March 2007
What’s Occurring?
 Well first of all apologies for how long it’s been since my last ‘up-date’ appeared on the screen. Life at Quest Baits has continued to be just as manic as it was last year!
I managed just one short break last year and quickly ran off to France for a quick dabble on three different lakes. I was extremely lucky to catch carp from all of them… with 40lb+ fish coming from two different waters in the same week. I guess luck always plays a huge part in angling but having a decent bait doesn’t half help lady luck along her way!
Less of my fishing, let’s see what we have to offer in 2007. By far the biggest development, and the one I am most proud of, is the launch of the new Special Crab Plus.
 Special Crab Plus
It’s always been a slight thorn in my side that Special Crab was the only bait in the range which I hadn’t put together myself. Although an excellent fish catcher there were one or two things in the mix I would have altered had I been making it for myself. The original recipe was put together over 10 years ago and since then other ingredients have become available which I consider to be superior.
In the end I had to satisfy my own curiosity and made a few tweaks to the Special Crab and handed the ‘new’ bait out to a very select few. I was quite crafty in picking anglers who fished waters which saw the standard Crab so I could get a clearer picture as to how effective it would be.
Without exception the new version didn’t only catch a few more fish… it completely out-fished the original bait. Paul Cooper (fishing the Mangrove) actually went as far as fishing four hook baits on the same baited area (a method I have employed for years)… two on the original and two on the new version. I think I’m right in saying that 12 of the next 13 takes he had came on the new version - despite swapping the rods around, and all the baits were within feet of each other.
Encouraged by this early success I rolled a much larger batch and handed it around to more anglers. It soon became a problem that anglers who used the new bait didn’t want to go back to the old one!
So, this year I have made the decision to make the new version available to everyone. It’s called Special Crab Plus
The main changes in it are a better, more consistent quality fish meal in the shape of LT94, slightly boosted Robin Red content and a new natural extract (which I’m not going to divulge!). I’ve also done away with the semolina which was in the original mix (although to be fair it was only included in a relatively small quantity).
To launch this bait and save any confusion whatsoever as to whether it is the new or the old I have also taken the rather expensive route of having it machine rolled in different sizes from before. It’s now supplied in 15 and 20 mm to save any confusion. There’s a bit of a myth in the bait trade that high food content baits will not roll on machines. Well, I’m here to tell you that’s not the case… they have rolled perfect!
Before leaving the Special Crab Plus I must also mention that I had an amazing run of good barbel on it last autumn, with several doubles up to 12.06 from a river that doesn’t usually produce many doubles. I was fishing very short sessions of between 2 and 2 ½ hours and averaging 6-8 barbel a time. I’ve never experienced fishing like it.
I promise I won’t go into as much detail with the other new products as I have with the Crab Plus, it’s just that the Crab Plus is such an incredible catcher.
 Method Mix
Our own Quest method mix is now ready for sale. I started handing this one round to a few friends about this time last year and have sat tight watching their results and listening to their comments. Method fishing isn’t something I’ve done an awful lot of, so I took advice from others who have - what did they think made a good method mix?
The bait we’ve put together is one which can be added to. It works brilliant on it’s own… but you can also add other bits and bobs. You can dilute it down with standard breadcrumb ground bait (we sell brown and white) or you can stuff it full with hemp, pellets or whatever takes your fancy. It will still hold together with up to 40% pellet added!
Garlic Feast
The Garlic Feast was mentioned in my last ‘up-date’. We’ve now sold loads of it and an awful lot are repeat sales, which speaks for itself. It’s so different to the other particle mixes I have seen on offer and so instant too. One smell and you simply know you’re going to have a result.
 Our Latest Boilie – Pineapple Crush
A project I’ve been working on for a while now is a very different type of boilie to anything else in the Quest range. All of our existing boilie range are relatively subtle flavoured food baits with little dye. This is how I have always preferred my own baits to be, so it was natural for me to launch Quest this way.
But of course I do listen to what anglers ask for and a lot of customers ask me to do them a boosted flavour bait. To be frank I’ve always refused, as I truly believe the six boilies I launched Quest with were all flavoured at just the right levels. I test baits on fish all the time as I’m very fortunate in having quite a large natural pool in my garden where I can watch the fish’s reaction to different food sources. Each time I was asked to boost a bait I simply replied that I could… but you probably won’t catch as many as you will with the standard baits on offer.
It did get me thinking though… could I produce a bait with high flavour levels, but levels which aren’t repulsive to the fish and will leak out easily, leaving a taste in the water but diluting itself at the same time?
I also had another challenge I wanted to crack. For a while I’ve wanted a bait in the range which those pests of so many French lakes, Poisson Chats, don’t like. There are so few boilies you can get away with fishing with when Chats are on the prowl.
So, I set about producing a bait which hit both marks – boosted flavour levels & “Anti Poisson Chat”. The finished result is yellow in colour and called ‘Pineapple Crush’. I’ve been delighted with the catches anglers have made on it over the winter and so far the “Anti – Poisson” testing is going very well too.
 It isn’t 100% Poisson proof at the moment… but they really seem to dislike it. The anglers I have testing it in France have reported that most conventional boilies are being completely nibbled/eaten away within hours of going in. Yet they are managing a full nights fishing with the Pineapple Crush. The Poissons are having a nibble if there is no other food introduced, but a 20mm boilie is still coming back as a 16mm boilie by the morning - where as their usual baits are being removed from the hair before midnight! So, at least there’s still a bait on the rig when the carp move through to feed.
It seems the best way to fish these boilies for maximum Anti-Poisson effect is to bait up close by with something the Poissons like such as pellet or conventional boilies. If there is something else in the swim for them to eat they will leave the Pineapple Crush alone.
Back home in England I would recommend fishing these as visual baits to showing fish. They will lend themselves best to stringer fishing on a roving rod or fishing lightly baited areas. The carp will be more than aware the baits are there without the need for mass baiting.
Back to my own fishing which frankly has been virtually non-existent! I have just come back from a five hour session with Martin Ford (Chief Editor for Angling Publications) in tow. I’ve been writing a bait series for Carpworld over the past few months - you can see them here.
Martin wanted some ‘on the bank’ shots. We had to cancel our first attempt as the lake was frozen over, but as it thawed we went back for another go. I mean it hardly looks real sat behind rods when there is an ice covering – looks a little too staged (although I have caught from holes in the ice on a few venues now). So with winter still very much in evidence I brushed off the almost redundant rods and ventured out with Martin and camera in tow. Five hours later we were walking back to the car and I’d caught two 20’s and a 19.10.
As I said at the start of this piece, I consider myself to be a fortunate angler… but a decent bait doesn’t half help!
Best fishes - Shaun
Your Comments please
We strive to offer the very best service we can and welcome any comment you may have. You can email Shaun direct at shaun@questbaits.com
|
