Now we are moving into a time of the year when using certain types of pellet as bait will have a definate detrimental effect to your angling I thought I’d share a few thoughts on the subject.
We all know just how incredible the sport can be whilst using pellets as part of our background feed whilst fishing
for our beloved carp but with such a multitude of choice out there things can become a little confusing as to why we should perhaps use one type of pellet instead of another type of pellet, but I guess more importantly why we shouldn’t use certain types of pellet at this time of the year.
Well, surely a pellet is a pellet sold in different bags with different smells etc? Actually you couldn’t be so far removed from the truth. Pellets are made for many different purposes and in most cases from vastly different ingredients. I’ll run through a few of these, skipping briefly through them and then concentrating more upon the ones you should be looking at for your angling at this time of the year and on further into the colder months.
Pellets by their very nature are incredibly user friendly. They are simply small parcels of a complete food source, albeit aimed at a particular fish or animal. Carp by their nature enjoy a vastly varied diet so pellets prove to be a very convenient food source to feed them. They are relatively clean to use, dry and last for a decent length of time which means you can still use them the next week if you don’t need to use them the first week etc.
Low Oil Trout Pellets
Trout Pellets These have been in use for carp fishing longer than any of the other pellets listed below. They were always the easiest pellets to source and once carp anglers realised they were manufactured in many different sizes as sinkers as well as floaters many quickly brought them into their baiting armour and soon realised just how much the carp enjoy eating them. The sizes available range from the almost dust like trout fry feed through to usually around 11mm. There are a lot of different types of trout pellet available but the only two things we as carp anglers really need to concern ourselves about are their oil content.
There are high oil/fat content pellets and low oil/fat ones available. Carp enjoy eating them all and can cope with a relatively high oil diet through the summer months but come the winter this is definitely a no go area. The problem is that the carp struggle to digest the high oil/fat pellets when their body temperatures drop along with the water temperature. We must remember they are cold blooded creatures and their metabolism works at a speed in relation to the water/body temperature.
Now I am aware that this piece is in danger of becoming a little to scientific to be enjoyable or informative as a carp fishing related Blog so I will quickly steer in a different direction to help you simply catch a few fish.
High Oil content pellets congeal in cold water and the oil/fat semi solidifies and more importantly traps in many of the subtle food signals the pellets could be giving out. A pellet lower in oil will release more to attract the fish. Check with your dealer the oil content of the pellets they are selling. If they can’t tell you then choose a different brand or ask someone who can. Purchasing the wrong type can cost you an awful lot of blank hours on the bank. Pellets classed as ‘High Oil’ content pellets usually contain around 15% of oil/fat and low oil content trout pellets are usually around the 6% level. This is a rough guide but an invaluable one if you intend to continue to use trout pellets through the colder months.
Carp Pellets
Carp Pellets These as the name suggests are actually produced for carp so it doesn’t take a rocket scientist to realise that they could be useful for fishing with too. Carp pellets are generally quite low in oil/fat content again around 5-6% similar to the low oil trout pellets these are fine to be used during the colder months so long as they are used in moderation.
One thing worth thinking about is that most newly stocked fish from fish farmers here in the UK will have been fed on carp pellets most of their lives. Now if I were to say to you I could give you a bait the carp have been eating for a long while and never been hooked on them or scared of them and that this feed is something they will accept as a natural food source then you may get a little excited. But, we already have that bait at our disposal – Carp pellets. Most newly stocked carp in this country have spent a period of their lives reliant on carp pellets. Need I say more?
Halibut Pellets
Halibut Pellets I never realised how many anglers fished for Halibut until I started to sell Halibut pellets! Sorry only joking. Halibut pellets came on the scene first with the catfish anglers who found the catfish loved to gorge themselves on them but possibly surprising at the time was the number of carp which slipped up on them. In the early days everyone was using the large sizes of over 20mm but these days most use the smaller sizes which are now available. Most shops supply them in sizes ranging from around 3mm up to a monstrous 28mm size.
There is no denying that the carp like these dark oily pellet but here lies a problem when it comes to winter fishing. Halibut pellets contain a massive 18% oil/fat content and are definitely worth avoiding in the cold water conditions of winter. The carp will invariably eat the odd one but that will then lead on to all sorts of digestive problems for them. Not only that but there are plenty of other pellets available out there which will offer you a much greater chance of actually getting the fish feeding when the water temperatures start to fall. Believe me you aren’t doing yourself or the carp a favour by feeding these high oil pellets in the winter.
To be fair I feel the lack of sport on a lot of waters these days is partially due to high oil content baits being used through the summer months. These fish are already carrying a lot of the bulk and fat required to survive the winter without needing to replenish too often. Personally I won’t use Halibut pellets at any time of the year as I like my winter fishing too much to add to the problem of large fat/oil intake.
Boilie Matching Pellets Difficult one to approach this one as most boilie manufacturers offer matching pellets to suit their boilie ranges. Some companies produce their own but others simply spray a flavour and dye over the top of another readily available pellet. These are usually low oil type pellets so should be okay in the winter again in moderation but try and find out first. One easy way to see if they are simply sprayed over with flavour and dye is to break one in half and see if the colour is the same in the middle as it is on the outside.
Purpose Made Chilli Chocolate pellets
Purpose Made Angling Pellets There are a few companies out there who go down this more expensive route. At Quest Baits we do what we refer to as the Maximum Action Pellet. These are produced from exactly the same ingredients as the matching boilie but without the eggs. They work incredibly well during the cold winter months (particularly the Fruity Trifle, Rahja Spice and Chilli Chocolate). This type of pellet is a little different to most conventional pellets out there in as much as they are made purposely to break down fast. This gives a soup type effect around the rig, plenty of stimulation, but very little to feed upon. Personally I have always liked the thought of bait slowly breaking down and disappearing during the cold conditions of winter. Who says you can’t take the bait back out once you have baited up with it?
To be fair once it has broken down enough all the little creepy crawlies start to move in on the ‘dust’ so again it enters into the food chain of the fish even if the fish don’t eat it at the time the rest of the food chain benefits and the bird life struggles to interfere.
Hemp Pellets
Animal Feed Pellets Lots of different ones available here such as hemp pellets, CSL pellets and so on. I must admit to hardly ever using this type of thing in my own fishing but others assure me they do seem to work well during the colder months. It would be worthwhile doing a small test in a clear glass at home before use just to see how much oil comes out and how quickly they break down. In my limited experience of the animal feed pellets most appear to break down quicker than conventional fish pellets as they were never produced to be thrown in water in the first place. So, in my mind this breaking down scenario lends them quite nicely to the disappearing winter bait syndrome.
Quick Reference for winter use:-
Trout Pellets High Oil – Definitely NOT
Trout Pellets Low Oil – OK
Carp Pellets – OK
Halibut Pellets – Definitely NOT
Boilie Matching Pellets – Need to check their Oil content
Purpose Made Angling Pellets – Need to check their Oil content
Animal Feed Pellets – Generally okay
Winter Conclusion
Try and avoid any pellet with a high oil content. The oils will trap a lot of goodness and attraction inside the bait making them less appealing to the carp. This in turn will make it more difficult to catch carp and the few you do manage to get feeding will then have problems digesting the pellets thus making them practically impossible to catch the next time you go. If the carp struggle to digest the food inside them the longer it will be before they need to eat again. Too much fatty food at this time of the year and you might not have any carp to fish for come the following summer.
Look after yourself with maximum sport and look after the carp along the way.
Best fishes
Shaun Harrison.
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