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Too strong?

Ramon San Juan

Ramon San Juan

Senior Member
Is there such a thing as too strong? I'm thinking of flavoring some meat up and was wondering if there was a limit to how strong the scent/flavour can be.
I feel like experimenting with stuff out the kitchen for a change

Thanks in advance
 
I think you can overdo flavouring, but it does depend on what you are using, and what you are doing with it.
IMO natural flavours take a lot longer to 'blow' than artificial or chemical based flavours, but again there are some very very strong naturals i'd be careful with that could even make the bait repellant i.e some essential oils, and garlic particularly if using cloves.
Fairly strong natural flavouring may be the way to go if you are visiting any one venue fairly infrequently, provided it's not a flavour thats being used a lot, these days that doesn't happen too much so you should be safe enough.
Fishing a venue regularly though i'd keep your flavouring on the low side, stick to naturals, and use a couple of flavours that complement each other, so you can tweak the flavouring slightly over time.

Some years back i hammered the hell out of meat flavoured with garlic on one venue like every body else, it was the going bait and worked well for quite a long time, but eventually nobody could buy a bite on it, Switched to tikka masala paste, and the result was amazing, the curry pastes are great because you can switch from one flavour to another without dramatically changing your bait, but enough for them not to get used to it.
Add to boillie mixes as well, or soak ready mades overnight.

Hope that gives you a few ideas to work with Ramon.

Ian.
 
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Ramon San Juan said:
Is there such a thing as too strong? I'm thinking of flavoring some meat up and was wondering if there was a limit to how strong the scent/flavour can be.
I feel like experimenting with stuff out the kitchen for a change

Thanks in advance
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I think u can flavour things too strong for sure.
I used to heavily flavour meat pellets and boilies very strongly
and caught ok on it but not consistently.
Last year I decided to flavour everything very subtly say 1 ml of flavouring for a full tin of meat and my results have been much better I caught my first double at the start of the season of the warks Avon and they have just kept coming,
Also along the lines of what Ian said I try to avoid artificial flavours!
Regards dave
 
There are various flavours such as the John Baker range that are ideal, ala-salar and search4 or frost and flood being successful for many years. There are a number of people who use the curry mixes but just as many who don't flavour their baits at all and get just as many bites (so they say).
I think it's a confidence thing really. As the old saying goes, if it aint bust don't fix it!
One thing is for sure, unflavoured meat has NEVER blown as far as i can tell.
Rivers may have been overfished and the methods success dwindled, but you can be sure that given time, and less angling pressure, the barbel will continue to eat it.

Regards,
Jeff
 
Mick Brown said:
Ian, How do you make the masala paste,I might give it a go.

Mick
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Like Jim says, i buy it Mick, the Pataks i find most convenient, it comes in a glass Jar, but they also do in the range, Rogan Josh, Korma, etc, etc, Tikka Masala is my favorite though.

If i use it on meat, i chop up a tin of spam ( blue tin with spam written in yellow, they do plain or with added black pepper) put a healthy dollop of paste in a frying pan with a little oil, and add half the meat, rustle round the pan for several minutes on about no 4 electric, keep the meat moving so as not to burn it.
And it's ready to use.
Still my favorite bait for a one off session. ;)

Ian.
 
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Another good meat flavour is Thai Fish Sauce - Blue Dragon and water soluble - very good and cheap.
Tries most of the curry/spice powders - favourites Tikka Masala, Cajun and Madras.
Robin Red ain't bad either.
Used to roll meatballs in the powder (any of the above) and sprinkle with parmesan cheese. A quick melt in the micro and you've got spicy cheesey balls.
Dried milk powder is sticky and can hang on to powders that bit longer.
Also used to core meat (especially meatballs) and pack the centre with minced up bits of meat and spices - they would leak out when the bait was in the water. A sort of mini feeder contained within the bait.

Cheers
Bob
 
Bob. You mentioned just about everything but the one I find most succesful.

Cajun Spice. Diced Chopped ham and pork, into a bag. Lots of cajun spice and shake. Perfect.

Graham
 
Ramon, steer well clear of proper essential oils mate, you only need 1-3 drips from an eye dropper for a 1lb boily/paste mix! too much can be totally offputting to fish, anchovy flavours good at times but why not use a paste bait instead of meat? or a lightly skinned steamed bait both of which will give a high flavour trail to
 
Ramon, steer well clear of proper essential oils mate, you only need 1-3 drips from an eye dropper for a 1lb boily/paste mix! too much can be totally offputting to fish
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I always used to believe that too and maybe it applies to boilies/pastes etc.

However, I use a certain essential oil mixed with a certain flavour for all my barbel fishing. When using meat I`ll bung a load into a bag and leave the bait to soak it in. Believe me, this stuff is incredibly pungent (a fact confirmed by anyone within 20yds of me on the bank!) but it doesn`t put the fish off one jot. In fact, I`d go as far as to say that heavy overflavouring works in my favour!
 
Jon Frisby said:
Has anyone tried this...?
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Yes and not saying!

Which answers the question - very different and is used in Ragi paste for Mahseer
The Essential Oil been around long time and very effective for Carp
 
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John Walker said:
why not use a paste bait instead of meat? or a lightly skinned steamed bait both of which will give a high flavour trail to
Click to expand...
Or combine the too - meat as paste with your kitchen additives - gets around the big problem of fish spooking from regular chunks of meat and have a paste that you know will be effective as they like meat - the possibilities are endless.
 
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