishmeal and some oils and bloodmeals our bait is rollable and also back upto having a very good nutritional base for other ingredients and attractors and i didnt compromise the mix.. ...Same mix put through a machine with the same oil content....NO HOPE OF IT ROLLING...

So i had a base mix...(that was just an example of 4 base mixes i used)....Cost to me (just for the mix) £3 per kg....WOW....BUT..!!...Then there is the gas...Electricity...Bags...Labour...Tax...Telephon e...Its never ending...(but being a numbnut i didnt take all this into account when i signed on to do a course at the chambre de metier...The french equivilant of a buisiness course)...Oh no not me....I thought i had it cracked...Make a bait at £3 a kg and sell it for £6 a kg giving me a profit and keeping anglers happy with my low cost wonderbait....(sorry about the profit making thing...I promise if i ever win the pools its free bait for all forum members).....Postage will cost you though as it will have to come from Thailand..!!
So course finished...Wonder bait flying out of the door like a 17 yr old on a promise...I got my first electricity bill....Then a Gas bill ....Then a Bill for all the pots and bags i had bought 30 days before...Then a (You get the picture)....So a bit of recalibration was in order on bait priceings....So i took out my sonic screwdriver and did the calculations...My wonder bait was actually costing me to make £6 or there about a kg....Not including a salary for me and the tax mans cut...w****r....(Basically tax is another way of saying...We love having illegal immigrants in the country and YES of course we will help them to live here by donating money to the government to help keep them here and to furnish them with a house and car and pay there hospital fees)...RANT OVER

Anyway...so £6 a kg for my now not so wonder bait..!!!...Wishing i never started the business and getting scared of my next visit from the postman....BILL....BILL....Oh !!!! xmas card...NO...BILL...Cleverly disguised as a xmas card....I fought on bravely and finally arrived at 15 euros a kg including delivery (at the time about £10) A bit more expensive than i first thought LOL but i could pay all my bills and Make a very good quality bait to boot...

Now here’s my point....Big companies employ staff....This we all know...They advertise...This we all know...But something you may or may not know is the enormous difference in price when buying your ingredients in bulk....Ive done the research...So why didn't i buy in bulk to keep the cost down....Frankly because i didn't want ingredients sitting about for ages in my factory...And WHY...Because i wouldn't want to fish with a bait that incorporated 10 month old fish meals or pellets etc....I WANT FRESH....

Now im not saying that large companies leave stuff laying around for ages...Not on your nelly....Because there production is of such a rate that nothing stays sitting about for long....Great that...Its Fresh when its rolled....QUESTION....”But how fresh is it when you buy it in the bag with the preservative that's been sitting on a shelf in the local tackle shop for 2 years”....

QUESTION “If i can produce a bait of a high spec for £10 a kg including postal charges (delivery inc) and im buying small amounts of fresh ingredients....Why cant a larger company sell bait a lot cheaper than me if its rolling (for example 1 ton per week)”

Staff costs....Packaging...Advertising...Accountancy fees...Buying the occasional lake in France...All this has to be taken into account....ITS B****X....Of course they can sell you a bait cheaper than £10 a kg....But someone set a limit...a price that started the ball rolling...And that's never really been questioned....Plus the larger companies roll by machine....What you get is POOP in round balls that smells nice to us (and rolls well through a machine at 80kg per hour) and for the most part cheep as chips...

Basically peeps....Go old school...Try making your own bait...Or with a few mates....Cost wise...£3 or there about a kg + gas and electricity...And see your results escalate...Or use one of the smaller companies (sorry to rattle on about this again)...But if you cant talk to a company about whats in there bait or they wont roll your own mix then f**k em...
There is nothing more satisfying than catching on your own bait....Or your own recipe rolled by a company you trust....

PHILL