Homemade baits the key to huge bream captures - Tim Jackson

“Last year I lost confidence in shop-bought boilies but using my homemade baits I’ve enjoyed my most productive season to date – landing 45 carp and 12 bream to 18lb 2oz. It all started at the end of 2019 when I told a friend about my poor season on my syndicate lake.

“My issue was with the commercially-made boilies I was using, as I couldn’t buy a bite on them. He gave me some advice on rolling my own baits as well as a few ingredients to try, and that winter I got to work making a mix.

“With a bit of experimenting I developed some hand-rolled fishmeal boilies that I was happy with. They smelt great and I couldn’t wait to start my carp campaign after lockdown was lifted.

“My first few sessions on the lake were as though a switch had been flicked, as I caught carp from the off. On one occasion I received a twitchy bite on a 12mm homemade boilie which definitely wasn’t a carp, and after some plodding around I landed a stunning bream of 15lb 4oz.

A cracking 15lb 4oz bream for Tim Jackson

“From then on I just became infatuated with the bream and switched my attentions away from the carp completely.

“I’d already caught one bream on my homemade bait, so I made some special 6mm, 8mm and 10mm-sized boilies to see if they’d single them out and deter the carp.

“The ploy worked and through the summer I banked a string of double-figure bream while other anglers were struggling. There was something in my bait that the bream just wanted. 

“By August I’d developed a successful approach which was fishing three rods over silty areas at distance with helicopter rigs and 8mm or 10mm boilie hookbaits.

“Over each rod I also fed half-a-kilo of flattened and crushed boilies with a Spomb.”

“The last five weeks have probably been my best on the water and I’ve landed the biggest bream in the lake twice at 18lb 2oz.

“Most of the time I’d only catch one in a trip but during my latest session I managed three of 12lb 14oz, 15lb 8oz and 15lb 10oz.”

Tim Jackson has managed to land the biggest bream in the lake twice at 18lb 2oz

Monster pike takes a boilie! - Andrew Rockley

“By trade I’m the boilie line manager at Dynamite Baits, and recently a few of my colleagues arranged to fish a weekend social on a lake not far from where we work. 

“We’d not long finished rolling some new pop-ups which are due for release next year, so I thought it would be rude to not take some with me on this trip.

“We got to the lake after work on the Friday, but none of us had received a single take by the time Saturday morning came around. However, I was sat having a brew when out of the corner of my eye I spotted a fish roll. Immediately I wound in one of my rigs with the new pop-up attached and cast it to the spot.

“Five minutes later the line tightened and started to trickle off the spool, so I hit into what was a very heavy fish.

“I thought I had a new PB carp on the cards but after a few good runs, when I
had to slacken off the clutch as it nearly pulled me in, this huge pike jumped clear of the water!

“After a few more runs up and down the margin my mate Trev managed to scoop it up in the net.

“By the time we’d rested it, all the lads had come round to have a look and the sheer size and length of the fish was hard for us all to take in!

“On the scales she went 31lb exactly, which beat my previous PB pike by a good 12lb.

“I’m still in shock over this catch!” 

Andrew Rockley and his new 31lb PB pike, which took a boilie hookbait!

A boilie grinder helped me smash my personal best pike - Rob Malseed

“It was a Friday and, having finished work, I arrived at my Essex syndicate. I deposited three deadbaits at varying distances from the bank with my bait boat – one to a 10ft-deep spot at 50 yards, another in the margins and a final bait between the two at around 25 yards. 

Sadly, though, it was a quiet night and by 3pm the next day I hadn’t had so much as a bleep, so I decided to reel in and swap the deadbaits for some fresh ones. 

I put lamprey and smelt on two of the rods, but I had also packed this giant herring which was around 1ft long! I’d normally cut a bait this size in half, but I had nothing to lose so I just stuck it on whole.

Before I shipped the baits back out to their spots I realised I had an unopened boilie grinder at the bottom of my tackle bag and had what you might call a bit of a brainwave…

I filled it with pieces of chopped mackerel, sardine and herring and mushed them up. Then, I poured the mush into the compartment in my bait boat, added maggots and breadcrumb and ferried it out to each of my three marks, before using the boat again to drop my rigs and deadbaits back into position.

I hadn’t put the last rod down when the herring rod at 25 yards bleeped a couple of times then signalled a single-toner!

I was quick to strike, but saw my line kite fast to my right, so it was a bit of a panic trying to keep up with it.

There were a few heavy tugs but I didn’t think the fish was that special, at least until I saw the slap of its tail at the net and thought: “This could be the one.”

This was the first pike that had ever scared me – its shoulders were massive!

The feeling of seeing the scales pull round to over 30lb was overwhelming. I’d waited 20 years for this moment.

All those years of blanking made me think outside the box, and now I have a new personal best of 33lb 4oz because of it. 

It just goes to show that by being brave and trying new things you will eventually get the result you want.”

New legislation puts the future of coloured baits in doubt

SOME of angling’s most popular baits such as red maggots and coloured sweetcorn could be banned under sweeping new EU laws.

The regulations, which require companies to fully detail the ingredients of their products, could also lead to a rise in the cost of groundbait mixes and feed pellets.

Under the legislation, which companies are in the process of complying with, many fishing baits will be classed as ‘animal feed’, forcing manufacturers to potentially seek alternative ingredients for many products. The changes are expected to impact the smaller bait companies the hardest.

Products under the most scrutiny are groundbait and the dyes used to colour maggots, boilies and feed pellets, but plans could be extended to include hookbaits and liquids, both of which are currently exempt.

Sonubaits boss Ian Day said that his firm has spent four years preparing for the changes.

“It’s currently groundbait under the microscope and any product must detail at least four nutritional values, although more are required in Europe,” he said.

“Some of the dyes used in baits are synthetic, and these could be banned as they offer no nutritional benefits. Switching to natural dyes can be expensive and less effective. The legislation is costing companies thousands, and other manufacturers may choose to pass this on to the consumer.”

Dynamite Baits is also embracing the changes. A spokesperson said:

“We’ve invested a lot of money into making sure that we are registered to sell animal feed but also ensuring our bait can continue to be crafted at the same high standard.”