Hi,iam fishing a lake that the carp tend to pick up baits that have been washed out after a couple of days.When i reel in my baits that have been out for two days, They have either gone or they just fall apart, i wish to leave them out a bit longer how do i make them last longer (two days plus)
THANK YOU. MICHAEL CHIPOLINA
Hi Michael
Great question and one that Shaun would probably give the most in depth answer to. As he is still hopefully catching a few Buffalo carp in America, I will give you my thoughts and I am sure Shaun can add to this on his return.
You say they are picking up washed out baits, I have found this before myself on a couple of pressured waters. Have you tried to rehydrate your baits in say hemp juice or lake water? Shaun has wrote extensively on the subject in the past and you can read all about this in the article section of the website. Basically Air dry your boilies (freezer baits) until they are rock hard, then place them in a tub and cover with your chosen liquid. They will soften up and their colour will fade, A large proportion of the strong aroma (flavour) will disperse. This by itself will give you baits that have the appearance of having been cast out for a couple of days and you will immediately have bait that the wary Carp will feel confident in picking up. (more…)
by Ron Key
American Signal Crayfish are here and they are spreading virtually unchecked. I first encountered them a few years ago in the Colne Valley where there were actually stocked in some waters to cultivate as food.They eventually escaped and have now spread over the whole of mainland UK. They are much larger than our native crayfish, and carry a fungus that is deadly to them. From an angling perspective they are so frustrating. The crayfish are relentless they will try to eat everything; this includes your hooklink and boilie stop.I gave up using mono hooklinks very quickly as the crayfish nipped the line seriously weakening it.I use soft braids or coated braids now; they tend to fold when nipped rather than deforming but they do need examining regularly for damage.I also hide the hair stop when possible as this is usually the first thing to be eaten, leaving your boilie free for the crayfish to rob you.At best the only indication you will get is a single beep of your buzzer and you are no longer fishing.
Below is a quick exchange of emails I felt may be useful for a few other readers…
A question to Shaun.
I am doing some winter fishing this year and wonder what bait you would recommend and what size. I like the look of the FruityTrifle.
Tom
Hi Tom,
Fruity Trifle is one of my favourite winter baits. The basemix I started using right back in the 80’s and have caught literally hundreds of carp on it. It is very easily digestible so the carp will feed again quite quickly – very important in the winter as many baits stay inside them for too long. Size wise I always try and mix the sizes in my own fishing and if the distance being fished allows I always crumble baits up for loose feed as well as offering whole ones.
Ideally I would introduce a small amount of 10mm’s, 15mm’s and 20mm’s whole and broken But if I were limiting myself to just one size of bait I would take the larger 20mm’s simply because there is plenty of scope for breaking them into smaller pieces and trimming them down etc.
Hope this helps
Best fishes
Shaun Harrison
Tom replied.
Thanks for the reply like most nowadays I read you must use 10mm in winter and so on. Just to give you the (more…)
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