Get ahead this winter with these unusual and insightful tips based on 30 years of winter fishing experiences and catching big carp and have your prepared baits and homemade baits catch many more big fish!
Very viscous and extremely soluble substances are very effective in catching more carp in cold conditions! Clearly, highly soluble substances such as alcoholic flavorings are very effective in winter, but other less soluble substances are also very useful for getting bites, especially if they are emulsified or partially emulsified with liquid lecithins. Terpenes, oleoresins and essential oils etc are all proven winter winners.
Glycerol or glycerin is a very useful substance because it mixes 100 percent with water, and many successful flavors are based on it. Alcohol flavors are also highly soluble in water, so they will easily travel from your bait, thus forming a concentration gradient that carp can concentrate on. Personally, I find that mixing glycerol and alcohol based flavors with ones based primarily on natural or other natural or nature identical esters or diacetin types is very successful.
You can even boost a propylene glycol-based flavor by cutting it with vodka (preferably at home, not at the bank). Many things can be used to alter conventional concentrated flavors, including natural raspberry puree and a probiotic agent like marmite.
The marmita is very rich in factors that improve the flavor, for example, ribbons and glutamine. Add Talin as electrostatic carrier and also other soluble sweeteners, flavor enhancers and flavorings etc. it helps produce unique homemade flavors, but this aspect is so important that I have written a book about it. I have been doing this kind of experimentation with my baits, both homemade and ready to use, since the 1970’s because it works amazingly well, especially in cold water conditions.
But of course concentrated flavors aren’t the only useful substances; and some substances may be too soluble, and actually leach out of baits too quickly, as they have infinite solubility, as in the case of glycerol-dominated flavors, for example. It is advisable to try to mix flavors and other substances so that all the flavors percolate at different rates, leaving some concentrated attraction in the vicinity of the bait. The use of pure glycerin, vodka and a mixture of concentrated sweetener and molasses and marmite, soluble fish protein and lactose, for example, is a bit of an alternative and produces different effects and impacts at different ranges.
For easy homemade or bar-type mixes, simply make a fluffy breadcrumb-based mix moistened with your unique liquids to produce a ground bait mix that will disperse easily, releasing soluble attractant and food particles into the water column and attracting carp like crazy! The use of anything from hemp oil, essential oils and fruit oils etc. in your mix, it will make the particles better pull the fish down from the upper layers, since the oil will tend to rise in the water. Maybe add crushed tiger nuts (tigernuts) as well, as this will leave an oily layer on the bottom that will easily lift up when disturbed by the fish and will excite them even more!
An easy way to create a flavorful alternative zone for winter catch is to mix breadcrumbs with your old favorite Nesquick powdered milk shake. I really like using extra-sweetened oils in many forms, as long as they are blended with liquid lecithins, but I advise you to avoid bulk fish and marine oils that simply solidify at low temperatures; try in the refrigerator or outside overnight using a thermometer if unsure.
While fishing and testing oils, I have found that a thermometer placed in oils in a pot in the water is quite illuminating! This is especially since I did my bait cooking video for CC Moore TV and digging deeper into my hands-on fishing for my exclusive Crafty Carper Carp Food Column.
Fruit oils are readily available online, and you don’t always have to go to fishing bait companies to find something slightly different or alternative; after all, that is one of the biggest proven advantages in carp fishing! In addition to using any oil, I highly recommend using Phil’s High CP Liquid Lecithin at CW Baits (online), as this will dramatically improve bait performance and increase bait digestion, as well as adding more feeding triggers and nutrition to your baits.
Test any oil you use in your winter baits to make sure it doesn’t solidify in the water temperatures of the lake you’ll be fishing in. this may seem very obvious after all, how much more difficult is it for a fish to detect a bait that is simply a ball of fat, compared to finding a bait that very actively releases oils that can be easily dispersed in the water? For example, in cold water, avoid using salmon oil and use very viscous hemp oil, perhaps with added liquid lecithins and perhaps essential oils based on clove, cinnamon or chilli, for example.
In really low winter temperatures, solubility is really a big factor to take advantage of, and in such conditions it often doesn’t make sense to use a conventional paste-coated boiled bait, when you can use paste on the rig and really know every part of it. your bait. it’s working for you (and not rendered ineffective due to being sealed within the coagulated protein formed by heating the bait!)
I won’t go into which bait products to use here because there are so many great ones for winter and spring fishing to choose from, but a key aspect in choosing the substance is how well they will disperse in the water, and more especially in cold water! ! To find out, simply take samples and mix them with cold water. In a way, it’s like testing salt against betaine crystals, or whole milk powder against various caseins, grits, or cornmeal, or against malt extract, for example.
Just one example of a really good winter hack is making a paste out of CC Moore Feedstim XP Liquid, their Feedstim XP powder, their Belachan powder, pure betaine, and Red Venom liquid, hardened with whole wheat flour. Note that no egg is used in this paste as you would for making boilies, as this bait can be as water soluble as you like and will last longer in very low winter temperatures. Add milk powder to this bait to enhance the nutritional boost.
The milky baits break down and cloud the water, thus stimulating the feeding behaviors of the fish on sight! It is cheaper to use Vitamealo and Five Pints milk powder than caseins, whey proteins and caseinates; however, remember that using higher quality protein can really pay off, especially for larger fish! Revealed in my exclusive ready-to-go baits and homemade baits, carp and catfish baits ebooks, there is much more powerful information. Find my unique website (Baitbigfish) and see my bio below for details of my ebook deals right now!
By Tim Richardson.