Hard Hookers
Over the last few years,
I seem to have found myself using the Hard Hooker range more and more. Whether
it’s having a hookbait that can resist hordes of hungry roach and bream,
dealing with crayfish or when river fishing for chub and barbel and wanting to keep
a bait out overnight the range of hardened Nutrabaits hookbaits have become a
key part of my approach.
Although I’d happily choose
any of the range, I tend to use the Trigga Ice and Code hard hookers the most
as these match up nicely with my freezer baits of choice. I’ve also caught a
lot of fish using the River Plus hookers, and as well as lots of chub and
barbel on these I’ve also had numerous carp as being a smaller dumbell shape
they are perfect for using with a small PVA bag of pellets. The Hard Hookers
are shelf-life and so it’s easy to always carry a couple of pots with me in my
bait bucket without having to remember to take them in or out of the freezer.
Blue Oyster boost
The hookbaits are very effective straight from the pot, but one little tip I’ve found that seems to get me a few extra bites is to pour a cap full of Blue Oyster UTCS flavour. For some reason the Blue Oyster flavour on either Trigga Ice or Trigga has always just worked, and both my UK personal best mirror and common have been caught using these combinations.
Maximum hardness
In terms of surviving the attentions of smaller fish such as roach or bream or the odd crayfish I’ve found the Hard Hookers will easily remain intact for as long as I need and I’d be happy leaving them out for days at a time. However, on one of the waters I fish the numbers of crayfish are a more extreme problem, and usually within seconds of casting out you will be getting regular bleeps on the buzzers as they home in and attack. In these cases I’ve found I’ll still get a good few hours with the hard hookers, but that as they start to soften slightly in the water the amount of crayfish activity will eventually whittle them down. To solve this I use some of the Korda Super Wrap, which you can shrink around your hookbait using the steam from a kettle. I’ve found the medium size to be perfect for the 16mm Hard Hookers, and I usually prepare a separate pot of the super wrap hookbaits at home so they are ready whenever I need them.
Baiting regularly
Alongside using the Hard
Hooker range, if I’m aware that smaller fish or crayfish are likely to be a
problem on the water I’m fishing I’ll tend to consciously bait up on a little
and often basis. This hopefully keeps some bait in the swim for when the carp
arrive, and I’ve found at times that the activity from smaller fish/crayfish
feeding in the swim can help encourage carp to investigate and feed. In terms
of how regularly I’ll rebait, I’ll usually watch my lines entering the water or
have my buzzers on quite sensitive as any activity in the swim will start to
die down when all of the feed has gone and so at this point it’s time to bait
up again.
Liquid boosters
Another good trick I’ve found particularly effective on crayfish infested waters is the use of liquids as a way of still attracting and holding carp in an area even if the main food items have gone. This year I’ve been using the new Spiced Fish Protein Liquid Food for this purpose, giving my boilies and pellets a good coating before baiting up. On one particular venue the crystal clear margins make it possible to watch the fish feed, and it’s been noticeable how much of a difference this has made to the length of time fish will keep feeding.
Stiff rigs and heavy leads
One last tip, when using the Hard Hookers I tend to opt for a rig made from fairly stiff material and use this alongside a heavy lead. With crayfish in particular this stops them dragging the rig around, and allows it to reset each time they mess with it rather than risking a tangled mess. Although mainly used with a pop-up, I’ve found a Ronnie Rig presentation also works very well with the Hard Hookers when fished as a bottom bait. The nature of the rig makes it easy to change the hook if needed, and when coupled with a bait screw there is very little for the crayfish to be able to damage or cut through when compared to a standard hair rig.
