Quest Baits Blog

By Shaun Harrison;

One thing I very much like to do and particularly so at this time of the year is to peel the outer skin off my boilies. This allows a quicker release of many of the subtle natural stimulators contained within the bait.

Although Dips and Glugs both very much have their place in angling, it seems to me that the one big common denominator amongst most anglers winter baits is the boosted flavour levels. Once everyone is doing this a more subtle approach such as chopped or peeled baits can make a very significant difference.

By peeling the baits in a similar fashion to how you would peel an apple you retain a tough end either end where the hair enters and leaves the bait, but with soft sides (once the water penetrates) allowing a good release of flavour.

The skin peeled off of the inner bait I then put into a boilie chopper (vegetable chopper) and chop away – this makes an excellent ‘stick mix’ ingredient as well as using it on its own.

The other big bonus with peeling and chopping baits is that it allows you to make baits any shape you want. I have long held the belief that different shaped and sized baits can often make all the difference, particularly so on highly pressured venues.

Give it a go – you may be pleasantly surprised just how many more takes you get.

Best fishes, Shaun

By Pat Gillett
 

I suppose one of the main things that differentiates river fishing for barbel from say Stillwater carp fishing is the fact that in many cases fish stock wise no two seasons are the same. Now don’t get me wrong I do like my carp fishing and up until ten or twelve years ago I used to fish for them throughout the year. The thing with most carp waters is that after a season or two it soon becomes apparent what the fish stocks are and unless fish get stolen or you get the odd new fish coming through these stocks are not going to change. Obviously this is not the case with the barbel on the rivers as they are free to wander wherever they want to.

My barbel fishing last year really brought home to me the way certain stretches can vary from year to year. Now I usually start my barbel fishing around about October onwards, preferring to fish for other species for the rest of the year (which I believe keeps your fishing from getting ‘stale’ – variety is the spice of life and all that!). Last Autumn / Winter I fished the Lower Severn, the Upper Trent, the Warwickshire Avon and the river Dove and on all of these rivers the barbel stocks were significantly different to previous seasons. continue reading…

By Samantha Collins – Ratcliffe;

One of my favourite methods of carp fishing is using PVA bags. It can be an absolutely deadly method of catching carp, because it presents a bed of bait you choose to use, with your hook bait disguised in amongst it. The rig can be cast a long distance when assembled correctly, this presentation is something a carp is not used to in that location.

When I first heard about PVA I thought my partner was having a joke, so I started to find out more about this item. PVA stands for (Polyvinyl Alcohol) which melt when wet. The first time I tried to reach a long distance with a PVA bag it didn’t stand up to the job and I wasn’t confident of the overall result. So I decided to make a rig which would cast and not get tangled when it hits the bottom of the lake. continue reading…

Ron Neville and Steve Beeton have just phoned from France to say they are notching up a few catches with the Quest Rahja spice in the very cold weather on Grosley Lake.

With 13 carp so far, including 2 x 30’s (11 on the Rahja proving once again what a truly exceptional winter bait it is) and they are just into their 6^th day!

They will update at the end of the week but are looking to extend their stay for a few days more… & with the weather set to get milder catches could get better still!

Regards, Bridget

France - carp mecca!

Richard Turner wrote;

Hi there, A group of us are going to France in august for the first time its only a 4 acre lake with an average depth of 5 foot with a gravel bottom with patches of silt.

In your opinion out of your baits which one would you take as your main hook bait and what size?

The owner has boilies for sale at the lake but I’m not sure about using a strange bait, what advice can you give us? Thanks.

Hi Richard,

I have been involved in the French carp scene for around 17 years, and one of the most difficult decisions is around bait.

First of all get in touch with the owners and try and ascertain the size of the carp that are stocked in the lake, and what other fish are in the lake. In my experience, most of the French lakes are stuffed with other species of fish, Bream, Tench, Rudd the dreaded Poisson Chat.

The species like Bream, Tench and Rudd are easy to get around. Increase the size of your baits. I always use a minimum of 18mils, usually 20 mils. This eliminates most of the problems that you will encounter from these nuisance fish, but even so you will still pick up the odd one or 2. continue reading…

Stephen Vaughan wrote:

Are particles worth fishing during winter? If so would garlic be a sensible winter choice for flavour? 

Hi Stephen,

I strongly recommend using particles during the Winter as I find it a good method for lengthy sessions. During the winter months I tend to use a method that is made up using partiblend and powdered banana milkshake. I have recently tried using a mix with garlic but didn’t get the results I had hoped for.

I soak 1kg of partiblend in water for 24 hours before cooking and then add 500g of powdered banana milkshake, to the water, bringing it to the boil and then simmering for 40 mins until the water turns a thick yellow colour. I find putting this mixture straight into a bait bucket with a lid on increases the flavour intensity.

When setting up your rig using this mixture thread a selection of particles onto the hair. Then take a handful of particles and mix with any kind of base mix, I prefer to use pineapple crush boiles that have been reduced to powder. This can then be placed in a PVA bag ready for you to cast out.

 Good luck with this method.

Samantha Collins – Ratcliffe