Nutra-Life 2

Well, there’s been lots going on this month, but I think for all of us—World Cup apart—the big talking point has been the heat and the heatwaves we’ve been having. Heck, as I type this, we’re due another one at the end of the week, so fingers crossed for fisheries far and wide. There have already been fish mortalities caused by the heat, low oxygen levels and algae blooms.

Although I’m not anti-heat, it can make fishing difficult—but not impossible. After all, you can’t catch them sitting at home! They’ll definitely want food after spawning, so let’s get out there and do it.

For me, the big revelation and major edge has been the pellet and Trigga Ice Activator Liquid combination, which has genuinely been eye-opening. However, to explain how I got here, I think it’s important to start from… the start!

Although I’m primarily a boilie angler, I’m not oblivious to how good pellets are, especially on waters where they’re fed regularly or supplied on site. Catch 22, Jurassic, The Big Pit and waters countrywide all see tonnes of pellets introduced, and common sense tells you that they are—or can be seen as—a staple food item.

That’s all well and good, but carp soon wise up to things. From visual observations, I began to notice that they were swimming over neat pellet and apparently waiting for it to break down. How often have you heard of anglers mass-baiting with pellets, only for the action to begin a day later?

Personally, I believe that non-starving carp realise that something new can be dangerous, whereas something older and softened is more likely to be safe—especially on busy day-ticket fisheries with a high turnover of anglers.

As soon as I started pre-soaking my pellets in water, my results improved immediately. I didn’t have 24 hours or more to play with, so I needed the pellet power to be immediate rather than kicking in many hours later.

I began by pre-soaking the pellets with Evian water. Bottled Evian has a neutral pH, tap water is full of chemicals, and using lake water isn’t always practical. I then started adding boilie crumb, Tiger Nut Slush and other ingredients, but to be honest, bog-standard pellet seemed to work best.

When I re-joined Nutrabaits in December 2025, I was told about the benefits of the Activator liquids. However, it wasn’t until late spring and early summer that I started experimenting with them to any meaningful degree.

I knew the carp liked the washed-out pellet, but I didn’t feel that it was actually encouraging them to feed. Jason gave me the heads-up about the Trigga Ice Activator Liquid, so when temperatures started to rise, I went all-in with it.

Not only was the pellet good, but now it was obviously persuading the carp to drop down, feed more strongly and stay in the swim for longer. I witnessed fizzing, head-and-shouldering and heavily coloured water, even in the worst conditions.

Here’s how I do it:

Take your neat pellet and add water. I use just enough water to fully cover the pellets.
Leave them for around 30 minutes, then drain off the excess water. I believe this softening process allows the thicker Activator Liquid to be drawn into the pellets more effectively.
Add a good glug of Activator Liquid to the pellets and make sure they’re all evenly coated. I wear a washing-up glove because the liquid is pretty sticky! Once I’ve created that sticky mess, I simply wash the glove under the tap.
There’s no hard-and-fast rule about how much Activator Liquid to use. It depends on how much softened pellet you have. As it’s a natural product, there isn’t really an upper limit.
I tend to use the mixture between one and four days after adding the Activator. As long as you keep it out of direct heat, it shouldn’t go off.

Top Tips

Adding a handful of matching Boilie Bites helps too. They soak up the Activator Liquid and keep the carp rooting around.
When I’m planning a few trips using the mixture, I’ll add some neat pellet so there are a few harder food items in the swim.
I’ll often add more Activator Liquid to the pellet during the week. It will feel sticky at first, but it will soon be drawn into the pellets.
Giving the tub a good shake every now and again stops the pellets from sticking together.

Application

You can introduce the pellets using a catapult, baiting pole, Bushwhacker, bait boat or even by hand.
The mixture is PVA-friendly, so you can use it in solid or mesh bags.
Hookbait-wise, I like to start with a bright wafter. However, if I feel carp are present and I should have had a bite, I’ll switch to a match-the-hatch wafter or a low-slung pop-up.

Hopefully, this will encourage some of you to “activate” your pellets. Remember, it isn’t an exact science, so play around with it and find a method that works for you.

When I was over at Nutrabaits HQ, I filmed a video about the process, which you can watch below!