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It’s back !!

Mike Thompson said:
I have just watched John Bakers video where he talks about Barbel Search 4. I am not a boilie maker, but John suggests it can be used to flavour paste, meat, etc.
Has anyone information of how to do this.
I am concerned because he talks about using very small amounts even when making a 6 egg mix. Do you just use a minute amount concentrated or do you dilute with water before adding to paste or spam.
Thanks for any advice you can give, before I order some.
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I used a paste from JB (he’s a long time friend) last Winter for my chub fishing. I’ve used his bait (and versions of) on and off for 20 + years.

Making it is simplicity itself - 1 largish egg, 0.5mm of an unknown flavour blend (allegedly unique!) and add powder to suit. He supplied micro pipettes to help with accurate liquid measuring.

I watched this latest video too; I thought he said one particular flavour was 1mm per egg for boilies and 0.5mm for straight paste - very similar to the stuff he supplied us…..

Just for the record; the bait did exactly what he said it would do. That is: take a few light baitings to start to work and then get better and better. By the end of the season I was getting regular recaptures. Interestingly I tried a few one off visits on other stretches and this bait never generated a bite. Other baits caught straight away.
 
Mike Thompson said:
Many thanks Terry, I'll treat myself to a pot .
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It’s actually even easier that. His oil based flavors in the tiniest of amounts go for miles when coating meat etc and they stick like S T A B without the need of freezing or thawing.

I used one of his new essential oil spice flavours on meat.
1ml into a bait box full of meat and shake. Job done!

it proper stains the meat. After an hour in the water it was coming back still smelling like a curry house. 1ml for a whole tin is more than enough. I could actually drop that by half I reckon and get a nicer more subtle hint. It was a tad pungent 🤣
IMG_0043.jpeg
 
Richard Isaacs said:
It’s actually even easier that. His oil based flavors in the tiniest of amounts go for miles when coating meat etc and they stick like S T A B without the need of freezing or thawing.

I used one of his new essential oil spice flavours on meat.
1ml into a bait box full of meat and shake. Job done!

it proper stains the meat. After an hour in the water it was coming back still smelling like a curry house. 1ml for a whole tin is more than enough. I could actually drop that by half I reckon and get a nicer more subtle hint. It was a tad pungent 🤣View attachment 23992
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Never used his flavours for coating meat but might try it this season…do you just drop the measured flavour into the tub and then the meat? I wonder if it might also be worth a go with maggots
 
Alan Palmer said:
Never used his flavours for coating meat but might try it this season…do you just drop the measured flavour into the tub and then the meat? I wonder if it might also be worth a go with maggots
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I think the meat was in there first and I just put the measured amount on top of it and then give it a shake about
 
Richard Isaacs said:
It’s actually even easier that. His oil based flavors in the tiniest of amounts go for miles when coating meat etc and they stick like S T A B without the need of freezing or thawing.

I used one of his new essential oil spice flavours on meat.
1ml into a bait box full of meat and shake. Job done!

it proper stains the meat. After an hour in the water it was coming back still smelling like a curry house. 1ml for a whole tin is more than enough. I could actually drop that by half I reckon and get a nicer more subtle hint. It was a tad pungent 🤣View attachment 23992
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Thanks Richard, that has convinced me to give it a try.
 

Yateley Angling Centre Fishing Superstore

The home of Carp Fishing for 30 years stocking all leading brands offering a great choice of rods, reels and other fishing equipment ...
yateleyangling.co.uk yateleyangling.co.uk

Have base mix’s in stock and spend over £50 it’s post free
 
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Richard Isaacs said:
That would never be the case. They’ll turn the stock into order’s real quickly in Johnson Ross. I bet your lucky if it’s in there a week.
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I am saying this because I saw Johnson Ross stocked some discontinued JB mix, at least not on his website, so I guess that must be some old stock.
 
Huanzhou Zhu said:
I am saying this because I saw Johnson Ross stocked some discontinued JB mix, at least not on his website, so I guess that must be some old stock.
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I normally buy from Yateley angling as they have good stock turn over and are close to Reading and JB . I’ve been in store and bought online. Online they’re cheaper normally than JB for delivery . JB website does have items not yet stocked by Yateley angling centre. I have no connections or affiliations to either.
 
Talking of JB I’ve got going to any one that wants it for just the cost of postage, all no more than 6 months old and kept in the fridge and not far of full bottles ild say.

Peach flavour
Cream Caramel
The sizz
Chicken tikka
Cheese

Some base mixes some boilie making bits etc etc rolling tables mini ones bags gun nozzle.

I’m 32 and had a sh*t year health work etc etc. I just want to simplify my life and fishing so I go off the shelf now and thining everything down to just appreciate the angling.

Any one out there with kids playing about with bait would be the ideal home my girls loved doing it with me. @Richard Isaacs you may well have all this but you said your boy like messing about with fishing etc

Or any one else just pm I’ll bundle it up send it and let you know the postage cost.

Good luck all close is nearly done
 
After reading this thread I am sure that the processed baits / flavours of virtually all baits catch more anglers than fish .

As Richard Walker said many years ago , to a fish everything is edible until proved otherwise ( or something similar)

But

If your choice of bait and spending a lot of hard earned cash on whatever bait you use gives you confidence , go for it .

Bread is a processed bait, as is Spam, they catch fish as well as any other highly processed and flavoured bait, it just depends on how much time and effort is taken to record their use against any more expensive processed and flavoured bait to decide which is best. Fish are fickle ,one day they want one thing, another day another.

I would like to see a definitive study of processed baits versus the same number of natural baits over a season in a controlled study just to see definitively if there is a benefit.

Cannot ever see anybody have the patience and fortitude to do that when for the most part anglers seem to prefer to just buy whatever the market pushes as the best bait , or alternatively what had worked for them over time. Water condtions and levels, presentation , weather etc all have a bearing on results .
A case of if it is for you not broken , then dont fix it . If you are new to angling then bait choice must be a minefield of different opinions .

David
 
As far as im aware, Martin James MBE, uses nothing more than a humble piece of bread, and what an angler he is. I once had the pleasure of his company, an absolute gentleman.
 
Daniel Earl said:
Talking of JB I’ve got going to any one that wants it for just the cost of postage, all no more than 6 months old and kept in the fridge and not far of full bottles ild say.

Peach flavour
Cream Caramel
The sizz
Chicken tikka
Cheese

Some base mixes some boilie making bits etc etc rolling tables mini ones bags gun nozzle.

I’m 32 and had a sh*t year health work etc etc. I just want to simplify my life and fishing so I go off the shelf now and thining everything down to just appreciate the angling.

Any one out there with kids playing about with bait would be the ideal home my girls loved doing it with me. @Richard Isaacs you may well have all this but you said your boy like messing about with fishing etc

Or any one else just pm I’ll bundle it up send it and let you know the postage cost.

Good luck all close is nearly done
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Sounds great 👍🏻
 
David Craine said:
After reading this thread I am sure that the processed baits / flavours of virtually all baits catch more anglers than fish .

As Richard Walker said many years ago , to a fish everything is edible until proved otherwise ( or something similar)

But

If your choice of bait and spending a lot of hard earned cash on whatever bait you use gives you confidence , go for it .

Bread is a processed bait, as is Spam, they catch fish as well as any other highly processed and flavoured bait, it just depends on how much time and effort is taken to record their use against any more expensive processed and flavoured bait to decide which is best. Fish are fickle ,one day they want one thing, another day another.

I would like to see a definitive study of processed baits versus the same number of natural baits over a season in a controlled study just to see definitively if there is a benefit.

Cannot ever see anybody have the patience and fortitude to do that when for the most part anglers seem to prefer to just buy whatever the market pushes as the best bait , or alternatively what had worked for them over time. Water condtions and levels, presentation , weather etc all have a bearing on results .
A case of if it is for you not broken , then dont fix it . If you are new to angling then bait choice must be a minefield of different opinions .

David
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I tend to agree with you @David Craine but I'd add that we all know (I think) that fish can get preoccupied with a bait, especially a particle bait (e.g. maggots, casters, bloodworms, corn) ... after they've eaten some without any negative consequences (e.g. getting a hook in their mouth). They may 'frenzy' to some extent .. especially if there's competition for the particles. But larger, more cautious fish (whilst still capable of falling into this state of 'complacency') may hang back and not wish to chase food items within a competitive crowd of other fish. Especially as it's more than possible that they've been caught by such particles as maggots/casters etc on more than one occasion during their long lives But if faced with a pre-baited highly nutritious bait with a unique 'signature', they may well become confident that this is a good and 'safe' thing to eat. If so then it follows that this larger, more cautious fish may be caught relatively easily if the angler uses this bait on his hook (rig dependant obviously).
But ...the $100,000 question is (IMO) .... is it the bait or is it the flavour (see my earlier post : #26) that fools the fish? From the limited 'experiments' that I've done I'm much more inclined to believe that it's the flavour.
 
Derek Funcks said:
As far as im aware, Martin James MBE, uses nothing more than a humble piece of bread, and what an angler he is. I once had the pleasure of his company, an absolute gentleman.
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I fish with Martin on the Ribble Derek, I have only ever seen him use Bread and Spam , and he does rather well on just those two baits, he does however use rather large baits in comparison to most other anglers, his bread flake needs to be seen to be believed, the chub below took a “bit “ of flake the size of an apple .
Martins Spam baits are not one large piece but two , sometimes three lumps , no additives, no frying or dressing with spices etc .
5294F21B-3365-4EED-AE2E-A69FC3D44F6B.jpeg


Not sure about what size flies he uses for the game fish though 😋.

David
 
Terry Simner said:
I tend to agree with you @David Craine but I'd add that we all know (I think) that fish can get preoccupied with a bait, especially a particle bait (e.g. maggots, casters, bloodworms, corn) ... after they've eaten some without any negative consequences (e.g. getting a hook in their mouth). They may 'frenzy' to some extent .. especially if there's competition for the particles. But larger, more cautious fish (whilst still capable of falling into this state of 'complacency') may hang back and not wish to chase food items within a competitive crowd of other fish. Especially as it's more than possible that they've been caught by such particles as maggots/casters etc on more than one occasion during their long lives But if faced with a pre-baited highly nutritious bait with a unique 'signature', they may well become confident that this is a good and 'safe' thing to eat. If so then it follows that this larger, more cautious fish may be caught relatively easily if the angler uses this bait on his hook (rig dependant obviously).
But ...the $100,000 question is (IMO) .... is it the bait or is it the flavour (see my earlier post : #26) that fools the fish? From the limited 'experiments' that I've done I'm much more inclined to believe that it's the flavour.
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Interesting stuff…

Part of the issue is highlighted by JB’s comment in the aforementioned video that he ‘believes in nutritional recognition in cyprinid fish’. That is the building block that underpins (carp) bait theory since Fred Wilton.

Fish are pretty simple creatures - but IF they can tell that what they eat (and maybe even what they can smell) is going to be good for them -then a nutritious bait might be advantageous to us anglers.

Think about sweetcorn - it smells nice, looks attractive to a fish but doesn’t do them much good. If it gets fished hard - then fish shy away from it. Dye it black and they start eating it again. Then dye it red and flavour it with (say) strawberry flavour and it gets another lease of life. The fish isn’t smart enough to NOT eat black stuff that smells of sweetcorn…..even though it is scared of normal sweetcorn.

A mate of mine once did a 10 day session on Sywell reservoir in about 1987. He used Richworth 50/50 base mix (semolina and soya flour) which again doesn’t do the fish much good. BUT with a decent flavour they will try it. After 2 or 3 days bites tailed off - so he simply changed the flavour and sport picked up again. He used the same base mix and 4 different flavours in the session. I think he caught 80 odd tench in total and I’d bet there were plenty of recaptures in there…..

The ‘bait’ theory suggests that a nutritional bait gets accepted by the fish and they start actively looking for it. It also goes on working for much longer that what is known in carpy circles as a ‘crap’ (as in a carrier, rather than a nutritional) base mix.

Years ago I carp fished The Grange in Essex -where Mainline did their bait testing. When they launched a new bait it was introduced in huge quantities during the Close Season (it was that long ago !) and then if you were on that bait you could catch - otherwise you were up against it. The fish got to accept that bait as food and if you tried to compete with beds of different bait you had no chance! The fish went on eating each new bait for years, they just got very good at being able to work out which ones were attached to rigs ! btw I’ve never used a Mainline bait in my life, even when I did fish the Grange. I competed with particles and single baits.

My fishing mate and I have used the same boilie bait for about 4 seasons. We see no reason to change it. It catches carp, tench, chub and bream almost instantly but doesn’t seem to ‘blow’. It has also caught numbers of very big barbel (to 17+) WHEN we can find some to fish for…..

PS I should (re) declare an interest- I’m a friend of JB but I pay for the bait that I obtain from him eg the nutritional paste I experimented with last Winter (mentioned in an earlier post).
 
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