High Attract Hook Baits
by John Kneebone
Perhaps the first thing ‘High Attract’ boilie, hook baits actually attract are anglers, these tubs of brightly coloured baits, normally offering a sweet, fruit smelling aroma, appeal to our senses long before reaching those of a carp! We’ve all done it, paid a visit to the tackle shop, and conducted a nasal audit of the pop up shelf, but credit where it’s due, this is exactly what these baits are designed to do! Attract attention!
Although we ourselves, may be the first to fall to the charms of these baits, there is no doubt that high attract baits coupled with suitable angling techniques, can be a devastating carp catching approach, not to be ignored. So, no matter the length of session, venue or time of year, I always carry a selection of these baits for a whole host of reasons.
High-Vis, high attract, hook baits from Mainline. Always in the bag!
The first thing I like about these baits is the fact they offer a straight forward alternative to the norm, as the most common hook bait preference of carp anglers, myself included, is basically to choose a bottom bait boilie or ready made pop up, of the same flavour type as the free bait to be used, more often than not, a food source, fish meal bait, especially through the warmer months. And with good cause, matching hook bait, free bait combinations, are a very effective tactic for catching carp, but there are times, often during periods of immense angling pressure, that carp can become nervous of this presentation, and something a little different is needed, an alternative to the norm! In this situation sending out a single brightly coloured, high attract hook bait, when everyone else is fishing over freebies has caught me enough bonus fish to know this small change can provide a massive edge.
If your a little hesitant about the thought of sitting behind rods, fishing no more than single high attract baits, there is one important factor to remember, which should install some confidence. Unlike free boilies, which are intended to appeal to the carp’s palette and cannot afford to have an overpowering or bitter taste, hook baits attached to some form of hair rig, are only intended to enter the carp mouth long enough for it to become hooked and not be eaten. Therefore levels of flavour and liquid stimulants, targeting the carps feeding senses can safely be taken to the max, resulting in an attraction release through out the water column, in one individual boilie equal to that of a bed of multiply baits.
This 29lb mirror came from a short 2hour stalking session. Not the time for putting out freebies, hook bait attraction was far more important!
A high release of attraction, is a fantastic attribute to have when short session carping, you don’t want to spend half your time spodding out bait, to build a ‘Dinner Time’ signal, you want to create that signal straight away, from the moment you cast out, and that’s exactly what these special hook baits achieve. Instant attraction from a single cast, simple yet effective just what I like. Although carp can easily search out single food items even in the thickest of weed and lake bed debris, I like to add to the attraction of the hook bait with a PVA stick or bag of pellet. Only using small, mouthful size, bags is plenty of free bait with the high attraction levels, and I find that not being tied to a larger bed of bait really helps to keep my angling mobile, being keen to move with the carp, is a very important aspect of successful short session fishing.
Chod rigs, perfect for a hasty cast to an un-surveyed area, a pouched rig wallet, keeps them neat, tidy and ready to go!
This situation; where you want to grab the carp’s attention as quickly as possible, with minimal disturbance, is one we face more often than perhaps we realise. Inevitably every long stint on the bank becomes a short session during the last six hours or so, and if at this stage a blank is on the cards, any water ripple with the remotest possibility of being caused by a carp, is certainly going to receive my attention! Again, this is not the time for laying traps with the subtle, savoury type baits, a single, high attract special, cast ASAP will be the best bet. I find Chod rigs best suit a hasty cast to showing fish, just so long as I feel the lead hit the bottom, I’m happy the presentation should be good, in what may be an unknown area of water. This chance of a take, may only be brief, presenting its self at any time, though it is sods law to nearly always be close to packing up time, but this reactive angling approach has saved many a blank, hence one of my reasons to always carry some high attract baits.
When a few fish began to head and shoulder, a prompt cast at the show with a high attract, “Milky Toffee” hook bait resulted in this common wetting the net 30 minutes later.
During the colder months, single hook bait presentations, with high attract versions in particular, have been a popular choice by carp anglers for a good few years now, long enough to gain the tag of a winter winner. Many would say this success is down to the fact, carp show little or no appetite to feed at this time of year, preferring to conserve energy by laying dormant on the bottom, and that a minimal bait approach, simply match’s the inactivity of the carp. Well, I’d have to agree, with the principals of the theory, but I have to say with a slight slant, as I’m sure carp partly feed through desire, so, not necessarily always as a requirement to survive, and this desire cannot be totally suppressed, otherwise how would we ever catch a winter wacker? I believe the key issue, is that when carp do feed in winter; they don’t venture far from their position of slumber, perhaps only a couple of feet! I’m sure anglers hook baits are frequently within close proximity of winter carp, but either not quite close enough or lack the pulling power to stir the carp into motion and induce a take. Where as an angler with a single high attract bait attack, not dissimilar to short session tactics, will be more inclined to be cast around a bit, initially increasing the chances of hitting the tiny feeding zones around laid up carp, but essentially bombard the carps senses and feeding desire, with a hook bait crammed full of the attractors, both flavour and colour!
The hook bait colour, can be overshadowed by the flavour and smell side of things, though it is an equally effective attractor. Bright pink, white, yellow or orange hook baits may seem a bit blatant or garish, but don’t be put off by your own human perspective, carp can be extremely inquisitive creatures, and colour is one way to promote carp into investigating objects that hold the possibility of being food. Under the right circumstances, attraction by colour is a devastating method of drawing carp attention to the hook bait, and increased takes!
A Cell bottom bait/Milky Toffee, snow man rig has worked well for me. The bright white top bait provides plenty of colour contrast, and attraction, when fishing over large quantities of boilies.
A good of example of how to utilise the visibility factor of brightly coloured, high attract baits, is when fishing over large beds of bait. My usual reason for dispatching a good, healthy amount of bait is to create a big food signal, which should primarily attract carp, and then aim by quantity of food to hold them on the area, ideally for long periods of feeding. All sounds good so far, but the sheer mass of baits can sometimes cause another problem, how long until the carp find the hook bait? What I’m after now is a signal within the signal! Even the smallest amount of contrasting colour works well in solving this problem, with all the freebies already putting the carp in the mood for a munch, a bright high attract bait simply stands out, and sends a clear message, come and get me before another carp does!
Hi-Vis pop ups from Mainline Baits, cover the majority of my high attract hook bait needs, excellent baits, tried, tested and as I have already said, always in the tackle bag, although I do reserve some room for a few tubs of my own hook bait specials. I cannot confess to being a fan of rolling bait myself, in large quantities anyway, as there are many rolling/bait firms who do an excellent job, relieving anglers of this time consuming practice, but rolling a single egg mix required for a tub of hook baits takes little time or effort, and can be very rewarding. So I do like to roll a few high attract versions of my own, bottom baits as well as pop ups, to have a further alternative to turn to than most anglers, which on busy, commercial, day ticket venues where the carp see a lot mainstream baits can prove to be a real edge!
Making your own high attract baits
Bearing in mind these boilies are to be used as hook baits only, and not to be eaten by the carp, flavour levels can be higher than those used in free bait. As a rule of thumb, I like to use levels in a one egg hook bait mix, equivalent to that I would use in a regular 4 egg, mix.
A single egg mix can be easily rolled by hand, though a sausage gun and rolling table makes the process even easier.
Start by making your choice of flavours and additives, the recipe for this mix is; 1 EGG, 2ml SCOPEX, 2ml SPICE B, 2ml SWEET ADE, 5ml MULTI-STIM, RED COLOUR DYE, POLARIS POP-UP MIX.
Mix the egg white with the yoke in a mixing bowl.
Add your flavours to the egg with a measuring syringe. (2ml SCOPEX, 2ml SPICE B)
Then the additives go in. (2ml SWEET ADE, 5ml MULTI-STIM)
With the liquids done, add the colour dye, and give all the ingredients thus far a stir.
Add Polaris mix a couple of table spoons at a time to begin with, and mix in to the liquids.
Mix with a fork while the paste texture is wet and sticky, keeping an even consistency.
When the dough becomes too heavy to work with a fork, continue to mix or knead by hand.
The finished mix should be of an even texture, slightly tacky and moist, but not wet and sticky.
If you’re not rolling your baits by hand, place the mix into the bait gun, and squirt 2 or 3 sausages across the a rolling table to produce baits of your chosen size.
Push the smaller, top section of the rolling table down onto the larger base section, and repeatedly slide the top along the base.
The resulting baits.
Boil the baits for 2-3 minutes, dependant of size. (10-14mm 2min’s, 16mm+ 3min’s)
Air dry the baits for at least 24 hours, 48 hours is ideal.
I then like to rehydrate the baits with a dip. (40ml NEUTRAL, HOOK BAIT ENHANCEMENT, 1ml of each flavour)
Here are a couple of other recipes.
1 EGG, 2ml BLACKCURRANT, 1ml SCOPEX, 1ml BANANA & PEAR, 1ml SWEET ADE, 5ml MULTI-STIM, ORANGE & WHITE COLOUR, and POLARIS POP-UP mix.
1 EGG, 3ml TANGERINE JUICE, 1ml BANANA & PEAR, 1ml PEACH ADE, 1ml SWEET ADE, 5ml MULTI-STIM, YELLOW & WHITE COLOUR, and 50/50 HIGH LEAKAGE mix, for bottom baits.
If you’d like to get the extra contrast of the swirl of colours shown in some of these mixes, here’s how it’s done.
Make two 1egg mixes, with identical flavour, additive levels, but different colour dyes.
Break each coloured paste in half.
Layer the two colours alternatively, forming tightly bound dough ready for the sausage gun. Roll baits as you would a single coloured mix to produce swirly baits.
The Evolution Glug Case & Tubs from Fox, stores my hook bait specials nicely.
Fishing without a tub or two of high attract baits, at the ready, is something no carp angler can afford to do, in my opinion, as these little gems will put carp on the bank, through out all the seasons of the year.
Enjoy your fishing,
John Kneebone
