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www.booksoncarp.co.ukHi attract hook baits for spring – Jason Rider
We have just had one of the most severe cold spells for a many a year and most of the lakes have been frozen over for a while. By the time you read this the temperature will be warming up, hopefully, and we will be looking at introducing our new bait for the season ahead, but it can still be a little bit tricky and verging on very hard going at times.
When choosing a venue the shallower lakes that warm up quicker will be a good choice for a bite or two in early spring and if they are popular fisheries, bait has probably been going in through the winter. Most anglers tend to use far less in winter and if the food is not available the carp will often shut up shop. Like any wild animal a fish has to balance food against the effort it takes to find it and if nutritious items are not readily available the fish's metabolism will slow down to compensate. You may think from the title of this item that I am going to talk about bright yellow pineapple flavoured pop-ups and whilst I am sure they will catch fish, they might even be detrimental in the long run. The commonly practised winter method of fishing single hook baits will end up in the fish shutting up shop quicker than everything. If every time they pick up bait, they get caught, their energy is used up and very quickly an aversion to little round balls will occur. I am not advocating that we should all fill our lake in with bait throughout the winter as the carp will naturally slow down with the temperature anyway but the more consistent winter lakes are the ones that continue to see feed.
Pretty coloured and over flavoured bait will catch an angler and in theory be more visual to the fish but possibly send out more warning signs than good ones. Most good quality waters have a pH greater than 7 and if the pH of the flavour is also greater than 7 it is likely to be locked in. To produce bait that expels a signal and Works with the water you need to fully appeal to the way a carp smells, known as chemoreception. This can be done in a variety of ways and the angler willing to put in a little bit more thought and effort can reap some significant results.
As I mentioned high concentrations of chemical flavours are not the answer and success will be achieved by getting our attractors into the water column. I will be looking to use soluble products and applying these with pva products, spodding and little frozen cubes known as glacons. In all of the A baits I sell on my website I include two special additives that are highly soluble and when introduced to the water in powder form, which actually change the pH of the water around the hook baits. Other items you can use are Betaine of Lysine HCI, milk powder, csl, yeast, enzyme treated fish, MSG, salt or any form of sugar. The list is endless really and one very simple edge is to add powder dye to your pva, spod mix or paste. Purple or brown dyes are very affective indeed.
Glacons are a method that is practised widely across the continent but neglected in the UK as most anglers feel they are too fiddly but they do have many redeeming qualities. Simply tie up a hooklength with the bait and attach the hook bait which is then dropped into an empty film canister or similar. Slowly introduce boilie crumb and hemp whist still feeding in the hooklength. You also want to be adding a nutritional liquid or diluted soluble at the same time. Once the canister is full only the swivel should be visible at the top and then place into the freezer. Make up half a dozen or so and take to the lake in a thermos flask. Hold the glacon in your hand and your body warmth will soon allow it to slip out of the canister, attach the swivel and cast out. They cast like bullets and will thaw out even in the coldest water very quickly. Find a recipe you like, the only rule is that you need enough solid items to sink the ice cube. It is a great way of getting liquids to the lake bed and achieving total attraction around hook bait. Another method practised in Europe is coating a boilie in amino powders, this could not be simpler. All you need is sticky sugar syrup to act as your glue and dip the whole hooklength in your powder tub and shake. A practise that only takes seconds but will get you extra fish over the course of a season guaranteed. I have started doing a dip and stick system with the A bait additives and the feedback so far this winter has been awesome.
Lastly do not neglect the paste. Silver fish and nuisance species are also less active at this time of year and used in conjunction with one of the paste leads this is another great way of getting active attraction working for you. As the fish become active they will be looking for some food to build themselves up after the big freeze. Rather than cutting down your odds of a pickup, try introducing your bait as you are ready to go home. Start introducing small amounts of bait in likely spots on a little and often basis and you should soon start to reap the dividends.
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