Red Band® for fishing

Our world-famous Red Band Pigeon Conditioner also makes a great fishing bait!

Now well known within the carp fishing community throughout Europe, Red Band was originally one of the best-kept secrets of carp anglers in the Home Counties. It featured heavily in the success of anglers on Savay as well as those on the other prestige venues in the Colne Valley. An effective, yet inexpensive, blend of slightly larger seeds flavoured with aniseed oil, Red Band is highly attractive to carp, tench and other large coarse fish. It’s perhaps one of the best seed mixes of all time (according to some) and it's outright famous for fishing! Ground down to a fine powder - I (Ken Townley) use a coffee grinder - Red Band can be included as an integral part of a birdfood base mix, especially if other top quality products are used to supplement the recipe. Red Band is a nutritionally balanced, medium protein/high energy seed mix, which is supplemented with high-attract mini pellets and topped off with aniseed.

Preparation is simplicity itself: simply soak the Red Band overnight, and then boil it for 15-20 minutes so that much of the water is reduced. Correctly prepared Red Band exudes a thick, glutinous, milky goo and carp find this sticky liquid practically irresistible.

Bait making tip:

To make a larger batch of bait, leave five kilos of Red Band in soak for a minimum of 24hrs, and then boil it in a Baby Burco for 15mins. Switch off the heat and allow the mixture to cool. After a further 24hrs, the Baby Burco will be is full of sweet-smelling seeds swimming in a juicy soup of thick glutinous liquid. Don’t worry if you haven’t got a Baby Burco, as you can prepare smaller amounts on your cooker at home in exactly the same way.

No longer on the secret list, Red Band Pigeon Conditioner is one of the best seed mixes going.

Match anglers also benefit from the pulling power of our many seed and groundbait products, so give our Red Band a try. You might be surprised at the success it will bring!

Please note: Recipes may change without notice in line with crop availability, but we'll always select a suitable replacement.