The ultimate SuperRed article - part one

I have mentioned SuperRed and her ‘Red stable mates’ many times in these pages, but I still get letters, Carp Forum PMs and emails asking ‘can SuperRed be used for this’? or ‘how do I make a such-and-such with SuperRed?’ so I thought over the next two month I’d write what I hope will be the answer to every SuperRed question you guys are likely to ask.

1. What exactly IS SuperRed?

Along with its Red stable mates, SuperRed was designed to be a multi-purpose bait with numerous applications, as you’ll see when you read on. My intention when putting together this mix was to cram as much variety of produce and attraction as possible into a single mix. Hence this list of ingredients: crushed Carpticle Micro Seed Blend, crushed hemp seed and crushed tiger nuts, which form the mouth watering base. To this are added peanut granules, teasel seed and aniseed oil. And we don’t stop there! In addition we have included 10% Concentrated Robin Red and the amazing Red Factor to add still further to the overall attraction and incidentally to act as a very effective binder. The other Reds are similar but have as their base either fishmeal (Marine Red), Birdfood (HoneyRed) and a high protein crumb with dried insects (NaturalRed).

2. SuperRed as a groundbait.

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.

By reducing the amount of water and other liquids you can create pure SuperRed balls of groundbait that will be much tighter 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 (if desired). 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!

In this photo you can see tightly compacted balls of neat SuperRed ready for action. They will be introduced using a groundbait sling, a very novel idea that can ‘cast’ a ball of SuperRed in excess of 125m – or more with a bit of practice. I have found that a long, powerful fast taped carp rod is best for putting out the groundbait balls, and this 13 foot Venture V2 3.25lb test curve rod is ideal.

You can also use SuperRed to introduce tight little clumps of SuperRed + boilies to create small individual parcels of food on the likened. In the photo I have used it to bind together 15mm boilies but you can experiment to your heart’s content with alternative additions.

For instance, why not try SuperRed laced with pellets such as these enticing Robin Red Pellets Shhhhhhhh!!, or maybe with hempseed? In fact you will find that you are able to bind just about anything you like with SuperRed, thus making it, surely, the most versatile of all the sophisticated groundbait mixes on the market.

In this photo you will note that SuperRed has been mixed with seeds and mini-maize.

If you slowly add dry SuperRed this mix will stiffen until it too can be formed into groundbait balls.

This stiffened groundbait can be used in virtually endless ways to help introduce baits that would otherwise need to be spodded out or dropped from a bait boat. For instance add prepared Red Band to fairly stiff SuperRed to achieve an ultra-tight groundbait laced with all the added attraction of the micro seeds than make up Red Band.

The resulting groundbait balls will be really durable and will last quite a time on the lakebed before the start slowly to breakdown, releasing all those enticing smells and tastes.

This same combo can be given a boost by adding coarse sea salt prior to going into the lake.

Of course, you can customise the groundbaits to breakdown to your own requirement, either as it hits the surface or after just a few minutes on the lakebed. The more liquid you add the less stiff the mix will become, and while this may mean you have to sacrifice distance for performance, the looser textured balls are likely to be more instant. Of course, you will have to tailor your own groundbait to your specific fishing situation. This fairly loose mix, containing Red Band and small tiger nuts, is designed to break up on impact. This is very useful when fishing over deep water, as the trickle-down effect from the surface encourages the bait to spread out a lot wider on the lakebed. If you find it is too lose to compress into balls, then there is always the spod rod at your disposal.

I fish a great deal on rivers where the use of a boat gives one a huge advantage. This is my standard boat mix, which I use to create a widespread carpet of attraction on the riverbed. As you can see it contains boiled bait in all shapes and size, tiger nuts and Frolic dog biscuits. On the left of the picture the component baits are held together using SuperRed, while on the right the groundbait is formed with MarineRed.

Should I encounter a change in the flow, say on a tidal river or when the river if fining down after a flood, I will increase the amount of liquids so that the consistency of the overall bait package is looser. With the bait formed thus, it will tend to spread out on the way down to the river bed, creating a slightly wider bait carpet.

Where little or no flow is encounter, or if I am fishing a still water but baiting up with a boat, I like to make the groundbait really runny so that the attraction spreads from surface to bottom as the trickle-down effect causes the bait to spread out across a very wide area. At the same time the smelly attraction drifts about throughout the local water area adding attraction to all areas of the lake or river local to the bait.

Of course, while SuperRed and it’s Red mates are superb when it comes to creating groundbaits of so many different kinds, this is not the only string to their bow, and I shall be taking a look at the other uses to which you can put these wonderful baits in next month’s article.

Written by Ken Townley