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* Many fishermen would like to make their own baits, maybe for the unique satisfaction of catching that new personal best on your own bait, or simply as an alternative to buying expensive shop-bought boilies. Whatever – you can be sure it is certainly well worthwhile! You may be new to the exciting world of making homemade carp baits, or perhaps been making them a while. Those who have been making them a while already know the great benefits there are in doing this. Often the bait that catches the ‘bigger carp’ is the one that is new or ‘different.’ It is a proven fact that all baits ‘lose their edge’ after a while of fish being hooked on them. This is one of the major reasons why shop bait companies are always bringing out new boilies and bait products. The ‘average’ angler will go to the bait shop, buy some bait and go fishing. Then he will achieve ‘average’ results based on his ‘average’ ability and ‘normal’ baits. The ‘average’ angler may not fully comprehend the significance of fishing in this way. He does not realise that the biggest fish have long since started to become very difficult to hook on those baits. This is because the average fisherman does not see the bigger picture; that every average fisherman also uses these carp baits on his waters too! The big fish were hooked and caught in the ‘first exposure’ the fish had to these baits. The fantastic results that bait company ‘bait testers’ frequently have just proves the point. In fact most new baits will overcome the fish’s resistance and caution when first introduced! Then comes a period of caution because fish perhaps want to eat the bait, but are very cautious of hooks! The wise homemade bait guy goes fishing with mega confidence! He consistently catches big fish and consistently catches bigger bags of fish than the ‘average’ fisherman. He is the ONLY fisherman using his bait! He probably knows ALL the ingredients in his bait, and even perhaps has investigated why and how they work and for these great reasons he is using these particular ingredients. He keeps ahead of both the ‘crowd’ and the fish at all times - his bait is always ‘different’ and new! You may be familiar with the phenomenon of ‘bait sponsored fishermen.’ These fortunate guys will be using as much as ten times the bait you could possibly afford from the shops. Because for them, catching fish is just a necessity, a job that must produce results; catch photos in the angling press to promote their company’s products. This is just part of the commercialism of carp fishing and one that is hard to bear if you have to fish and try to compete against these guys. Don’t bother with shop-baits! In this case, the sponsored anglers have probably already caught the big fish on their baits and now you know EXACTLY which baits to avoid for quite a while to come! Out fish these guys by using homemade baits! Here’s one easy way for beginners to compete. (This is quite apart form making very cheap baits at perhaps £1 or $2 a kilo using your own recipe.) To ‘top’ a ‘commercial’ shop-bought bait, buy the base mix and make it different to the original used on your water. Most carp fishermen have heard of the famous “Mainline” bait: “Active 8.” This is one of the proven best, most advanced, complex carp baits ever produced for commercial sale to the ‘average’ carp fisherman! This has been very highly successful all over the world. BUT once again, it can lose its ‘edge’ wherever it has hooked most big fish in a water. The fish still get ‘wise’ to it; still eating it but with far more caution. So catch results begin to drop. On waters where the majority of anglers have used it, many may find results reducing to mostly smaller fish and wonder why. The company brought out a ‘different’ version with an alternative attractor or label; called “Maple 8.” What happened of course is, that the majority of fishermen read the well publicized catch reports of big fish caught on it, swapped over from using the old version of the bait and used the new one. Suddenly catch rates of big fish went up like crazy. You see what I mean... You can catch like crazy, by ‘doctoring’ the original shop-bought ‘base mix’ and reproducing a boilie bait, by changing the attractors or flavour in any commercial bait that has been popular on your waters. Even plan ahead when a new bait comes on the scene. For example, I was to fish a famous old sometime of lakes called “Waveney Valley Lakes” in Norfolk, UK. These lakes are commercial waters and fished intensively 24 hours a day by anglers of all abilities including the very best in the UK. In this one instance, I chose to discover which commercial bait had been introduced the most by the majority of fishermen and had been catching most of the big carp. At the time it was “Nash baits Sting fishmeal.” Well in advance of my week long holiday at the lakes, I purchased 15 kilograms of this baits base mix powders. Instead of using the recommended attractors or flavours to make my boilies the same as the shop-bought version that the majority had used at the lakes, I used totally different attractors. But knowing that I would still benefit from the fish wanting to eat a ‘familiar base mix’ based bait. The best most exciting part was knowing that ‘the majority’ of fishermen had actually been ‘pre-baiting’ for me, with their original versions of this bait for a long time! Of course the outcome of the holiday was that it was a memorable one with many captures of the big old fish that reside there. This is precisely the way you can progress from one homemade bait to another too; and stay ahead of the fish at all times! Whether it is your own recipes or simply using shop-bought proprietary ‘base mix powders.’ Pre-baiting your new bait while or at the end of each session to get it ‘established,’ while still achieving great catches on your current homemade bait version! (Yes I realise that ‘pre-baiting’ or ‘chumming’ or ‘ground baiting’ in the states is actually illegal in certain states, due to ‘dynamiters!’ (However, you can make very big dough ball hook baits out of your new base mix, and just keep recasting more frequently than usual to feed your swim, for example.) The author has many more fishing and bait ‘edges’ up his sleeve. Every single one can have a huge impact on catches. (Warning: This article is protected by copyright, but reprints with a link are OK.) By Tim Richardson. ‘The thinking angler’s fishing author and expert bait making guru.’ For the unique new massive expert acclaimed bait making 'bible' ebook / book: “BIG CARP BAIT SECRETS!” SEE: http://www.baitbigfish.com
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