What type of angler are you when it comes to bait ?

A - Stick to one bait all year, regardless of weather conditions, success by other anglers etc. knowing a quality bait will get better and better the more it’s applied.
B - Change baits during the year to suit weather and feeding conditions.
C - Follow other anglers results, swapping and changing baits on a regular basis.
D - Use a mix of baits from different boilies, pellets, particles etc.

It is now seven years since the takeover of Nutrabaits by owner Richard Hughes. We thought it would be a great time to catch up and get to know a little more about the changes at Nutrabaits and Richard’s own personal carping journey. As a little added filler let’s also find out a little more about bait production on a large scale and what goes into producing the quality you expect and deserve.

There is no right or wrong with bait choices. Sometimes making a change can change your luck but then again if you have been feeding one quality bait over several weeks, you could have been close to long term success.

Let’s take a look at each of the above.

Angler A - One Bait All Year

As you are probably aware, most big carp and successful anglers have stuck with one bait throughout many years. Having total faith in the bait to use on any water. Why is this ?
The majority of campaign anglers fish no more than 2 or 3 waters each year, for this reason they want to establish a high quality bait, where carp readily accept it as a food source, regardless of time of year. Take for example Mark Holmes, as many of you are aware. Mark uses Trigga Ice throughout the year, making no changes other than the amount used based on weather conditions, also alternating or in some cases using both freezer and shelf life baits based on the waters he’s fishing. There is no fancy particle mixes, elaborate spod mixes, zigging etc. Mark has always been a strong believer in establishing a quality bait, taking the time to choose one that suits the waters he intends to fish and sticking with it. There will always be times during the year where you find fish feeding in a quiet corner and a stealth approach is required but for the majority of Mark’s fishing his approach rarely changes.
Myself, Jason Callaghan, Derek Pye, Brian and Martyn Skoyles, Mark Watson, Mike Payne and Rob Gainer are like Mark in that we have total faith in one bait and stick with it throughout the year. We all use different baits from the Nutrabaits range but stick with the one bait throughout the year regardless of what’s happening around the lake. Knowing full well, when we get in the going swims or on feeding carp the work in establishing a bait will pay off.

Angler B - Changing Baits based on Weather and Conditions

This has and always will be a favourite tactic of anglers who fish many different waters during the year or anglers having summer and winter waters. Using more high attract baits on shorter sessions and swapping tactics / baits based on conditions and angling pressure. For many years anglers believed in fish meal baits during the warmer months, only to swap over to bird food style baits in the colder months. On paper it doesn’t make sense, you feed and establish a bait all summer only to swap in the colder months. If you’ve had a successful summer campaign then think twice about swapping baits, results may slow, but that’s the case with any bait as the metabolism of fish slows as the water temperature starts to plummet.
If you intend to change, then during the summer months add a handful of your intended winter bait to every kilo of bait. This way you won’t be starting from scratch and carp will readily accept it has a safe food source when you change, but vice versa, add a handful of your summer bait during the colder months so it’s readily accepted as a food source when you make the change.
The quality of fish meals we use in the production of our baits now are premium quality. Manufactured at low temperature with a lower oil content over the traditional Sardine and Anchovy and Provimi 66 fish meals that have been highly used over the last 30 years. We now use Salmon meal and LT94 along with pre-digested fish meal in our fish meal baits along with pure krill meal. Giving a perfect blend of irresistible attraction. 

Angler C - Follows other anglers results

This can be an hard one to compute, anglers who change baits every session or after every visit to the tackle store. Why is this ? Or the question you see on social media on a regular basis, “What’s the going bait on a lake”
Swapping over to the same bait as an angler that’s having success on the lake you are fishing might make sense, but sit back and think it through first. Firstly will you be putting the same amount of effort in to your angling, is the angler in question fishing the same types of swims as you, the same amount of bank hours etc. never put your success against another anglers results unless you are putting the same amount of time / effort into your angling. Often the term of top rod is banded around and it’s great to see anglers achieving success and chasing their goals. But if you get the chance of fishing 48hrs once a month then gauging your success against someone doing 3 and 4 nights each week may not be realistic.
Also anglers being led by marketing, be careful and do your research. The amount of wonder baits that have hit the shelves over the years with promises of making your dreams become reality have over the years been ridiculous. Marketing budgets far greater than the ingredients used in the bait over a calendar year, only to disappear to be replaced by the latest wonder bait. Do your research in finding a quality bait that has a track record of producing year on year. Stick with it over several sessions and if it’s working for you then why make a change.
The other one we hear on a regular basis is baits have blown on a water, this is one we find highly amusing. A quality food source bait will never blow, it will only get better and be accepted as a food source. A low quality bait that offers very little in the way of nutrition will over a short period of time be neglected by feeding fish over a bait they accept as food. Again time to sit back and take your time in choosing the best bait to suit your angling style before wasting your money on a poor quality, over flavoured bait that has been produced to catch the angler!!! 

Angler D - Uses a mix of Baits

Being in the position I’m in and seeing catch reports flooding in on a daily basis, it’s easy to see a pattern emerge over the years. I know there’s always exceptions to every rule but after years of seeing friends and long term customers results year on year a pattern does emerge time and time again.
The anglers catching big carp year on year have one type of tactic and that’s one bait, sticking with fishing known areas of the lake the bigger fish reside and feeding bait on a regular basis. Then there’s the anglers that jump between waters and are highly successful catching big hits of carp where ever they fish but rarely the bigger carp. It’s something I’ve discussed with friends many times. This type of anglers ability to catch carp is amazing but why not the bigger carp ? It’s inevitable that the bigger carp will occasionally slip up but not as often as the known big fish anglers.
When using lots of smaller baits such as pellets, particles, ground baits, crushed boilies etc. in my opinion this draws the shoal type fish onto your baited areas. Creating a feeding frenzy at times, which draws the younger fish onto your spots along with other species, which are all competing for food.
Again in my opinion the wise old warriors who have seen the bank many times over the years see this type of competition for food as danger and will back off. Suppose it’s similar to humans, very few over 40’s are going to want to compete with the younger generation in nightclubs etc.
I’ve seen it time and time again, anglers having great success on big fish waters with big hits of carp, but rarely getting through to the A team. Only for another angler fishing a different method to work his way through the A team without catching big numbers of carp and rarely the smaller carp in the lake.
Firstly you need to work out which type of angling suits you. Regular action or sitting it out for the bigger fish and adapt your fishing style to suit the type of carp you hope to catch. 

Summary

There is no right or wrong style of baiting approach, if it’s working then stick with it. But during your time away from the lake, be honest with yourself based on the type of water you fish and the amount of time you have at your disposal over the year, then work out what you want from your angling. Are you hoping to catch lots of carp or willing to sit it out in the hope of catching one of the A team ?
Also the type of waters you are targeting, why join a low stock water with a handful of big carp if you are the type of angler that enjoys to hear your buzzers scream into life on a regular basis.
Then again if you’re on limited time, arriving at busy lakes, late on a Friday evening for your monthly fishing fix, then the chances of you getting one of the going swims are slim, so perhaps better to search out a quieter water. There’s nothing worse than wasting weekend after weekend stuck in the non productive swims wishing one weekend you could get in one of the going swims. We’ve all suffered the sinking feeling of driving to the lake full of excitement and knowing where you would like to fish based on weather conditions only to drive into the car park to see it full of cars.
So on summary, choose the waters you fish carefully and adapt your baiting approach to the suit the water you fish, your style of angling and the time you have at your disposal.
Tight Lines
Rich Hughes