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Flavouring Carp Baits
 I am writing this post in reply to a question
from a friend of mine Mike Leung. Mike is one of the best
Canadian Carpers I know. What I like about Mike is that he
thinks “CANADIAN CARP” rather than being a slave to the wealth
of European based carp folklore which in my opinion detracts
from catching rather than helps in many instances. What is
correct in the UK is often the kiss of death out here.
Mikes question;
Last year we were talking about flavouring particles and you
recommended using sweeteners. I'd like to try adding it to some
of my particles like chick peas and maize to see if my catch
rates improve with the flavours I have. I've tried flavouring
particles for years and TBH, I haven't found any noticeable
difference in my catch rates for the baits I've made myself. The
Demon Baits jumbo corn on the other hand has worked amazingly
well everywhere I've fished compared to other jumbo corn I've
tried prepared by myself and others. Is there a sweetener you
can recommend?
Firstly let me be clear: I am in NO WAY a bait expert. What I do
have is the good fortune to be carp fishing either personally or
via my customers every single day for 6 months of the year.
Often I have up to 30 guys out at a time and this gives us the
opportunity to pool information and test things very quickly and
extensively. So like all my other posts on this forum my answer
is based on experience and results rather than science and/or
theories.
I have absolutely no doubt that flavouring particles does make a
difference, although I rarely bother, as “normally” we do not
need to. If I am fishing personally for a “serious” session or
competitively I will flavour my particles. As Mike may remember
at the CAG tournament in 2008 I fed Cherry flavoured corn and
won my section comfortably. I also gave Mike a bucket of my corn
when he run low and Mike (I believe) came second in his section
from a poor swim (beating me and coming second in the tournament
as a whole).
Mikes comment on the Demon Baits Giant corn is also very
indicative. I used to ship loads of this to the Toronto area and
was inundated with calls telling me how great it was. Last year
another company in the area did a similar bait (flavoured Giant
Corn) it looks and smells the same but does not work anywhere
near as well as the original. Probably this is due as Mike has
surmised because of the sweetener.
Flavouring a bait is not the solution, “correctly” flavouring
the bait is !! A Simple proof is; I am guessing that virtually
every angler out here has noticed that the older and therefore
the more stinky the maize gets the better it works. Actually
this is part scent and part the extra amino acids AND SUGARS
being released as part of the fermentation process All my
fishing friends will know that the first thing I do when they
show me a new bait is bite a bit off and chew it. You will be
surprised how bitter many home made or non branded baits are.
Re adding flavours: To keep it simple there are basically three
types of flavourings commonly used in carp baits. Ready mixed
carp flavours: like boilie dips or Squirts but also such
commonly used flavours as Kool-Aid, Cola Slush puppy mix etc.
Food flavourings /specialist carp additives. And what I call
whole natural flavours ( as opposed to concentrated artificial
flavours)
The ready mixed flavours contain sweeteners already. Boilie dips
and squirts work very well and can be easily used to coat
particles. They work well and are a fairly instant fix. The same
can be done with the naturals, like liquid Molasses, Cod liver
Oil etc as these are not concentrated they tend to be either
sweet or savoury enough.
The liquid mixes can be used as a soak for particles i.e added
while the corn/maize is dry and either boiled in it or left for
a minimum of three days to get fully absorbed. Personally I do
not use these but can see that they would probably work well and
know that the Pay Lakers use them a lot in pack baits.
The problem comes with the concentrated flavours, be it health
food/supermarket cooking type flavours or dedicated carp
concentrated ones. Most of these are in fact bitter to the taste
as they are largely Acetic Acid based. When combined with a
sweetener they become the flavour advertised on the bottle. I am
no cook but sugar of some sort is always part of any cake type
recipe.
You can of course use any kind of soluble sweetener. Sugar,
Honey, Molasses, or the artificial low calorie type stuff. These
all help BUT NOTHING WORKS LIKE THE PROPER CONCENTRATED
SWEETENERS FROM THE CARP COMPANIES. I have no idea why but it is
a fact. I use the Mainline concentrated sweetener, and it is so
strong you need very little, typically in a mix to flavour one
bucket of corn I will be using about 3 to 4 ml. The problem is
different flavours require different amounts of sweetener so
there is no fixed rule. However in general you need less than
you may think. The Mainline stuff is very strong. Just dip your
finger in the water and taste it !
A tip when flavouring the particles is to flavour the water
first and taste it then add the particles and bring to the boil
or leave to soak. Personally I soak and not boil my baits. I
know that in theory boiled baits should be better, and I used to
do this but now find that “properly” soaked baits (at least 5 to
6 days depending on the temperatures) give me the best balance
between catching fish and staying on the hair for repeat catches
without re baiting i.e the soaked corn remains harder than the
softer boiled corn. Of course we should always be aware that
unsoaked or not fully soaked corn can be dangerous to the carp
so at least 3 days !!
Here are some great articles to get
you started!
Casting |
Feeding |
Fish Location |
Fishing the Method
Fishing With Corn
| Flavouring
Baits |
Float Fishing for Carp
Float News
| Getting an Edge
| Hook Baits
Quiver Tipping for Carp
| Spodding
| Marker Floats and
Feature Finding
|
