High Power Hookbaits

NASH E-ZINE SPRING 2016

SMART CARPING

HIGH POWER HOOKBAITS Never does your hookbait need to perform like it does at this time of year.

Nash Tackle’s Laurence Smart shares his best edges to bring a bite when all else fails.

A

ny free bait introduced can be kill or cure at this time of year and with a lot of carp anglers far more active than the carp when the days first lengthen it’s a fine line between just enough and too much. I tend to err on the side of caution. It’s so true that once you’ve put it in, you can’t take it back out again which is why so much of my early spring fishing revolves around the most attractive hookbait package.

Cautio, beware introducing free offerings at this time of year

20 www.nashtackle.co.uk

SMART CARPING

CHOP AND CHANGE If there’s one tip to catch you more carp this spring it’s always use different hookbaits on all your rods to try and find that winning formula more quickly. Carp can be very particular in what they get caught on. I see little merit in flicking three of the same hookbaits out, by using three different hookbaits at least there is a greater variation and therefore more chance of producing a bite. It can be colour, flavour, even size, balance or distance fished off bottom. Change, change and change again. It also helps keep you busy which is a big help keeping you out there doing it.

The difference between a bite and a blank can be small - I was recently outfished while on a social and what a lesson in how picky carp can be… we used the same baits and fished the same area but my 15mm baits produced nothing, only 10mm baits brought takes.

Take a good selection of high power hookbaits for a session and keep working your way through the options - cocktails, dips, toppers even change baits like maggots or Peperami and plastic. Just keep offering the carp different baits until you get an answer from them.

soak can just offer that extra taste and smell incentive for a carp to get hold of a hookbait, and that is the fine line between catching and blanking.

PINK TO MAKE CARP WINK Not only pink, but any high-viz colour really. Attraction isn’t just about flavour or smell but also colour. One thing we can take from the interest in underwater filming in recent years is that colour DOES make a difference. Pink and white are by far the most visible underwater. Unless the water is very clear yellow isn’t as high-viz as you would imagine.

Between them pink and white pop ups have become a firm favourite.

The benefits of bright high flavour pop ups are numerous, carp see them from a long way away and elevated attractor levels can encourage carp to eat them when more orthodox feed baits just don’t provide enough stimulus. Plus pop ups are very versatile for fishing over any lake bed and tend to draw a carp’s attention simply because they are off bottom. My favourites are washed out shades, in daylight the colour element still provides a good visual attractor and at night the white/pastel effect helps them stand out in low light levels.

My absolute favourites are Citruz pop-ups in pink and white. They tick all the boxes with size, colour and a sweet high attract flavour and also come with a liquid enhancer spray in the pot. I give the whole pot a good few sprays, enough to coat all the baits and let them soak it up.

I’ll repeat this several times to build extra attraction into the baits.

The Ace Cards range offers an amazing number of options to boost hookbaits. I also rate the Tangleberry or Old Skool liquids as dips and soaks. Both work over the top of Citruz for a really cheeky combination which the lads in the Nash office use A LOT… One thing I’ve picked up from Gary Bayes over the years is how important sweeteners are in colder water. Think sweet and you won’t go far wrong for your first few sessions.

PIMPING YOUR POPS All pop ups can be boosted using additional liquids, either with the same flavour enhancer or something different that complements them. A spray or a

www.nashtackle.co.uk

21

NASH E-ZINE SPRING 2016

FRUIT AND NUT Despite the convenience and consistency of pop ups, don’t get suckered into believing bright is the only answer. Where allowed tiger nuts are an incredibly good high power hookbait even though to us

22 www.nashtackle.co.uk

they don’t seem to be anywhere near as high attract as a smelly pop up. The Mixed Candy Tigers are lovely and sweet straight out the bag but keep a handful to one side and soak them long term in good old Tangleberry.

I always keep a pot of soaked tigers

in my bag, they really can be a get out of jail free card. They offer a more natural appearance to your hookbait as well as being rarely used by other anglers. They can make a big difference especially on waters where fish have been hammered on high-attract pop ups.

SMART CARPING

WONDER NUTS

1

Mixed Candy Tigers have a fantastic sweet rounded taste.

They can be boosted even further to make brilliant high power single hookbaits.

2

3

4

Put your handful of mixed nuts in a pop up pot and pour a generous helping of Ace Cards Tangleberry over them.

Because of its strength they will keep indefinitely in the sweet liquid.

Take a handful out of the bag and freeze the rest, there’s no need for any free offerings or even a bag when using tigers.

A pair of Tangleberry soaked nuts on a KD style presentation has caught me a lot of bonus carp – reach for your nuts when it’s scratching time.

www.nashtackle.co.uk

23

NASH E-ZINE SPRING 2016

“I doubled my catch rate by switching to Cultured Hookbaits…”

GET CULTURAL God bless Cultured Hookbaits. These little beauties have transformed my fishing, there is rarely a session goes by that I don’t thread them on. They challenge people’s perception of a high powered hookbait because they aren’t bright and don’t have any sort of ‘flavour’ smell at all.

24 www.nashtackle.co.uk

The brainchild of Gary Bayes and Keith Sykes the special Cultured coating is almost like hardened paste around the hookbait and provides a long-leak off of attractors, triggers and stimulants that really do trigger takes.

Whatever it is or however they make them, Cultured Hookbaits work brilliantly. They aren’t just to be used with The Key, they make great stand alone hookbaits. Last winter and

into the spring on a local club lake I doubled my catch rate by switching to Cultured Hookbaits from my usual winning recipe of little white pop ups.

When using as singles I like to boost mine even more by dipping in The Bite from the Ace Cards range before rolling the bait in Cultured Stick Mix for extra attraction and also the salty/ savoury edge of The Bite.

SMART CARPING

MAKING LOZ’S CULTURED CONKERS

1

Remove a small section of Culture skin, drill a pilot hole and then thread the Cultured Hookbait on the hair. Make sure the hair stop is pulled up against the core bait.

2

3

4

Lower the dipped hookbait into a bag of Cultured Stick Mix and roll it around so the powder sticks into the liquid coating of the hookbait. Lots of localised attraction but no PVA required!

Dip the Cultured Hookbait and hook into the bottle of The Bite and give it a good dunk around. The liquid is so sticky it makes a great dip.

The finished hookbait ready to cast. It’s not sweet, bright or fruity but it doesn’t half catch some carp.

www.nashtackle.co.uk

25

NASH E-ZINE SPRING 2016

"The salt disperses into the 4G Liquid Bait Soak which is in turn soaked up by the baits, giving them an extra kick and making them irresistible!"

MINERAL MATTERS The salty and savoury edge of The Bite leads me to another unlikely spring star – rock salt.

Salt really divides opinion and as with most things in life, moderation is the answer, you don’t need to use large quantities. A couple of seasons ago I decided to start experimenting with rock salt and I have definitely found a better response when the water is colder as opposed to in high summer. Why, I don’t know, but when I have introduced a couple of handfuls of salt into an area at this time of year the fish have seemed to

26 www.nashtackle.co.uk

respond to it well, actively seeking it out. I also noticed it held carp in the area far, far longer than any bait would. When I introduced a few handfuls of bait it was mopped up in a matter of hours and the fish then disappeared. However after the introduction of salt, they remained in the swim for a long time. You’ve only got to see the response Kevin himself had when filming The Final Account in the spring when his rock salt primed areas had the carp digging huge holes in the lake bed.

I have huge confidence in 4G Squid and have been using it for over two seasons and there is a dedicated 4G Squid Salt Dust additive in the range,

but it can be used with any bait. The salt disperses into the 4G Liquid Bait Soak which is in turn soaked up by the baits, giving them an extra kick and making them irresistible! You can also prep spots by feeding salt in Webcast cobweb bags 24-48 hours in advance of a session with just a handful of free bait. It is surprising how often you get really quick bites even though an area hasn’t had much food at all.

For day trips and new venues if I can’t prime an area, I add 4G Squid Salt Dust to any stick mixes I may be using and this definitely also seems to bring extra bites.

www.nashtackle.co.uk

27