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Boilie favourites/recommendations?
- Thread starter Darren Smith 2
- Start date
Hi men ,
Original Grange bait was a game changer , I used to hand roll before they brought out the frozen version , not used a bait since that matched it .
Hatter
David Gauntlett
Senior Member
Hi Mark,Hi men ,
Sticky baits Krill Active could almost have been designed for barbel/river fishing
Hatter
Do you find Sticky baits Krill Active boilies are an instant bait, or does it require regular pre-baiting to catch barbel on them? I have had good results on a couple of boilie brands when I have pre-baited my favourite swims regularly during the closed season, but have yet to find one that works well from the off.
Hi men ,
Hi Dave , hope your well
. Took them to a water that had never seen them , reaction was amazing , sat watching the fish smash it up so I have total confidence in them , smell bloody lovely as well . They do a active hookbaits selection , caught on all of them , and I'm sure the outer coating helps .Hatter
Darren Smith 2
Member
Are you using the frozen or Shelf life?Hi men ,
Hi Dave , hope your well
Hatter
Hi men,
The hookbaits are in a pot so are shelf life , and tbh iv used both versions of them , and caught on them .
Hatter
David Gauntlett
Senior Member
Hell yes,
With you on that one Hatter, just a sad thing that boilies of that quality always seem to disappear, usual quoted reason being 'A particular/vital ingredient suddenly becoming unavailable' . Another boilie that I found astonishingly good was the original T1, made by a very small outfit in Harefield, he lived just a few hundred yards up the road from Harefield Tackle, I used to pick mine up from his house. He went bust, the 'unobtainable ingredient' being the stated reason again. There is another company now selling what they claim is the T1 to the original formula/ingredients. Not sure about that?
Exactly right.
I used to fish ‘The Grange’ water in Essex and Mainline dominated that water with a succession of their baits - Grange, Essential opal etc etc. Some top quality carp anglers fished there, notably Ken Dorset (KD rig) and they knew a decent bait when they saw one.
I got to know Steve Morgan and Kev Knight (the top guys at Mainline) a bit; and they did bring some fresh knowledge to the bait industry. The carp liked the bait too - they grew fast and were healthy fish.
Having said that, I’ve never used a Mainline bait in my life. A bit of a stubborn decision when on ‘the Grange’ as it was difficult to catch there on anything but the current Mainline recipe.
Joe Winstanley
Senior Member & Supporter
That is a very sweeping statement Jeremy.
Mainline have a got a rich history of producing very successful baits used by very successful anglers. Baits like The Grange, Essential and Maple-8 are all classics and I've known a number of very good anglers proclaim them as the best baits they have ever used. There is also no doubt Cell has been a very successful bait also.
Dave Lane is arguably the most successful big carp angler in the country and he has been using Mainline right back to the days of Horton.
Hi men,
For a long time I used to drive down to Steve and Kev and pick up fresh bait supplied in long tubes
. After a while they gave me active 8 , which I caught on , but it was the grange that I wanted , gutted when it went out of production . I even had the corn steep liquor pop in my bait cupboard which sue did not appreciate 
. Shame it's gone , but there are many good baits out there at mo.Hatter
Jeremy Cronin
Senior Member & Supporter
Possibly a bit sweeping, but i have not known anyone to buy Mainline Bait.
Most Carp anglers I have encountered over the years quietly working and spending their valuable free time fishing have mostly put their trust in quality baits such as Nutrabaits Trigga or BFM when Bill ran the company, Solar, Essential Baits, ABS Baits, John Baker Baits & Handcraft Baits.
Full time anglers may catch despite the quality of their baits, being in the right place at the right time.
Or of course many are inspired and given confidence in the latest bait products they see the TV or Social Media anglers promoting that series. Either way enough quantity goes in regularly that Carp or Barbel will get caught.
But I believe with my own limited time on the bank a quality bait I trust is the best way forward for me.
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Kevin Brown
Senior Member & Supporter
Hi men ,
Sticky baits Krill Active could almost have been designed for barbel/river fishing
Hatter
Have tried these in winter ?
Hi men
Only for carp , caught on them , and a cold early spring trip to France , so I'm confident in them . The " active " coating is good , and you can add with liquids
Hatter
Matthew Ransom
Active Member
There used to be the Waka which was sold on here at one time. They really worked for me. Made a huge difference to my catch rate. Can't get them anymore . I'm trying another brand now had two out the first session with them and thought I was on my way but have caught nothing since
Put in a few sessions too. Chub come knocking but Boris proving to be elusive for the time being.David Gauntlett
Senior Member
Interesting Mark.
Do you always use the 'In a tub' hookbaits on the hair, rather than the bulk boilies in the bag? I ask because those specific hookbaits are frequently hardened in order to stay viable longer in the water on long sessions, as in carp fishing. However, I guess that because there is a slow dissolving coating on the Mainline 'active' range, that particular range could not be hardened?
Dave.
David Gauntlett
Senior Member
Unless of course they were hardened before the dissolving layer was added????
Chris Fogg
Active Member
John Baker Baits, make your own and experiment. Wouldn't use anything else for Barbel.
Chris Belcher
Senior Member & Supporter
Support your local bait firms! I've used baits from Nash / Mainline / Essential / Nutrabaits / Dynamite / Baitworks and they've all produced some winners over the years . . .(Shellfish B5 is still a fav) however unless your buying in bulk (100kg+ orders) they are silly expensive and a lot of them (eg Cell) are filled with packers / cr*p . . .the only reason they're effective is that lakes get filled with them and they have no food content so pass through carp efficiently effectively leaving them hungry and getting them searching for more . . . would much rather use a quality food bait where I know exactly the ingredient levels and whats in it (a bit like rolling your own) - local suppliers producing small runs provide this confidence and are also a lot cheaper (eg £5 per kg for a significantly better quality boilie) . . .
Kevin Steele
Senior Member & Supporter
That's what has caught me most of my 'big-to-me' fish this year. But I've also caught big chub on Dynamite Baits Robin Red and Marine Halibut pellets. Apart from Spam and maggots, Nash Scopex Squid is the bait I have most confidence in, although my biggest barbel was on half a dozen maggots on a size 12.
Present company excepted,
I think a lot of what's talked about when it comes to feed, baits and additives, is b0ll0cks. It's all designed to catch fishermen, as the saying goes. River craft seems more important (and I have an awful lot to learn), but experimenting with baits is all part of the fun I guess..
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