Click here to see a video covering most of these tips.
Tip 1
Carp can shy away from large boilies fished amongst smaller baits. They eat the small particles and pellets but don’t take the ‘obvious’ boilie. Turn this trait to your advantage and purposely introduce a couple of large bright boilies into your baited patch… but fish a smaller, more discreet bait on the hair. The carp are so aware of the ‘obvious’ bait that they often hoover up your more discreet hook bait without a second thought.
 Tip 2
Carp on pressured waters can become wary of freshly introduced bait. They learn to tell the difference because the boilie is harder and the inside is dry - this can mean danger. Conversely they learn that a bait that’s washed-out often doesn’t have an angler sitting at the end of it… and they start feeding with confidence. I get around this by pre-soaking my baits in water (preferably lake water) the day before I go fishing.
Tip 3
Following on from the above try soaking your boilies in the excess juice left over from cooking particle baits. This also creates a cloudy scent trail around the bait.
Tip 4
I took the whole scenario of washed-out baits a stage further by completely air drying my boilies then re-hydrating them with particle liquid. The results were phenomenal.
 Tip 5
When the baiting distance and situation allows, I always break up several boilies and introduce them with my other free baits. The broken baits start releasing their attractants much sooner than the whole boilies and the different shapes give the carp something extra to think about.
Tip 6
I often fish with broken boilies on the hair - this can fool the most wary of fish. The best way I’ve found to present these is to put a standard boilie on the hair then nibble (or use your rig scissors) the sides away. This gives you a bait that looks like an apple core, keeping the skinned ends that the hair passes through intact, which ensures the bait stays on longer.
 Tip 7
It surprises a lot of anglers when I tell them that I often don’t match my hookbaits to my free baits. I often use a different flavour and coloured hook bait and may swap and change several times during a session.
Tip 8
Sometimes I fish with single baits on the hair… other times I’ll fish with two or three. Rather than having to tie up lots of rigs with different length hairs I tie them all just long enough to accept one bait. If I want to present two baits on the hair I simply tie a small loop up and ‘loop to loop’ on the hair – an instant double bait rig.
 Tip 9
If you use large hook baits you will need a larger hook. Large hook baits are ejected with considerable force, and always from a wide open mouth. A small hook can easily follow the bait back out without catching hold.
Tip 10
Never be in too much of a rush to start baiting up heavily. Start the session with a few freebies - if the conditions indicate they will be feeding well then start a little baiting. If the conditions are hopeless the last thing you want is another 100 baits around your hook bait.
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