Making Own Bait

[Jeremy Cronin]

I am wondering if there is a benefit in creating my own fresh bait from John Bakers range, or sticking with the Herb from Handcraft Baits. Fishing the Hampshire Avon & Dorset Stour so both low stock venues.
Do the attractors in John's baits & flavours really outfish off the shelf baits?

 

[Peter Hayes]

If you're happy with the Herb from Handcraft baits and your catching plenty on it then don't change a winning formula. That being said there is nothing wrong exploring other options and I've had good success on John's baits with his TasteF2 base mix being a prime example of being very instant.

 

[Gavin Burt]

Taste F2 is a great bait and I make my own boilies the day I go fishing.

Main reason I don’t use “shop bought” is because I’m pretty confident that no one is using the same bait as me.

JB’s flavours are really good too, especially Ala Salar. A small bottle of that will last a couple of years easy.

Checkout his bait making videos on YouTube.

Also, if you’re into podcasts then check out The Carp Chronicles Podcast. It’s many focused around carp but barbel are a very similar fish. They really are very insightful and talk about bait making in detail.

 

[Jeremy Cronin]

If you're happy with the Herb from Handcraft baits and your catching plenty on it then don't change a winning formula. That being said there is nothing wrong exploring other options and I've had good success on John's baits with his TasteF2 base mix being a prime example of being very instant.

Not being very successful apart from Chub last year, hence thinking it might be an edge.

 

[Kevin Brown]

JBs Taste F2 with Barbel Search 4 is a winning combination
0.5 mm per large egg

 

[Richard Isaacs]

Not being very successful apart from Chub last year, hence thinking it might be an edge.

There’s afew advantages but it’s not pixie dust and they are only as good as the work you put in to them.

As Gavin said above, you are going to the river not only with something as fresh as it possibly can be but also unique and probably something the fish haven’t seen or tasted before. Do something different with the shapes too and you’ll have a complete 1 off bait with your own label on it.

Now the real advantage comes with application and I’ve witnessed first hand how devastating this can be with HNV baits.

To get the best out of them You need to be introducing it with very low levels of flavour at least 2-3 times a week for 5-6 weeks in 3-4 swims before you put a hook bait out and after that period you continue applying the bait while fishing them.

Doing this you are no longer attracting your barbel by smell but by taste. They will be actively looking for your bait and recognize it as a food source but it’s important you get the recipe nailed on because if the taste ain’t right, it doesn’t work. Hence very low flavours.

This is a really powerful thing in tricky venues because you have added your high nutritional value bait that tastes great to the menu of foods that they will be looking for as part of their diet. You can’t do this to the same effect with over flavoured low nutrient shelf life baits.

 

[Paul Verity]

There’s afew advantages but it’s not pixie dust and they are only as good as the work you put in to them.

As Gavin said above, you are going to the river not only with something as fresh as it possibly can be but also unique and probably something the fish haven’t seen or tasted before. Do something different with the shapes too and you’ll have a complete 1 off bait with your own label on it.

Now the real advantage comes with application and I’ve witnessed first hand how devastating this can be with HNV baits.

To get the best out of them You need to be introducing it with very low levels of flavour at least 2-3 times a week for 5-6 weeks in 3-4 swims before you put a hook bait out and after that period you continue applying the bait while fishing them.

Doing this you are no longer attracting your barbel by smell but by taste. They will be actively looking for your bait and recognize it as a food source but it’s important you get the recipe nailed on because if the taste ain’t right, it doesn’t work. Hence very low flavours.

This is a really powerful thing in tricky venues because you have added your high nutritional value bait that tastes great to the menu of foods that they will be looking for as part of their diet. You can’t do this to the same effect with over flavoured low nutrient shelf life baits.

Think this is where I've struggled. I can't get a consistent build up feeding regime in place and am expecting relatively quick results. Not had a lot of success with f2 but must be my application of bait. Tried search 4 and f&f. I think the lack of success has knocked my willingness to stick it out. Noted plan for next season.

 

[Richard Isaacs]

Think this is where I've struggled. I can't get a consistent build up feeding regime in place and am expecting relatively quick results. Not had a lot of success with f2 but must be my application of bait. Tried search 4 and f&f. I think the lack of success has knocked my willingness to stick it out. Noted plan for next season.

If it’s possible do it with a friend or 2.
Me and 2 very close angling friends did this one season and we had a rota in place for baiting up.
It was on a small section consisting of 3 pegs that nobody else was fishing on the river nene and we concentrated our efforts into applying this bait consistently before and throughout the season.

Sadly you can’t do it successfully if there is other people jumping in and out of the pegs you bait so go to more unpopular places and keep your activities and captures under raps.

It proved unquestionably to be the best season we ever had with braces and trios of double figure fish on most occasions right up to winter where it eventually got a little tougher

It’s important you use the exact same bait and don’t take your foot off the gas.

 

[Tim Marks]

Very good advice from Richard I.

To me the key difference with home made bait is the fact that you can make it unique. On pressured venues I am convinced that using the ‘best’ bait is a big advantage. Just look at heavily fished carp waters for evidence.

The flip side of that is that there are some good rolled baits commercially available that will work just as well - apart from the risk that somebody else is using the same bait.

On low stock venues with few anglers about my take on it is that fish location is the key factor in getting bites (a bite!). Any quality bait including ready rolled, will catch fish if it goes in the right place at the right time. And if you prebait it, so much the better.