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freezer baits

D

Dennis Poole

Senior Member
I,m thinking of moving over too a freezer bait this year,I've had very good results on the shell life I'm using now ,but would like too compare a season on the same bait but in freezer form .Whats your thoughts.
 
I have always used freezer baits in preference to shelf life but this season have done ok on both having started the season on shelf life 'The Source' and then since since October switched to freezer bait.

I can only conclude that provided the bait is of good quality and well presented in the right place (most importantly) it will catch fish.;)
 
Freezer baits for me Dennis, purely based on preservatives that are put in shelf life boilies to stop them going off, I just take out of the freezer what I need when fishing and believe freezer baits are fresher and leak more natural smelling enzymes into the water. It's just a personal thing , and I know of quality shelf life baits out today that catch on a regular basis , but I look at it like this , if I had a choice of eating something with addatives or without then it's without ;)
 
Shelf life. Oh the joy of not having to mess about and use up freezer space. Have used freezer baits in the past now prefer shelflife. Catch rate not suffered in the slightest. Plenty of recaptures on some stretches, enough evidence for me personally to debunk the preservative theory.
 
Hi men,

It's frozen for me in my carp fishing , due to wanting them to break down . In France I have taken short shelf life from Essential baits , where with a lower preservative level and a drying time it stays fresh for a weeks fishing without freezer facilitys . For barbel fishing with a quality bait like say Sticky Baits krill then I would use shelf life due to the smaller amount normally used , and purely the way the water moved the baits around , which I'm sure help breaks them down.


Hatter
 
I take a hybrid approach in my fishing. I use shelf life boilies due to lack of freezer space, but wrap my baits in matching frozen paste. This takes up much less space in the freezer, but still gives me good scent leakage when fishing. If baiting an area I'm fishing, I usually chop the shelf life boilies to increase the scent they give out.
 
Just a thought Dennis, but if you have been successful with shelf life baits and have concentrated these in a limited number of swims, the fish may be more wary whether you use them again or move to frozen baits of the same flavour. Comparisons, therefore, may be difficult.
 
Shelf life baits have improved dramatically over the last few years and no longer have that bitter chemical taste,I really feel there is no difference and just confidence thing
 
Thanks for the feedback lads,my thoughts were what have been mentioned,the quality of shelf life bait i feel is so good these days ,that I've thought in the past why change ,but i,m constantly reading that a freezer bait really is a much better choice for fish will pick it up more readily as its digestive system will break it down quicker ect .I normally have my hook baits in glug pots ,so are well soaked in a liquid attractant,do you think this then over rides the preservatives which have been used in the bait,hopes i,m making sense here.
 
I try to use freezer baits ,more for confidence, plus my bait of choice, freshwater shrimp easily crumbs down to dust for the pva bag/ feeder as well as having excellent matching hardened hookbaits, booster liquid and paste.
That said, for impromptu sessions, source shelf life has proven to be very reliable but the matching paste does not have the required consistency and is washed off the boilie and lead in seconds, is the frozen source paste no longer available?
 
I think we sometimes credit fish with more refined palates than is the case. They are wild animals and as such opportunist feeders taking what they need to survive.

I only use shelf life baits and can't say I notice any difference.

When using meat I put back in the freezer what I don't use and get it out again for the next session. Sometimes this happens a number of times and I notice it starts to "mature" however this does not seem to affect the catch rate.
 
Martin Lingard said:
I try to use freezer baits ,more for confidence, plus my bait of choice, freshwater shrimp easily crumbs down to dust for the pva bag/ feeder as well as having excellent matching hardened hookbaits, booster liquid and paste.
That said, for impromptu sessions, source shelf life has proven to be very reliable but the matching paste does not have the required consistency and is washed off the boilie and lead in seconds, is the frozen source paste no longer available?
Click to expand...

Martin I added source groundbait to the paste in the tub to stiffen it up. The last paste I made up was from the base mix with water and the liquid the comes in the packet. Tried it with 1 egg but it's way to stiff for my liking. The paste washes off gradually and you can leave it out for a long time.

Dave
 
Regarding freezer baits the only issue I have had is if i don't use them up soon enough they dry out with the re-freezing proccess.
To compare freezer against shelf life to see which is the best, I would have to have many more years experience.
If I had to choose I would say freezer baits as they are usually softer.
 
John Newman said:
I think we sometimes credit fish with more refined palates than is the case. They are wild animals and as such opportunist feeders taking what they need to survive.

I only use shelf life baits and can't say I notice any difference.

When using meat I put back in the freezer what I don't use and get it out again for the next session. Sometimes this happens a number of times and I notice it starts to "mature" however this does not seem to affect the catch rate.
Click to expand...

Agree with you there, John. I don't think barbel know what a preservative is.
 
I swapped from freezer baits to shelf life's around 7 years a go and my catches if anything have been better.

I would not have contemplated using the early shelf life type baits, which were little more than rock hard flavour carrying balls full of preservative. They were never much good as carp catchers, so I doubt they would have been any different for barbel.

Things have come a long way now though and some of today's shelf life's are very good and you would struggle to tell the difference between them and a freezer bait in , texture, hardness , smell and taste.

Can be a big leap of confidence for the angler to change, but has I say, definitely not had a negative effect on my fishing.
 
It,s hard Pat ,as my confidence on what I'm using is second too none ,but i,m always looking for that little ect from what i,m doing ,so bait has come too mind recently and i thought what can i change ,only too go over too a freezer bait .I,m gonna give it a go for a few seasons see how i get on ,I've selected the bait I'm gonna go for ,only time will tell i suppose .
 
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