10 Boilie Tips and Tricks

October 7, 2010 shaun 4 comments

What is a boilie and what can we do to make our boilies a little different to the rest?
The boilie is a type of bait we all very much take for granted. The word ‘boilie’ is a bit of a strange one. In fact it is not a proper dictionary recognised word anyway but is the universally known word for describing a paste bait which has been boiled to create a tougher outer skin. Quite simply they are boiled to make feeding upon them difficult for small un-wanted species of fish.
The word boilie is rather vague and is similar to the word pie which we use in our food terms. Pie like boilie is again very vague and could be referring to so many different things such as fruit pie, meat pie, fish pie etc.
For the purpose of this Blog piece I don’t want to confuse the issue and will run through a few tips and tricks you can do with all types of boilie.
Unfortunately for us the standard shape and sized boilie can put a lot of carp on edge and on their guard, particularly so, on the more heavily pressured waters which are becoming more and more the norm’ these days and particularly late into the season such as now when the fish have seen it all over the last few monthss.
1 – Vary the size. Logic would tell us that if everyone uses let us say 15mm round boilies then 15mm round boilies would be considered the safest for the carp to eat quite simply because they come across them so often. Well actually, I have always found the complete opposite to be the case.
For many years I felt I had a massive edge in as much as I rarely used boilies larger than 10mm. Most anglers simply couldn’t be bothered to roll baits this small and in many cases the ready rolled baits many choose to use were simply not available in these sizes.

25mm baits soon got the bobbins moving again.

As the years progressed I have found myself with much less of an edge as small 10mm baits have become more widely available. A few years back I made the decision on the Mangrove to go the opposite way and started to use large 25mm baits. The Mangrove fish had seen a lot of my small baits and my catches although still coming were starting to drop off a little.
First trip with the 25mm baits and the bobbins were once again slamming into the butt with six good fish hooked. I had done nothing other than presented a bait size they weren’t used to finding. Such a simple little dodge but it had made all the difference.
Watch what most of the others are doing and try something different – you may be pleasantly surprised by the outcome.

Peeled bait allows the attractors to work quicker

2 – Re-shaping baits. This is a definite favourite of mine particularly during the cold winter months. Not only does it give the bait a different visual appeal it also allows a slightly quicker release of flavour and natural extracts.
I sometimes simply nibble the edges off of baits and other times I actually peel them with a pen knife like you would a mini apple. The sky really is the limit on this one. You can make whatever shape you want – it really is down to your imagination. A change of shape can make a much bigger difference than you may think. Give it a go, what do you have to lose?
3 – Covering the boilie in paste. Another useful dodge this one and one which will work at all times of the year but again is something I particularly like to do during the winter months. The main reason I used to do this was simply for an easy release of flavour from the paste without sacrificing using a soft bait which the smaller species would nibble completely away. This has been a standard tactic of mine for many years preferring the subtle release of flavour omitting from the paste rather than the ‘in-your-face’ blast which extra flavours, glugs or dips give.
In more recent years I have messed around with altering the sizes of baits with paste wrapped around and lightly boiled as well as covering different shaped baits in fast dissolving paste to hide their appearance from other ‘nosey’ anglers.
4 – Mixing the boilies. Another very successful method and one I so very rarely see employed is the baiting up of several different types of boilie at the same time.

A mixed bed of boilies going out via the Spomb

It amazes me that anglers seem more than happy to mix up particles and pellets yet seem a little paranoid about mixing the boilies.
I do this in two ways. Firstly, it is extremely rare for me to bait up with just one size of bait. Usually I like to introduce at least two different sizes of bait and more commonly three. This makes it more difficult for the carp to regulate their ‘suck’ which makes it very difficult for them to detect the slightly heavier or slightly lighter hook bait.
Another thing I often do which I mentioned above is bait up with different flavours at the same time and different colours. It is all about making things a little different for the fish. I have no qualms whatsoever with fishing spicey baits amongst fishy baits or even fruit baits. It may seem odd to us but the carp like the variety in the swim and you may just find one particular bait will stop the fish in their tracks where others won’t, but once feeding on one type…..

Chopped up boilies for a quick flavour release

5 – Chopping Boilies up. Another thing I do as a matter of cause. I always break the odd bait open, cut some and even crumb a few up if the methods and ranges allow. It is a fact that carp are attracted to crumbed up baits much quicker than they are to whole boilies.
When I use stringers, PVA bags, method mixes or simply baiting by hand I always incorporate as many broken baits as I do whole ones. Keeping things as un-regimental as possible has always helped me put a few more carp on the bank.
6 – Pre-Soaked Baits. This is possibly one of the biggest edges you can give yourself! Everything the carp eat in their natural world is basically ‘wet and soft’. Even the snails and mussels etc are soft inside. The only ‘dry’ items of food they eat is bait. It is little wonder that carp will often take a few days to move over a baited patch and feed confidently. Many put out the theory that it is down to the fact that there was too much flavour in the bait in the first place and the carp have waited for it to dilute away before eating the bait. Now this can be the case with baits which are heavily flavoured but we also see it happen on perfectly good baits.
I have proven in my own mind that carp really do prefer to feed on baits which the water has totally penetrated. Not only does it make the bait appear to be much safer as it gives the impression it has sat there for longer but it must also be easier to eat and more comfortable to digest rather than take in a lot of dry food. Food for thought perhaps?
7 – Air Dried/re-hydrated baits. My little baby this one. This is something I first did many years ago as a method of preserving my fresh frozen baits. It was in the

Dried and Re-hydrated to the max'.

days when I had very little confidence in shelf life baits (how things change). I would leave the baits drying for several weeks at a time to ensure all of the moisture was removed thus preventing mould forming. To start with I was happy to simply bait up with these and fish slightly softer baits on the hair knowing that the carp were more than capable of crushing the solid air dried baits. That was until I went to fish a particularly silty lake with them and realised the baits were taking on a very strong smell of silt – much more so than the softer hook baits. Quite simply the air dried baits were sucking up all of the smells from the lake bottom and probably leaving very little ‘bait taste’ for the carp.
I had the idea of re-soaking the baits – thus re-hydrating them before baiting up. I reasoned that if I filled the baits with liquid before baiting up they would be unable to take any of the ‘silty smell’ on board. For what it is worth I found that a pint of air dried baits would drink around ½ a pint of liquid before turning back into conventional looking boilies. This worked a treat and suddenly I started catching more carp.
I moved this several stages further by re-hydrating the baits with various other liquids instead of water. But as they say – that’s another story for another day.
8 – Different presentation scenarios. We have looked at ways to alter the look of your bait to make things different but there are also many ways to make the baiting situation different.

One from last week by being very different

Many anglers put very little thought into this. I can assure you a PVA bag of bait really stands out and looks like a ‘danger zone’ when it is the only one out there. So few anglers cast ‘free bags’ out. Similar with stringer presentations.
One of my favourite techniques and one which gives a very different appearance below the surface but is so similar to PVA bagging is to use a bait dropper as used by many barbel anglers. This gives a very different situation to that offered by spodding. You release tiny mounds of bait on the bottom rather than it spreading as it flutters down through the depths. It may seem a subtle difference but when the carp have seen it all…..
9 – To bait tight or spread the bait? It often amuses me when I see anglers trying to bait incredibly tightly – particularly with small baits. All you end up doing is discouraging the fish to move along the bottom between mouthfuls of bait which in turn means they are less likely to hit the lead hard enough to prick themselves into panicking and giving good indication. I spread it about so long as there isn’t a putrid smelling area of silt in the vicinity. The more you have the fish moving between baits the more chance of them slipping

Don't be afraid to mix and experiment

up.
10 – Conclusion. I have always been a particularly stubborn type of character, refusing to conform and always trying to go my own way. I feel this has put me in good stead in many carp fishing situations. I really do feel that if you do the same as everyone else you will only catch the same as everyone else. Make things very different and you may well end up catching much more than is the norm’. You mat get it wrong at times and find you need to experiment again. But one thing is for sure in my own fishing. It has only ever been when I have approached things very different to others that I have experienced better than average catches.
Keep your mind open at all times and don’t be afraid to experiment.

Best fishes
Shaun Harrison.