Author: Craig Parkes

Making the Right Choices – Gary Bayes

by Craig Parkes

Whenever we release a new bait there is always a mad time when everyone wants to know as much as possible about it, what is it, what’s in it, how long has it been field tested, will it be good in the winter, in silty lakes, deep lakes and what about rivers?

 

IT’S A MONSTER

 

Monster Squid was originally made up as a bait to test other new baits against, on waters we knew had been hammered on some of our other baits.  Why do we want to test new bait against new bait?  Well, some of the people who test our baits for us actually never use ‘off the shelf’ bait, preferring to always take the great risk of using something new.  Not all new baits will work so they do come unstuck sometimes. To test bait properly though you need to be testing it against a fish catcher, otherwise a good angler who can get bites will not be able to decide if the new bait is better than an old one.  So, Monster Squid was designed as a fish catcher to fish against ‘maybes’ using information from loads of anglers to create a different bait recipe but with tried and tested products.  So that’s the ‘what is it’ question answered, its basically a new recipe.

 

The “what’s in it” is not really a secret; it’s an accumulated result of making “specials” for people.  The two main attractors in the early Monster Squid were Scopex No1 and Shellfish Sense Appeal, these attractors catch anywhere and importantly catch heavy natural food eating carp on really rich lakes.  Scopex No1 and Shellfish Sense Appeal are very distinctive attractors and make a very good spring bait but are not so good in the summer and the rest of the year.  George Benos, one of my ‘inner circle’ field testers has used Scopex/Shellfish a lot and had a lot of good fish from several waters but we mostly had to alter the bait once the season was under way, several other anglers all found the same.

 

Because the S Mix Squid is a ‘strong’ mix and not always ideal for adding too many attractors to, the original Monster mixes were on the rather more bland Monster Pursuit base mix. But we found straight away that the addition of Squid Essential Extract powder made a better bait so that was added but at about a third the strength of the Squid base mixes.  Because the Scopex/Shellfish combination isn’t an ‘all seasons’ one we next added elements of another excellent bait, Banana Squid.  Banana Squid contains Banana Oil and Red Liver Oil Palatants and Robin Red.  All of these blend well with the Scopex/Shellfish recipe so we knew it would work.  Because we now have water and oil soluble flavours we use both Intense Sweetener and Protaste Sweetener, which makes a much better sweet profile.

 

That’s the “what’s in it” as it was six to seven years ago and it soon became apparent that it was in fact an awesome bait, easily matching and surpassing other baits on the waters it was being  used.  At this time some of my close field testers were using another base mix in the winter, on similar lines to our Amber Attractor base mix.  The flavours in the Monster Squid worked just as well in this mix in the cold but slowed down in the spring.  So the next year it was decided to tweak the Monster Pursuit base mix a little, pulling in some bird foods and other ingredients, to achieve this we blended the S Mix Squid base mix into the Monster Pursuit.

 

The Monster Pursuit is actually a relatively simple mix, so the ingredients from the Squid mix significantly widened the nutritional profile of the finished bait.  The aim was still only to make a ‘special’ to test other baits against but in the mean time the Monster Squid was getting a very good field test itself.

 

BAIT COLOUR

 

Over the next few seasons the bait received several ‘tweaks’ regards flavour levels and ratios, base mix changes, Robin red in or out, colours and hardness/texture. Colour wise most anglers prefer natural but several of our field testers will not use natural at all, because every one else does.  I’ve conducted several colour tests over the years and found that on a particular day colour can make a difference.  The trouble is there aren’t any definite rules to work by.  When we first developed the Amber Strawberry we made it in several colours and in winter conditions found pure white best, no surprises there but it proves colour does count.  With the ingredients that go into the Monster Squid there isn’t much chance of making drastic bright colours and after all of the tests I’ve conducted with the help of field testers it’s apparent that white is the only colour you can use for long term fishing with the feed baits. Purple wasn’t too bad, pink was a waste of fishing time and so was yellow.

 

Of all the colours I’ve used the dark fishmeal/Robin Red colour is one of the most consistent with the dark brown colour that’s produced when you add red blood cell to a bait being just as good.  So, the Monster Squid is fishmeal/Robin red, dull red, natural.

 

FLAVOUR LEVELS

 

When we were satisfied with the flavour ratios we then experiment with the levels, making baits with very low to very high inclusion rates.  Once again we proved that as long as the flavours are balanced correctly with no individual flavour dominating and with optimum levels of sweeteners, the inclusion rate isn’t so critical.  We set the total inclusion rate for the liquids at 15ml per 4 egg mix but double that and the carp liked it, half it and they liked it.  Change the formula and up one or more of the flavours and it isn’t as good.  This in my opinion is where Nash Bait leads the way in the bait world, we have over 25 years of ‘flavour skills’ to draw on. We’ve been producing our own flavours from scratch for 15 years in the Nash Bait Laboratory, this is because we feel the food and drinks industry isn’t what it was as far as quality is concerned, more importantly variety of ingredients is also lacking.  Not meaning to blow my own trumpet but I find formulating flavour recipes easy, but even so the level of field testing is intense, it’s how we learn, prove and constantly improve.

 

But I’m convinced that the ratio’s are more important than the total levels, carp can detect food extremely easy, even at very low flavour levels, it’s the convincing them to eat it, not just once but many times, even if they get caught that makes a good recipe.

 

SHELF LIFE OR FROZEN?

 

We are lucky with our field testers in that we have many that like to use shelf life baits.  We actually supply more shelf life bait than we do frozen so although there is little difference between the two it is vitally important to test all forms of any new bait we make.  There are some ingredients that will not keep without freezing so these are dropped from the shelf life base mix recipe and replaced with other equally effective ones.  Yeasts don’t shelf life very well because they will degrade with very low levels of moisture, so do various malted products.   Our shelf life baits contain very little moisture, around 8%, which is how they remain stable.  Add water and they will go off because we don’t use preservatives, so we can’t use ingredients that will not keep even with low levels of moisture. We’ve tested a lot of ingredients over the last couple of decades so to make a shelf life version isn’t any great drama but always, food value is paramount and to be sure, field testing is vitally important.

 

Base mix ingredients have a major influence on the way the flavours work and also on the all seasons capability of the finished bait

 

Years ago I made a bait called Tangee Squid, which was basically Tangerine Oil, sweetener and S Mix Squid.  One angler loved it but because he was doing well on it and wanted to use it when we bought it out he wanted his  made a bit differently.

 

We added beef liver powder, one of his favourite ingredients, and he never had a bite on it, the liver powder killed it.  I think I know why now but at the time it was very strange.  The old Banana Squid contained loads of the same liver powder and caught fish along side the blanking Tangerine/liver powder.

 

I prefer to use shelf life bait all the time and do so when I’m not testing new baits.  I can’t hand roll our method of producing shelf life baits though so initial field testing, with small mixes is mainly with frozen baits.  Shelf life baits are so versatile, extra bait can be left in the car just in case you need more.  Our shelf life baits will sit there on the lake bed leaking out flavours and attraction without deteriorating for several days so, on the harder low stocked waters they will be good to eat even if fish don’t come into the swim straight away.  The flavour levels are slightly higher, no problem if the ratio’s are correct, so they actually make more sense to use in the winter and in fact often out fish frozen baits in the cold, they are cirtainly better all season baits.

 

In the summer un-eaten frozen bait will start to break down and deteriorate within 24 hours and as anyone who has found uneaten old baits will agree, they will not be very appetizing to the carp after around 48 hours. Both our frozen and shelf life bait will eventually gas up with bacterial activity and pop up to the surface, out of the way so will not taint the swim, to me this is vitally important to the environment.

 

At Nash Bait we produce a full range of peripheral products to match each bait type again these are fully tested because again they are critical to us as anglers.  Anyone can make a pop up, any flavour but again our pop up mixes contain base mix ingredients, as do Monster Carp Pellets, Soluballs, Food and Boilie Dips, Arousers, Chain Reaction, and anything the flavour recipe is added to.  There is no point in making anything without testing it by having anglers fish with it.

 

All the questions I get asked about any new bait have to be answered well before we include it into our range there’s no point in not doing so.  Monster Squid has been tested in all its forms for over 6 years, not just on easy waters, where anything will catch, but on all types of water, in all seasons.

 

Monster Squid has accounted for a lot of good fish already, I’m sure it’s a winner,  I’ll be continuing to use it for my serious fishing that’s for sure.

 

Practical Thinking – Adam Garland

by Craig Parkes

KEEPING SIGHT OF REALITY

 

Carp are relatively simply creatures, with two main objectives in life, firstly to reproduce and secondly to eat. Crediting them with a super level of intelligence does add much to the allure of carp fishing and it makes a great excuse when we’re not catching, but the realities are, in my opinion much different.

 

Many anglers these days seem to have a fascination or an obsession even with what is often described as ‘advanced methods and tactics’ which can make the whole situation far more complicated than it needs to be.

 

Put simply if you fish a good proven bait in an area accessible to the fish, (by this I mean free from being tangled up in weed or bottom debris) then as long as carp are present, and your rig is able to perform the basic task of hooking fish, then more times than not you will catch.

 

 

ALL THINGS BEING EQUAL

 

When a lake is considered to be difficult, it’s often down to the low stock that inhabits the water, and it’s likely that an introduction of more fish which should create competition for food would stack the odds back in the anglers favour.

 

Pressure plays a huge part in how the fish behave, for example 10 carp in a small pond fished for 364 days a year, will be harder to catch than 100 fish in the same pond under the same amount of angling pressure.

 

This is purely down to competition between fish and the pressure being spread through the stock and should in no way credit the fish with any more intelligence.

 

All this may seem very obvious to most people, but the ‘modern approach’ can cloud over the facts and can lead to us looking for a wonder rig or bait.

 

 

PROBLEMS ENCOUNTERED

When an angler experiences a problem, be it hook pulls or lack of action, when clearly on feeding fish, usually the smallest of adjustments to the current tactic, is all that’s required, just as long as we think in a logical and more practical manner.

 

We must never loose sight of the fact that every lake is different and therefore, the feeding habits of our chosen quarry may vary from venue to venue.

 

It’s also important to remember that these fish are not acting differently because they are far cleverer than carp in any other lake, it’s more likely  the nature of the lake and the make up of the bottom, that has conditioned them to feed in this manner.

 

Of coarse all these observations are only my opinion and you may well disagree.

 

A RECENT EXPERIENCE

 

On a recent visit to my syndicate lake I was unfortunate to receive a hook pull, on a rig that has served me well for a long time.

 

The rig in question was a pop up rig, fished an inch off the bottom and presented above any bottom debris, such as leaves and twigs that were present in the swim.

 

My first reaction was something needed to change, as that couldn’t happen again.

 

The reason my faith was so strong in this rig is that on the water I fished last year I caught several large carp to over 40lb fishing in this exact same way. Fishing over light weed and bottom debris I thought the pop would be less likely to become contaminated with lakebed odours.

 

It was on this same recent trip that I was able to observe some large Carp sitting in the no fishing area, so I spent hours watching them feed on bait I had introduced.

 

It didn’t take long to see the problem, as due to the nature of the bottom the carp were feeding extremely close to the lakebed and it was clear to see that the pop up rig I had so much faith in would be sitting too high in this situation, they just weren’t feeding as I’d expected and only a bait close to the bottom would do the trick.

 

 

SOLUTION

 

I returned to the swim and repositioned the shot on the rig only 5mm from the Fang Twister hook and bingo! The next take resulted in an upper 30!

 

It would have been so easy to start looking at different rigs and methods, but in this case an adjustment of around 2 cm was all that was required.

 

The fact is the fish hadn’t got off the hook because he was too clever or he’d pulled a trick to dislodge the hook, he’d simply eaten what I’d put in front of him, but the hook bait just wasn’t presented properly.

 

 

SIMPLE RIG – BASIC TASK

 

There are so many rigs out there today, finding one that’s right for you is not easy.

 

For me I love the idea of combi rigs constructed of both stiff and supple material, as in my opinion the two most important parts of any rig are that, it’s tangle proof and that it has enough movement to allow the rig to enter the carps mouth.

 

Although I’ve used coated braids such as the Missing Link with great success, my favourite method is to use Nash stiff fluorocarbon in 20 lb and combine it with the excellent Armour Braid.

 

For me it ticks all the boxes and when combined with the awesome Fang Twister hook, it just doesn’t get any better.

 

I like to add a 10mm section of Nash Diffusion shrink tube over the eye of the hook to extend the shank, and then fix the hair with a small piece of blow back rig tube on the bend, nothing too complex and it works!

 

What I really like about this rig is it’s the only one I use! Fished with a 2 inch supple section at the sharp end and combined with a snow-man hook bait, its hard to better. For a pop up I’ll substitute the blow back tube for a Nash TT rig ring, but that’s just about it.

Very simple and very effective, I know if it’s presented correctly and the carp visit me I’ll catch.

 

THE PRESENCE OF WEED.

 

Weed is probably most anglers worst nightmare, and you only have to look at it to see why, but the fact is carp love it and if the bait is presented in a way that allows the carp to get the rig in their mouth success is the most likely outcome.

 

Some anglers prefer to fish pop up’s in weed and others are religious users of bottom baits, but for me a snow man rig is my number one choice.

 

A pop up may sit on the weed perfectly in some cases, and a bottom bait may make it to the bottom in other types of weed, such as Canadian pond weed, but without the use of underwater footage, there is no way of telling 100% exactly what is out there,

 

For me a snow-man rig works best in this situation, the key is the length of the rig which is always long enough to ensure the balanced hook bait sits on top of whatever I‘m fishing over.

 

EJECT AND LAND

 

For all my fishing I use the Nash Weed Safe lead clip, as I feel that in most cases dropping the lead is essential for converting runs into banked fish, but never more so when dealing with weed.

 

It’s hard enough to prize the fish out of their underwater homes, without an extra large clump of weed tagging along as well.

 

Diffusion Weed Safe clips and associated components also vanish against any lake bed colours and shades which also adds to the stealth effect.

 

A PROVEN BAIT

 

Bait is another contentious topic, with everyone having their own views and opinions, but when you think about it, the only things that matter, are that the fish want to eat it, and that it’s ‘angler friendly’ and is nuisance fish resistant and remains on the rig.

 

Being part of the Nash team I have access to a vast range of bait products, all with a proven track record for catching big carp, but with such a large choice it wasn’t easy to narrow things down to one product.

 

Monster Squid would have been the obvious choice, its just catching so many fish at the moment but again I’ve gone my own way and opted for the ever reliable Scopex Squid. With over 16 years of carp catching heritage behind it’s name, for me its still the number one big fish bait in the UK.

 

The amount of large carp this bait still catches is simply unbelievable, while other ‘wonder baits’ come and go it just goes on working year after year and it’s no wonder that it’s still a big seller.

 

To say that Scopex Squid has stood the test of time is an understatement, but it’s not just the impressive boilie range that makes this bait such a success, the matching pellets, dips, pop ups, Soluballs and the new Chain Reaction never seem to fail.

 

 

TOP TIP!

 

A top tip that has served me well over the last 18 months is to keep some Scopex Squid pop ups  permanently swimming in a pot of the matching Food Dip. Carp find this stuff irresistible and you just can’t seem to over do it, the added attraction acts as a kind of beacon and makes the hook bait impossible to ignore and I’m sure its caught me plenty of bonus fish.

 

CONCLUSION

 

There’s no magic answers! To look at bait from a practical point of view, there is no such thing as a wonder bait and that applies to rigs too, but using products with a proven history will stack the odds in our favour

 

I hope you’ve enjoyed my ramblings, it isn’t my intention to convert you to my way of thinking but maybe this article will be just enough to get you thinking and re evaluating aspects of your own approach that you might not be completely confident with.

 

Good luck and keep thinking!