| and rubber baits are well proven to catch even | | | | opinion although when using foam or fake corn |
| the biggest fish and many factors are involved in | | | | etc as hook weight negators I always make a |
| this success beyond the obvious. Just how can it | | | | slot in these so I can bury my hair stop. |
| be that a big wary carp can get hooked in the | | | | Having mentioned fake baits in regard to hair |
| depths of the darkest night on a piece of rubber | | | | stops and balancing rigs, the nature of many of |
| sweetcorn simply cast out at random? The | | | | these baits means they have a different texture |
| explanations for this are many, and homemade | | | | and taste to the vast majority of baits carp have |
| and readymade fake bait options and uses are | | | | been used to dealing with in the past and are |
| extremely diverse and these are very effective | | | | often able to be squeezed or compressed in the |
| fish catchers so read on and find out more! | | | | case of the rubber baits. This is something I think |
| Although fake baits have been around for | | | | carp love to do in testing baits anyway. Rubber |
| decades in terms of luminescent or fluorescent | | | | baits can cling onto lines which can be very useful |
| sea and predator lures for instance, few carp | | | | when you are constructing creative rigs with |
| anglers had applied the principles until very | | | | these and in combination with anything from |
| recently. Carp can detect light just into both the | | | | boilies, pellets, maggots, worms, all kinds of |
| ultraviolet and infrared ranges of the light | | | | particles, meat baits, fish chunks or whatever. |
| spectrum and certainly particular carp fishing | | | | Probably the major advantage of many rubber |
| products available today exploit this. Some of | | | | and plastic hook baits is their buoyancy which not |
| these products are more than just gimmicks and | | | | only does the supremely critical task of negating |
| rerally do multiply catches. Carp sight feed far | | | | the weight of your hook, but can be used to |
| more than many carp anglers realise so why not | | | | create pop-up baits of endless variations and |
| seriously help them to find your hook baits far | | | | combinations. Of course such baits are not |
| more easily?! | | | | pumping out carp feeding triggers attractants and |
| Decades ago I went carp fishing with floresent | | | | so on to the degree that conventional hook baits |
| jelly worm type baits and caught, but then | | | | like boilies, pellets, particles and live baits do. |
| became fascinated with making my own | | | | This has great advantages too, although it has to |
| nutritionally balanced baits which lead to repeat | | | | be said that fake baits can very easily pick up |
| captures. The results on these showed the true | | | | impurities from your hands such as various oils, |
| power of bait over fish! However I have in the | | | | butyric and other acids, various amines, salts etc, |
| past also dabbled with hook baits with light | | | | which permeate and lubricate your skin naturally. |
| emitting isotopes attached which can be a great | | | | Although such impurities will be in very insignificant |
| edge in various water and light conditions even in | | | | amounts, carp are known to detect certain |
| the day. However the thoughts on carp safety of | | | | substances into just 3 or 4 parts per billion |
| losing one of these and having it swallowed by a | | | | concentration in water - and science is still far |
| carp has prevented further experimentation! | | | | from knowing all there is to know about carp |
| However, there are many baits which are | | | | senses! |
| available today such as those by Enterprise | | | | It is the case that fake corn fished on its own at |
| Tackle which do emit light. These baits are | | | | night can get picked up without the additional use |
| activated before casting baits out using light to | | | | of any free bait to draw attention to the hook |
| kind of charge them, so they remain lit up for a | | | | bait. I am just putting forward my own |
| prolonged period while being fished. It may be | | | | suggestion here, but I think that as carp are |
| noted that such baits often work surprising well | | | | sensitive to electrical fields it may be that rubber |
| during daylight hours. These highlight your hook | | | | and plastic baits make a change in the water, |
| baits making them easier to spot by sight feeding | | | | (which of course acts as a conductor) and the |
| carp in turbid water and in deeper where less light | | | | carp notice the electrical anomaly or the |
| of particular wavelength can penetrate. It is no | | | | difference in their aquatic environment. |
| coincidence that such baits work far more | | | | I’m sure carp pinpoint the location of baits |
| efficiently where carp are feeding where water is | | | | and leads cast into the water from sounds and |
| very much clouded due to fish movement and silt | | | | vibrations too of course plus the possible |
| disturbance and so on. | | | | displacement of silt etc by the landing of such |
| The range of fake baits is growing all the time | | | | tackle and so on. The vast majority of carp |
| with so-called everlasting day glow type hook bait | | | | anglers use real bait in conjunction with fake baits |
| boilies, glowing corn and so on. The range includes | | | | and this is no surprise; the results improve very |
| fake bread, fake luncheon meat, fake dog | | | | significantly in general compared to fishing fake |
| biscuits, fake red worms, fake maggots, fake | | | | baits just on their own! |
| pellets, fake boilies of various kinds, fake tiger | | | | The power of a hook bait is all too often limited |
| nuts and fake hemp to name but a few. Part of | | | | by the potency of your ground bait and so this |
| these baits attraction is their lack of notable food | | | | area really deserves a huge amount of attention |
| signals and their ability to induce curiosity feeding. | | | | too; far too many anglers depend upon standard |
| (How much do we know that carp do not play | | | | over-exploited free baits and ground baits that |
| around with new rig bits on the bottom until they | | | | many pressured fish already know too well and |
| discover they get them hooked?) | | | | either avoid or feed far more cautiously on; so |
| One of the great advantages of using a fake bait | | | | making them far harder to actually hook! One of |
| perhaps in conjunction with a plastic bait is that no | | | | the major aspects of free baiting, especially in |
| matter how much fish try to pull a bait off | | | | regards to nutritional free baits is the exploitation |
| without getting hooked, you know an | | | | of the varied buoyancy and density of different |
| impermeable plastic or rubber bait will still be | | | | and varied feed ingredients, so leading to |
| attached to your hook; so no more worries about | | | | improved fish pulling power and impacts upon |
| that all night long! | | | | feeding intensity and competitiveness amongst |
| I have used foam for decades to balance baits | | | | feeding carp. Buoyant fake baits score very well |
| initially but far more importantly to negate the | | | | with such free baits. |
| impacts of the weight of my hooks which carp | | | | The use of boilies, pellets, method and stick |
| normally detect very easily. The difference in | | | | mixes, spod mixes and slop mixes etc in |
| bites between using a fine wire hook and a thick | | | | combination with fake baits all improve carp |
| wire hook can be very dramatic when not using | | | | feeding response and influence more intensive |
| foam on a rig! (Of course the same principle goes | | | | feeding behaviours in the vicinity of fake hook |
| for using much smaller hooks.) I have used | | | | baits and this huge impact must never be |
| trimmed foam on top of my hook baits for years | | | | underestimated! These days it is very common to |
| to produce highly effective popped-up buoyant | | | | find that wary carp will ignore fresh baits and |
| baits while using identical conventional sinking baits | | | | primarily fall for baits washed out after long |
| as free baits and ground bait. | | | | periods of immersion. |
| In fact I used to used black foam to exploit carp | | | | Fake baits are obviously a great option for hook |
| detection of tone and contrast eyesight for | | | | baits for wary carp. As they do not release |
| surface baits and pop-up baits. Nowadays black | | | | volumes of chemicals of both natural and |
| foam seems to be all the rage and very popular | | | | synthetic origins into the water they represent |
| in use with so-called Zig-rigs and so on popularised | | | | less of a threat than fresh baits do and are in |
| at places like the Carp Society Horseshoe Lake | | | | effect similar to washed-out baits which are |
| etc. Rig foam is available in many various colours | | | | well-proven wary fish catchers too. There is no |
| with differing buoyancies and absorbencies, | | | | doubt that using a combination of a well-designed |
| different textures and degrees of hardness and | | | | bait, either of attractor type or nutritional value |
| pliability and different tastes too! So do | | | | type or both, used in conjunction reaps great |
| experiment with them to find the ones you find | | | | rewards. |
| best suit your needs, such as finding extremely | | | | Just one of my own well-proven examples is of |
| buoyant rig foams for very weedy or chod (leaf | | | | using a specially buoyant version of homemade |
| litter and other detritus) type fishing situations. | | | | Ccmoore Odyssey boilie base mix incorporating |
| I find some foams have more capacity for holding | | | | Feedstim XP liquid at 100 millilitres per kilogram of |
| liquid triggers for example! I find using foam in | | | | mix, balanced on the rig still further with a large |
| liquid triggers and attractors really is a huge edge | | | | piece of fake sweetcorn for instance. For fish |
| and my arsenal of tricks in this regard is well | | | | that like to whittle down baits to smaller safer |
| refined. (Try Ccmoore Marine Amino Compound | | | | sizes why not try some homemade paste |
| or liquid Super Slop for instance with their Crab | | | | wrapped around a har rig with fake maggots for |
| Essence flavour for brilliant fake pop-up or floating | | | | instance. Such an approach with stick, method or |
| baits! (Try roach fishing with fake maggots or | | | | PVA bag mix is very effective. I find using large |
| fake corn (or the real thing) soaked and dipped in | | | | boilies with bits cut out of them and in big PVA |
| liquid Super Slop; the results compared to using | | | | bags alongside smaller whittled baits and crumbled |
| the unsoaked is incredible!) | | | | boilies and a much smaller hook bait to be very |
| The use of foam has been extremely effective | | | | effective. |
| for me for bigger fish used in combination with | | | | Tipping a boilie with fake corn for instance is very |
| various homemade paste baits of differing | | | | popular and I feel is far too much over-used. I |
| buoyancies, densities and solubilities etc. When | | | | can make flourescent homemade baits the size of |
| using trout pellets years ago I used bits of | | | | sweetcorn and resiliant enough to stay on the hair |
| buoyancy foam rubber underlay to hold the baits | | | | and be very effective for 48 hours. Such very |
| on and used trimmed rubber bands as hair stops. | | | | small baits are ideal balanced with fake corn, or a |
| In fact I still often do today as these have no | | | | trimmed down bit of fake bread or fake tiger nut |
| nasty sharp edge which incredibly many | | | | for instance. Not many carp these days come |
| commercially available plastic hair stops still have! If | | | | across bread glowing in the dark! Read on for |
| you use such hair stops the act of just burying | | | | details of some unique carp bait making secrets |
| your hair stop in your bait is a definite plus in my | | | | ebooks and further articles! |