Nine Years On – A Conversation with Nutrabaits Owner Richard Hughes
It has now been nine years since Richard Hughes took over the reins at Nutrabaits, making this the perfect opportunity to reflect on the journey so far.
Over the last decade, Nutrabaits has continued to evolve, develop and move forward, while remaining firmly committed to the principles that built the brand’s reputation—quality ingredients, proven formulations and a passion for producing the very best carp bait possible.
We caught up with Richard to discuss the changes he has seen within the company, his own carp fishing journey, the challenges of running a bait business and what the future holds for one of the UK's most respected bait manufacturers.
We also took the opportunity to look behind the scenes at large-scale bait production and discover what really goes into creating the consistent, high-quality products that anglers have trusted for decades.
What Does It Really Take to Understand Bait?
To many anglers, bait production can seem like a mysterious process.
With thousands of opinions shared across social media, forums and online groups, it's easy to become overwhelmed by conflicting advice and bold claims.
The truth is, producing exceptional bait is not something that happens overnight.
It requires years of experience, technical understanding, ingredient knowledge, constant testing and a commitment to continual improvement.
The difference between understanding bait and simply creating a recipe comes down to experience.
Reading a few books, watching videos or experimenting with ingredients can certainly be the start of a learning journey, but true understanding comes from years of development, testing and seeing how those ingredients perform in real fishing situations.
It's much like any skilled profession.
You wouldn't ask someone to build your house simply because they had read a few books on bricklaying. Knowledge is important, but practical experience is what turns knowledge into expertise.
The same applies to bait.
An angler's time on the bank is precious. Once those hours are gone, they can never be replaced.
That is why fishing with a bait you have complete confidence in is so important. No bait will catch every carp in every situation, but choosing a quality bait gives you the strongest possible foundation and allows you to focus on the other important elements of successful carp fishing.
Because ultimately, the goal is simple...
Making every session count and creating memories that last a lifetime.
What Does It Take to Produce a Bait That Consistently Catches Carp Around the World?
The simple answer is knowledge.
But true knowledge isn't gained overnight.
It comes from thousands of hours of research, countless personal trials and years spent understanding raw ingredients, their roles and how they perform in real fishing situations.
Success is important, but failure can be just as valuable.
Some of the biggest lessons come from ingredients that look exceptional on paper but fail to deliver when tested on the bank. An ingredient may have an impressive profile, but if it doesn't consistently produce results in real-world fishing, it simply isn't good enough.
Every year, new ingredients appear claiming to be the next major breakthrough in bait development.
Many promise to transform carp fishing, but the reality is very different.
The majority never make it beyond the early stages of testing. Some prove to be average, while others can actually reduce the effectiveness of a bait rather than improve it.
At Nutrabaits, our philosophy has always remained the same.
Our goal is to create the highest-quality, most effective baits possible while providing carp with the nutrition they require to grow, remain healthy and reach their full potential.
So, Let's Start With Your Own Journey...
I first picked up a fishing rod in the late 1970s.
Like many youngsters, I started as a pleasure angler, spending countless hours exploring local ponds and rivers in my native South Yorkshire.
I even tried match fishing for a while, but it never really captured my imagination.
From an early age, I was fascinated by catching the biggest fish in the water. Catching large numbers of fish never gave me the same excitement as finding and catching something special.
My focus naturally turned towards specimen tench and roach.
Alongside football, fishing became one of the defining passions of my childhood.
When Did the Carp Fishing Bug Bite?
It happened on a summer morning in 1981.
I was just 12 years old and had travelled by bus before walking a couple of miles to a local pond in search of a rumoured five-pound-plus tench—a huge fish by Yorkshire standards at the time.
Looking back now, I have no idea how I managed those journeys carrying the amount of tackle we all take fishing today!
The pond also held a handful of old carp.
They were incredibly difficult to catch. If you kept hidden, stayed patient and were lucky, you might occasionally spot one moving through the margins. As far as everyone knew, they were virtually impossible to tempt.
Then came the moment that changed everything.
Completely unexpectedly, I hooked one.
After what seemed like an eternity, I finally slipped the net under an 18lb mirror carp.
To me, it was an absolute monster.
From that moment onwards, I was completely hooked on carp fishing.
I'm sure many anglers reading this will remember a similar fish. That one capture that changes everything.
Sometimes, one carp is all it takes.
From that day forward, carp fishing became a lifelong obsession. There hasn't been a day since where it hasn't crossed my mind.
Carp Fishing in the Early 1980s
The carp fishing world was a very different place back then.
There was no internet, very few books dedicated specifically to carp fishing and only a small number of tackle shops stocked specialist equipment.
The experienced carp anglers who existed often guarded their knowledge closely. Information wasn't shared freely like it is today.
For a 12-year-old wanting to learn, gaining knowledge was a challenge.
With no mentor to guide me and very limited money, my friends and I learned through trial and error.
Every session taught us something.
We experimented with rigs, tackle and baits, slowly building an understanding of what worked and, just as importantly, what didn't.
Specialist carp tackle simply wasn't available in the way it is today.
Ledger rods and matching reels were the standard setup, and that's exactly where I started.
My first outfit consisted of a pair of second-hand ledger rods, Mitchell 410 reels and, like many anglers of that era, homemade bobbins made from Fairy Liquid bottle tops.
Looking back, those simple days taught us some very valuable lessons.
Bait Always Came First
One thing became clear very early in my fishing journey.
Getting the bait right mattered far more than owning the latest tackle.
Whenever I had money available, I always faced the same choice.
Do I buy new equipment, or do I invest in better bait?
For me, there was always one clear answer.
Bait.
That belief has never changed.
I'd much rather catch carp than simply look like I belonged beside the lake.
Of course, the sport has changed dramatically since those early days.
Today, it isn't unusual to see new anglers arrive with the latest rods, reels, alarms, bivvies and every accessory imaginable, looking like they've stepped straight out of a tackle catalogue.
Yet when you look at their bait choice, it's often where corners are cut.
It's something I've seen repeat itself for decades.
Many anglers enter carp fishing by investing heavily in equipment before fully understanding the importance of the fundamentals.
After a couple of seasons without the results they hoped for, some become frustrated, lose confidence and eventually move away from the sport.
Personally, I believe every angler benefits from serving a general fishing apprenticeship.
Learn to pleasure fish.
Learn watercraft.
Learn how fish behave.
Learn how to catch fish consistently.
Whether your journey eventually takes you towards match fishing, specimen angling, barbel, tench or carp, those early experiences create foundations that stay with you forever.
And those lessons are often worth far more than the most expensive tackle money can buy.
What Were Your First Carp Fishing Baits?
When I first started carp fishing, my baits of choice were sweetcorn and luncheon meat.
Both were incredibly effective and accounted for plenty of carp back then—and, of course, they continue to catch fish all over the world today.
However, it didn't take long before my curiosity got the better of me.
Like many young anglers, I wanted to find an edge.
That meant raiding my mum's kitchen cupboards or heading to the local supermarket to experiment with different ingredients, colours and flavours. The idea was simple: create something slightly different from what everyone else was using.
Of course, sometimes those experiments went completely wrong!
But that's where the learning came from.
Trial and error was a huge part of carp fishing back then. If you wanted to stay one step ahead, you had to experiment, observe and learn from your mistakes.
Then came boilies.
They really were a game changer.
Finally, there was a bait you could introduce and leave fishing confidently without having to reel in every ten minutes to check whether it had been eaten.
It didn't take long to realise that while many boilies available at the time were capable of catching carp, some seemed just as effective at catching anglers.
Sadly, that hasn't changed much over the years.
Add a pleasant aroma, an attractive colour and some clever marketing, and it's amazing how easily anglers can become the ones being caught.
If only carp were as easy to fool as some anglers!
Why Did You Start Making Your Own Baits?
Watching the results from many of the early boilies, it became clear they could catch carp—but consistency was often missing.
Many were fairly basic formulations and heavily reliant on artificial flavours.
That was when my real journey into bait making began.
A couple of companies produced affordable 50/50 base mixes, which became the foundation for my early experiments.
I'd add spices, sweet ingredients and natural attractors, then carefully watch how the carp responded.
Those early tests were very basic compared to today's methods.
I'd make three-egg mixes, introduce them carefully into the margins of my chosen venues and then climb nearby trees to observe how the carp—and other species—reacted.
Hours were spent simply watching.
Over time, patterns started to appear.
Some combinations consistently produced better reactions than others, and that's when my obsession with bait development really started.
Many of the lessons learned during those early experiments still influence how I think about bait today.
Carp haven't changed.
Yes, they are much bigger now and the waters are very different, but their basic requirements, preferences and reactions remain remarkably similar.
Discovering Nutrabaits
Throughout the 1980s, specialist tackle and bait became much easier to access.
Alongside that came a wave of marketing promoting the latest must-have products.
So you can imagine my excitement when Nutrabaits was launched in 1986 by Bill Cottam and Tim Paisley.
The timing couldn't have been better.
It was also the year I left school and started my apprenticeship as a joiner.
I certainly wasn't earning a fortune, but my £50 weekly wage made me feel like a millionaire—mainly because it meant I had more money available for bait ingredients!
Being a local company, Nutrabaits stocked many of the ingredients I was already searching for, making experimentation much easier than endlessly searching supermarket shelves.
On top of that, Bill and Tim's articles and publications quickly became essential reading for anyone serious about understanding carp bait.
Looking back now, I have to smile thinking about the hours spent cleaning up my parents' kitchen after rolling a few kilos of bait.
I completely understand why they encouraged me to buy my first house at the age of 20!
Luckily, I was also fortunate that a school friend and fishing partner worked at the Nutrabaits factory. I also knew several of the lads there through fishing the same waters.
Bait conversations became part of everyday life.
Trips to the factory to collect ingredients, along with the occasional evening spent rolling bait there, meant far less mess at home—which I'm sure my parents appreciated!
Finding Confidence in a Bait
As life became busier, I naturally had less time to roll my own bait.
Instead, I started having the Nutrabaits team produce bespoke batches based on my own recipe.
That same recipe remained virtually unchanged for more than 20 years.
Why?
Because I had complete confidence in it.
I knew I could take it anywhere and fish it with total belief.
Even when the Trigga revolution arrived and appeared to dominate waters across the country, I never felt the need to change.
I was more than happy sticking with my trusted Big Fish Mix recipe because it continued to produce wherever I used it.
My Big Fish Mix Recipe
500g Big Fish Mix
6g Green Lipped Mussel Extract
20ml Nutramino
10ml Salmon Oil
6ml Tutti Frutti
1ml Sweet Cajouser
A Difficult Period for Nutrabaits
Fast forward to 2012, and sadly Nutrabaits began a gradual decline.
Until that point, I had never even considered using another company's bait.
The thought simply never entered my mind.
However, following the sale of the company in 2015, that decision was effectively taken out of my hands as bait availability became increasingly limited.
I remained in contact with some of the lads still working at the factory, but supplies became increasingly unreliable, largely due to key raw ingredients no longer being available.
Over the following two years, I tried baits from several other companies.
Some were disappointing in terms of quality, while others looked impressive but failed to create the confident feeding response I expected.
More often than not, I found myself relying heavily on hemp, tiger nuts and pellets to compensate for my lack of confidence in the boilies I was using.
And for me, confidence in your bait has always been the most important ingredient of all.
How Did You Become the Owner of Nutrabaits?
In June 2017, Nutrabaits sadly found itself facing difficult times and liquidators were brought in.
Through my long association with the company, I was offered the opportunity to take over the reins and help secure the future of a brand that had played such an important role in carp fishing for decades.
For the previous 20 years, I had been running my own successful shop-fitting company.
That industry teaches you many valuable lessons, but perhaps the most important is attention to detail. Getting things right first time, never cutting corners and taking pride in your work were all essential parts of everyday life.
I suppose I have always had a perfectionist side.
Anything I put my name to has to be done properly.
After a great deal of thought and consideration, I made the decision to save Nutrabaits from disappearing forever.
The priority was simple:
Restore Nutrabaits back to the quality and standards that anglers had trusted for so many years.
That meant going back to the foundations that made the company successful in the first place.
Sourcing the very best raw ingredients, rebuilding relationships with suppliers and ensuring every product met the standards expected from the Nutrabaits name.
The goal was never to completely reinvent what had already worked.
The foundations were already proven.
Instead, the aim was to build upon those foundations, improving where possible with access to new and improved ingredients, while remaining loyal to the recipes and principles that had stood the test of time.
Building the Nutrabaits Name Again
Once the bait production was firmly back on track, the next challenge was something completely new to me.
Social media and advertising.
These were areas where I had little previous experience, but it quickly became clear how important they had become in modern carp fishing.
The priority was to show anglers that Nutrabaits was once again in safe hands.
To demonstrate that the quality they had trusted for decades had returned.
And most importantly, to prove that the baits were once again performing at the level anglers expected.
Building that connection with customers, sharing the story behind the company and showing the care and attention that goes into every product became just as important as the bait itself.
Because a great bait is only part of the equation.
Anglers need confidence.
They need belief.
They need to know that when they cast out, they are using something they trust completely.
The Results Speak for Themselves
The rest, as they say, is history.
The number of big carp caught on Nutrabaits since then continues to grow, with catch reports arriving from across the UK and around the world.
For me, it proves something I have always believed:
Quality ingredients, attention to detail and confidence in your bait remain just as important today as they have always been.
The fundamentals haven't changed.
Produce the best bait possible, never compromise on quality and always put the angler first.
What's Changed at Nutrabaits Over the Last Nine Years?
The biggest change has been bringing all bait production in-house.
From the very beginning, my aim was simple: ensure that only the highest-quality products leave our factory every single time.
When I took over the company, I discovered that several products were being subcontracted out for manufacture. Unfortunately, this is something that happens regularly within the fishing industry.
However, after seeing first-hand the lack of pride, inconsistency and, in some cases, base mixes being reduced or altered by contract manufacturers, I made the decision to stop the practice almost immediately.
Our customers have always been, and always will be, our number one priority.
They deserve nothing less than the very best.
From day one, my vision was for Nutrabaits to have complete control over every stage of production—from sourcing the finest raw ingredients through to the finished product leaving our factory.
By controlling every part of the process, we could guarantee the quality, consistency and standards that the Nutrabaits name represents.
Investing in the Future
Achieving that vision required significant investment into the future of the company.
Over the last nine years, we have installed three rolling lines, pressurised steamers, dedicated drying rooms, improved ventilation systems, mezzanine storage, large-capacity base mix and dough mixers, bagging and labelling machinery, liquid blending and bottling equipment, along with completely redesigned packaging and labels.
Every investment has been made with one goal:
To produce the highest-quality bait possible.
But equipment alone doesn't make a successful business.
Behind every great company are great people.
I firmly believe that surrounding yourself with loyal, knowledgeable individuals who are willing to share ideas, challenge your thinking and bring different experiences to the table is invaluable.
That is why I approached Jason Callaghan about joining myself and the rest of the Nutrabaits team.
Jason was someone I already knew through fishing local waters and had huge knowledge of both bait and the fishing industry.
For those who may not know his background, Jason founded Sticky Baits and spent more than three decades as a regular contributor to many of the UK's leading carp fishing magazines.
After taking time away from the industry to focus on raising his young family, the opportunity was right for him to return—and I'm delighted that he chose Nutrabaits for that next chapter.
Rebuilding Trust
The first couple of years were undoubtedly challenging.
During the previous five years before we took over, many long-standing stockists and customers around the world had understandably lost confidence in the brand due to inconsistent quality and unreliable supply.
Rebuilding that trust was never going to happen overnight.
We knew we had to earn it.
Fortunately, that's exactly what has happened.
Over the last seven years, it has been incredibly rewarding to see so many loyal Nutrabaits anglers return to the brand after experiencing first-hand the quality of our baits once again.
In many cases, we haven't simply restored the original recipes—we've improved them further by using better ingredients, refining manufacturing processes and applying modern production techniques while respecting what made those baits successful in the first place.
Meeting Anglers Around the World
Attending fishing shows was another completely new experience for me.
I won't pretend it wasn't daunting at first, but after nine seasons exhibiting at events across the UK and Europe, it has become something we genuinely look forward to.
Meeting anglers face to face, listening to their experiences, discussing bait strategies and hearing about their future fishing plans is one of the most enjoyable parts of what we do.
Even more rewarding is when someone asks for advice, puts it into practice and then returns months later with photographs and stories of fish they have always dreamed of catching.
For me, that's what makes this industry so special.
Seeing anglers regain confidence in Nutrabaits, receiving their messages, reading their feedback and being sent photographs of incredible carp caught on our baits is the greatest reward of all.
Knowing we have played a small part in those captures makes every challenge worthwhile.
And it continues to drive us to keep improving, keep investing and keep raising the standards year after year.
What's Planned for the Future?
The exciting thing about Nutrabaits is that the journey never really stops.
Even after almost 40 years of producing carp baits, we still have the same curiosity and passion for finding that next edge.
We are constantly searching worldwide for new ingredients, additives and concepts that could help anglers gain an advantage on the bank.
But while technology, ingredients and production methods continue to evolve, our core philosophy will always remain the same:
Produce the highest-quality, most effective baits possible and never compromise on standards.
Every new product that carries the Nutrabaits name will continue to go through extensive research, development and testing before it reaches anglers.
We believe that's what separates a good idea from a genuinely proven bait.
Looking Ahead
The future is about continuing to improve.
We are investing in new machinery and production methods that will allow us to increase efficiency while maintaining the care, consistency and attention to detail that goes into every batch we produce.
Growth has brought its own challenges, and our current factory has simply become too small for where Nutrabaits is heading.
Looking towards a larger facility is an exciting step, giving us the space and capabilities to continue developing new products while keeping complete control over the quality that anglers expect from us.
The Most Important Part of Nutrabaits
For all the investment, machinery and development, one thing remains more important than anything else:
The anglers who use our baits.
We want to continue listening to you.
Your feedback, your ideas and, most importantly, your catch reports are what keep everyone at Nutrabaits HQ motivated.
There is no better feeling than receiving photographs of a stunning carp, hearing the story behind the capture and knowing that our bait played a small part in helping someone achieve a lifelong goal.
Those moments are what make all the hard work worthwhile.
From the early days of Nutrabaits to where we are today, the support and belief from anglers around the world has been incredible.
We don't take that for granted.
Thank you for being part of the Nutrabaits journey.
The next chapter is going to be an exciting one.
Tight Lines,
Rich Hughes
