An Aladdin's Cave of carp bait 2014 - Part 2

Opening the door to aladdins cave continued...

ROBIN RED LIQUID

Robin Red Liquid has been field tested extensively for the past 12 months. We were offered several prototypes of varying consistency, inclusion rate and fluidity and it was not easy agreeing on a final version we were happy with. However, after much testing the finished product is one we are very proud of. A liquid version of our flagship bait ingredient is something we have been looking at for some time but now we can truly say, this is the bee’s knees.

The versatility of Robin Red Liquid means that the options at your fingertips are almost limitless.

Perhaps the simplest and most obvious use of Robin Red Liquid is as an additive to the eggs when making boilies. It should be added along with any other attractors you feel will help, but to be honest Robin Red Liquid is so good you won’t need anything else!

Here Robin Red Liquid is added to eggs prior to adding the base mix.

Alternatively why not glug some high attract hookbaits in a pot of Robin Red Liquid. They will keep indefinitely and the enticing attraction of Robin Red will begin to leak off the bait from the moment it hits the lakebed.

A tub of pop-ups can be kept indefinitely in Robin Red Liquid.

As you can see from the photo Robin Red Liquid quickly penetrates the outer skin of a boiled bait and by air drying the glugged baits for 24 hours or so, the treated baits will be touch dry. The untreated baits are on the right in this photo

Glugged (left) and unglugged (right) free offerings.

Robin Red Liquid is ideal for glugging freebies. As you can see in this next photo it penetrates the outer skin very well but leaves the interior in its original form. Instant attraction! Lovely!

The centre of a glugged freebie.

If like me you like to use PVA mesh filled with pellets to draw attention to your hookbait you can use Robin Red Liquid to really give them a boost. Here standard trout pellets have been lightly coated in Robin Red Liquid. They are then bagged up into PVA mesh parcels, which are then coated with Robin Red Liquid. This is allowed to sink deeply into the pellets.

PVA mesh parcels treated with Robin Red Liquid.

BOILIE INGREDIENTS.

There are a great many birdfood base mixes on the market today and you would be astonished at the number of proprietary base mixes that contain one or more of Haiths’ boiled bait ingredients. But you don’t need to go to the big manufacturers if you want to formulate your own mix. In fact you would be surprised at how easy it is to put together a simple yet highly digestible and nutritious bait using birdfoods alone. For instance, by adding 10% Robin Red to 50% fine-ground Red Factor or Nectarblend and 40% semolina a perfectly acceptable and attractive boiled bait can be made.

Red Factor is used in a great many commercial base mixes.

Why not add just 20% Prosecto or PTX to a standard base mix to add still further to its pulling power. Birdfood baits have considerable advantages over other types of boilie recipes, not least in terms of cost.

Prosecto is a brilliant ingredient that can be used in all types of base mixes.

Birdfoods can also be regarded as prime aids to the well being of the carp as they are classed as high fat, high-energy ingredients that aid digestion and boost growth. Virtually any of our range of foods can be used in a boilie recipe (though some may need to be ground down to a fine power first). Some of the best boiled baits ever conceived contain one or more of our birdfoods and all the top bait firms in the UK and Europe use our ingredients to enhance their base mixes. The most popular products are Robin Red, Nectarblend, PTX, Prosecto, Red Factor, Softbill Food, Egg Biscuit and Rearing and Conditioning Food. The bait manufacturers use an awful lot of these birdfoods including PTX which is shown below.

PTX is a sweet-smelling, sweet-tasting molasses-based boilie mix ingredient.

GROUNDBAITS.

We offer four specifically designed carp groundbaits. The Red Range as it is known has been designed with a multi-purpose theme in mind, as the baits in the range can be used as a groundbait, a Method Mix or, when ground down to a fine powder, as a complete boilie base mix in their own right. The most complex of the range is SuperRed, but the other members of the Red Range - MarineRed, HoneyRed and NaturalRed - are equally effective as ‘Three-In-One’ mixes. The entire range will blend superbly with just the addition of water to stiffen, but oils and liquid foods such as molasses or Corn Steep Liquor can also be used to boost attraction.

SuperRed is by far the most complex of all the ‘Reds’ being a blend of…wait for it: crushed Micro Complex, crushed hempseed, crushed tiger nuts, peanut granules, teasel seed, 10% Concentrated Robin Red and the amazing Red Factor. Finally we have topped it all off with a healthy glug of aniseed oils.

SuperRed is all its glory.

Initially I designed SuperRed and its stable mates purely as a groundbait and I guess this is how most people initially look at SuperRed, and with good reason. Use it mixed with lake water and liquid attractors to form a wet, sloppy mix that spreads its attraction not only across the lakebed but also through the water table as it sinks. The crushed hempseed lends additional attraction by being in part, neutral in density with a tendency to waft up and about as the carp feed. Incidentally we have heard a whisper that some of the match boys are using this stuff now and they know more than a thing or two about bait!

SuperRed mixed up as a wet groundbait.

By reducing the amount of water and other liquids you can create pure SuperRed groundbait that will form tighter balls than most other groundbait formulations and can thus be fired a considerable distance out of a caty or via a groundbait sling without breaking up or falling to pieces on impact. Incidentally, you can toughen these groundbait balls still further by air drying them in the sun. They will go like cannonballs if you leave them long enough!

Balls of SuperRed groundbait.

PASTE BAITS.

As stated previously the Red Range is highly adaptable and by simply adding say SuperRed to three or four beaten eggs a fine paste bait can be achieved. Similarly you could use neat Red Factor or Nectarblend to achieve the same result. Paste baits have a considerable advantage over boiled baits in that they allow their attraction to leak out on the lakebed quickly and effectively, whereas the attraction in boiled baits is somewhat locked in by the outer skin of the bait. Paste hookbaits are also very effective, and you will find more information about pastes in general in the articles pages of this site. Look for the blog on water-based paste baits.

Paste balls as an alternative to boilies…Shhhhhhhh!

Pastes have many great applications in carp fishing and one of the very best is as a lead and /or hookbait wrap. My standard method of fishing these days starts with a Robin Red-based fishmeal paste studded with small carp pellets and then wrapped around the lead. The paste leaks attraction into the lake and with the hookbait similarly pasted it isn’t long before the carp take an interest.

Lead wrapped in paste studded with pellets.

It is equally as effective when wrapped around your hookbait.

Paste used as a hookbait wrap.

Or you can even use paste as a hookbait. Simply wrap a pinch of paste in a section of tights or Fox Arma Mesh (as shown below) and attach the boilie-shaped paste ball to the hair.

Paste wrapped in plastic mesh and used as a hookbait.

Written by Ken Townley