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Making Own Bait

J

Jeremy Cronin

Senior Member & Supporter
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?
 
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.
 
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.
 
Peter Hayes said:
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.
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Not being very successful apart from Chub last year, hence thinking it might be an edge.
 
Jeremy Cronin said:
Not being very successful apart from Chub last year, hence thinking it might be an edge.
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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.
 
Richard Isaacs said:
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.
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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.
 
Paul Verity said:
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.
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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.
 
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.
 
I personally don't think it makes any difference .
Shelf or fresh home made, they both catch the same amount of fish.. ..
They really aren't that fussy, especially Barbel and especially if they are hungry..I keep old spam in my pellets and it goes rock hard eventually , a bit like pepperami , when it's maybe up to 6 weeks old, I think the oil in the pellets draws out the moisture in the spam. Osmosis?? . And it still catches next to a rod with shelflife scopex squid..
Location is the most important part..
I think the stories from the kickles farm days , about hnv baits were to catch the angler more!... Yes me and a friend tried out the theory of introducing JBs super milk with low levels of plum and alasalar, with slightly stronger hook baits..
And yes we caught plenty , but no more than the season after or up until now using scopex squid..
By all means , make your own bait and enjoy using it and catching.. it's all part of the fun..
After all that's why we go fishing..
Just my opinion of course...................
 
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I forgot to mention , 7 yrs later and I'm still using JBs super milk, and will always, as long as it's available.
Not for homemades tho..
But for my paste, be it scopex squid or krill.
 
Jeremy Cronin said:
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?
Click to expand...
I'm a Handcraft fan and use both the Herb / Tricknut plus a variety of their hookbaits with absolute confidence . . . . . .but I'm applying it pretty heavily / consistently into the same syndicate water and for carp fishing only. Rivers are different gravy (the WAvon in particular) and whilst 'any' bait will catch on its day I feel more confident using the best I can, especially as I'm only applying it in very small quants (stringers / small mesh bags / paste) and also in smaller sizes (8/10mms)

As per Gavin I've been knocking up small batches of JB Taste F2 / Alar Salar Masala / Plum and also messing about cutting the F2 60/40 with Supermilk / Barbel Search 4 / TM1 for this winter. Results for me are arguably sporadic as I haven't been out much however as mentioned half the fun is in the making and the satisfaction of catching on 'your own' concoction as much as anything else . . . . .
 
For those of you wishing to make your own milk protein pastes try this…available from most Asian supermarkets for just a few quid
IMG_5206.jpeg
. Too soft for boilies but mix it with eggs and flavour and it’s a very good paste for many species. I think it was a recipe in a Leighton McDonald book that put me onto it
 
I have to agree with @Jim Gregory on this one. I've used ready mades and home mades and there really hasn't been much difference over the season. I've made really expensive home made baits with top quality ingredients at high quantities and then had days where I've had awesome results on a company's bait.
The one thing I do think that makes a difference is the freshness of a bait and for that reason I'd rather buy direct from the bait company itself than off a shelf in a tackle shop.
 
I think it depends on afew key factors before any benefit of it can be seen.

Firstly it’s not going to be beneficial on runs waters. Testing any baiting theories out where there is a substantial amount of fish to go at, that are competing heavily for food is a waste of time especially if they are getting fed all manner of bait on a frequent basis.

Secondly it’s not a short game. You can’t just chuck out 2 different baits on two different rods and say that one caught more so it must be better. It’s an establishment that takes time and results can only be seen through small improvements.

Thirdly it’s not a replacement for more important things in angling success. Of course location, bank presence and presentation are more important key factors to catching.

All that aside it does work and I wouldn’t say it does if i hadn’t experienced the results myself but it requires hard work, discipline and the right venue type.

Done correctly You are changing the way you catch fish by no longer trying to attract them to a hook bait through pulling power but instead you are giving them something they are actually looking for before they even know your hook bait is in the water.

I’ve seen it work to great effect but like I say there’s a number of boxes to tick and it’s certainly not for everyone or every venue.
 
Well i went from averaging 5 barbel a year ( using off the shelf baits ) on the Yorkshire Derwent to 24 barbel in a season after I’d pre baited with an HNV. bait , I kept the bait going in on a regular basis , a fresh one egg mix per evening session, and whatever that was left got thrown in at the ended of the session.
I’ve seen it happen numerous times fishing for carp , location is almost secondary as they seek the preferred food source out .
It takes patience and an understanding of what your trying to achieve
Yes I know you can catch em on plastic sweetcorn etc but that’s a visual impulse thing , pretty sure they don’t actively seek those types of baits out !
Once you get em hooked on the bait there almost easy to catch.
But as Rich says it takes a venue where you can do this , it won’t work on a day ticket or busy club stretch .
 
Kevin Brown said:
Well i went from averaging 5 barbel a year ( using off the shelf baits ) on the Yorkshire Derwent to 24 barbel in a season after I’d pre baited with an HNV. bait , I kept the bait going in on a regular basis , a fresh one egg mix per evening session, and whatever that was left got thrown in at the ended of the session.
I’ve seen it happen numerous times fishing for carp , location is almost secondary as they seek the preferred food source out .
It takes patience and an understanding of what your trying to achieve
Yes I know you can catch em on plastic sweetcorn etc but that’s a visual impulse thing , pretty sure they don’t actively seek those types of baits out !
Once you get em hooked on the bait there almost easy to catch.
But as Rich says it takes a venue where you can do this , it won’t work on a day ticket or busy club stretch .
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You did a great job with it Kevin on the derwent. I remember you starting out with half a kg of my base mix to give it a try out and got results quite quickly from using it very effectively.

It’s pretty obvious it can for some people on some venues be very effective.
 
Richard Isaacs said:
You did a great job with it Kevin on the derwent. I remember you starting out with half a kg of my base mix to give it a try out and got results quite quickly from using it very effectively.

It’s pretty obvious it can for some people on some venues be very effective.
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Yes that initial base mix you gave I took to the Trent , fished with a mate in a double swim , from memory I had over 15 bites he had 2 or 3 , we even swapped sides and I still carried on catching ! It was as conclusive as you were ever going to get .
What I had left I took on the Derwent and the response was instant .
Then I bought some F2 and barbelsearch4 and just carried on catching, I really didn’t have to prebait as such but results just kept on getting better , the following year I decided to make my own base mix / flavour mainly because JBs bait was so expensive especially after shipping and disappeared up my own harris with the bait thing . I’m forever trying new stuff out and get bored with the same bait / venue etc
Been fishing well over 50 years and I never learn 🙄
Had some pretty spectacular results on a very local carp lake last year by doing the same thing , it was a lot easier though as I could prebait while out walking the dog but the principal is the same .
Free safe food …
 
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