You may have heard this before, you may have read this before - but it’s pretty much bang on.
And...without doubt, an echo of what is probably the biggest of truths in carp fishing and the biggest denial of any carp angler.
'Many anglers believe bait IS NOT important, when it is exactly the opposite, by far. However, bait itself is the second most important thing in carp angling - the most important being fish location.'
Now read that again.
So, that's me in the pic grumbling at you as usual. But I need to give some perspective on bait out there and ask where yours fits in. Back in the day, pretty much before anyone reading (hopefully) this article, was even ‘thought of’ or possibly some had even picked up a rod, anglers that we would now consider as ‘legends’ of the sport, were catching carp on baits you would not even consider today, using only what was available to them. Of all things, potatoes, sausages, cereal, bread and even cat food being of choice to put in front of a carp.
So, what was the success rate? Well, they caught a few carp as you’d imagine. However not as many as you would think or hoped. The turning point came during the late 60s, and into the 70s with the advent of the HNV baits.
HNV - High Nutritional Value.
The HNV theory came about from a guy named Fred Wilton. Who basically voiced the concept that carp will and do seek out complete food sources - in a nutshell, looking for dietary requirements such as protein, fats, carbs, vitamins and of course that buzz word everyone is over-using at the moment as a selling point, amino acids. This theory was then adapted into a package, to what most carp anglers know today - The one and only boilie.
Boilies used today have come a long way since those early days and do tend to have their wares matching in all forms of colours, flavourings as well as juices, liquids oils and all forms of goodies to match. All of which are being pushed by social media channels, and angling ‘celebs’ to gain an audience to use the product more-so. Which you can understand, it is a business.
My own opinion tells me the baits currently inundating the market, are lacking in substance as far as the fish are concerned and do not form or even function as an HNV, some are far from it. From my conversations with other anglers over time, the phrase ‘contains sawdust’ comes up a lot. I mean really it does - it's quite amusing, but scary at the same time as to the thought of what goes in the water. But, just to point out, a carp does and will eat anything, or will certainly investigate, if it finds something attractive. Possibilities can simply come from the fact it feels it’s lacking something in its nutrition, and if your bait happens to have that one single requirement, you’ll get a bite. If it doesn’t have anything of interest, the carp will quite possibly ignore your bait and move along. So in essence, 'contains sawdust' is almost justified in a tongue in cheek kind of way.
Now, I’ve been making bait for around 12 years now. I have learned a significant amount about ingredients. It’s been an absolute education reading many a white paper at 2 in the morning. Although that is a fair amount of time, I still feel like a junior at it some days because there’s always something new and different to learn. A lot of the information garnered has helped extinguish much of what spews out from various social media videos. Spew that is ignored or turned off about 98% of my time if it is bait related - however, someone out there is soaking it up.
Social media consolidates many opinions about bait but not in a secure manner and offers up ‘knowledge’ in the form of a team member flogging an advert like he is reading about amino acids off an auto-cue. Some of it is so bad, it makes the toes curl. Yet the following year, the said team player is using something different entirely…so who do you listen to, when they start contradicting themselves. Over the years the incQbait team has seen similar, we have had anglers join us and act as if they have been in the bait game for years and profess to tell us how and what for - because it was said ‘online’…the dear old echo chamber of delights.
Two great instances have been things such as ‘ I know nothing about ingredients and the bait is too hard, compared to the ‘brand’ bait that was softer’ - yet on receiving his first few kilos of the ‘hard’ bait went and caught 3 fish and a PB the very same evening, after so many years of using his go to ‘brand’. This was followed up by his mate fishing the same brand, who caught absolutely nothing until our bait was shared with him and he caught in another session. Coincidence? No. I don’t think so. Horses for course and all that. Simply put, our bait works.
This has since been followed by another guy telling me that another of our baits ‘didn’t smell right, and I don’t care if there are vitamins in there or not’, yet, said bait produced two commons from a team member the following day on a difficult syndicate. My response was and is always ‘the bait is not designed for you, because you sir, are not a carp’ Just because the smell is not attractive to you, doesn’t make it less so to a carp. You can see where it all leads…so my advice to any alleged 'bait experts' joining a team, would be to have an actual think before pressing nondescript rubbish at the bait maker, know your onions first! Or simply go fishing. Ironically this guy also had a PB on my bait shortly after said comments. Incidences such as these remind me some anglers just don’t know their bait or what they are talking about, then suddenly switch from one bait to another, claim that it’s the next best thing or a ‘game changer’ whereas the previous bait was crap…….but changing a bait from one year to the next…is not how to fish consistently if you want consistent results.
When I make a new bait I never expect it to work, but anglers without experience of the process just demand it works. But the words ‘test bait’ passes them by...and they are gone as quick as they came. For bait makers reading this, take note….these ‘experts’ live among us.
Now, the team at incQbait, is made up of a handful of core guys, good guys of all different angling skills, who, as much as they have their ears to the ground in the bait world, know not to take it for granted. They know the score, the ‘schpiel’ so to speak and know, the bottom line is a good bait will keep the fish coming. And that’s where we sit in the world. Attraction, yes, nutrition, yes….and confidence, oh yes. But its all been bloody hard earned. No favours. I am humbled the guys took it all on head first - I am most proud of that factor.
So…when it does come to making bait, I kind of know a little of what I’m talking about. Not everything, but a little bit. So when I make a bait, I don’t just add stuff for the sake of it, because it sounds cool for the label. No, stuff goes into a recipe purely because it needs to be there. Knowing what the balance is from one powder or liquid is to the next. But to keep adding stuff because its trendy for a bait, is just dumb - ingredients can clash even at a milligram level.
To give you a comparison, one of my baits will contain the essential ingredients to give it its main character, so in this case lets say 6 major ingredients - the rest will be additives, to keep the carp healthy, in the this case, 8 additives, these in turn act as attractors. In this case that just 14 separate components. Another bait will hold 8 key components, the good stuff equates to 10 additives. All of them at very low levels. But its these low levels that have kept the ingredients intact for near 10 years, without change, and the fish do keep coming back everytime. However, sometimes a contrast in the ingredients might make the difference entirely, but at the end of the day, it’s about having longevity, not just a quick hit, thank you very much I’ve caught a carp. One of our now best baits went through a minor level change in one of the essential oils because frankly after some discussion, bivvies were being gassed out and even the carp were complaining it made their eyes water. It didn’t stop them taking the bait every session though, but again longevity plays a part and I didnt want the bait to simply blow. Since then the fish have gotten up into the mid 30 range and are averaging at least in the mid 20s mark on day sessions alone. With many a photo in the captures gallery - I'd say thats proof enough.
So, with all my waffle and guff on the page done, I think its fair to say, learn to know your bait, is it actually any good? If you don’t know enough, talk to the people at the top if you can. Approach them in the correct manner, without guns blazing, and you'll get a decent response. See if they actually care the fish keep coming back or just the angler does….after all, if that meal you had was great, you wanna keep going back to that restaurant too right? and you can actually talk to the head chef if need be...
Tight lines to all…
J