Catch Reports

Essential Exclusive Stunning Big Fish Trio!

Posted in Catch Reports on 05th April 2008

Long term Essential Bait user Martin Finan has just banked one of the most remarkable trio of big carp ever reported in the UK!! The Glos big fish specialist arrived at his local gravel pit late evening and introduced 3kg of B5 boilies to the margins of an island at 80-yards, but decided not to cast out until first light. The lake hadn’t produced a fish for two months, but within the first couple of hours Martin managed to bank a 27lb 8oz common, shortly followed by this stunning 54lb lake record mirror!!  


On leaving the venue Martin baited up another area of the lake where he’d spotted some fish and returned a couple of days later for an overnighter before work. It wasn’t long before he was into another very big fish, but unfortunately it managed to dislodge the hook on some branch debris. However, the disappointment was short lived as during the early hours of the following morning he managed to bank another whacker, this one going 41lbs exactly! Off to work a happy man!


Just 3-days later Martin was back at the venue again keen to extend his run of big fish. On this occasion he decided to fish towards the opposite end of the lake and at long range between two islands. He baited on dusk with thirty 20mm B5 freebies scattered around each rig and at 6am the following morning he nailed his third big fish from the venue in close succession with this awesome looking 45lb mirror still wearing its full winter coat! Martin also finished off that last trip with a 31lb 10oz mirror!


Martin would like to express his thanks to all the guys on the venue who assisted with the photography and for sharing the moments with him. Mike and the Essential team would like to give special thanks to the management for their support and understanding with the pictures and publicity, which will remain exclusive to this site only.


Shelf life boilie advantages

Our Essential resident 'Globetrotter' Merv Pennell with one of his many big carp caught on our range of Shelf life boilies. Merv, amongst so many other anglers, openly admits that our shelf life range offer a massive edge over 'standard' shelf life boilies and would not use anything else.  

Of course the big advantage about the use of shelf life boilies can be summed up in just one word – convenience! And this is the key word you need to bear in mind. Good quality freezer baits are fantastic for that long term baiting campaign, yet can be problematic for extended UK sessions and of course when fishing on the continent.

So would we recommend substituting freezer baits with shelf life boilies for long term bait application? In short, no we wouldn’t! Simply because this will not offer any advantages at all, however, we can honestly say that for those trips outside the UK or even those extended sessions within the UK where it would be difficult to keep freezer baits fresh, this highly successfull range of shelf life boilies tick all the boxes - and more!

So many anglers strongly believe these are the best quality shelf life boilie available ANYWHERE in the world! Confidence and convenience, such key words for success.

Top Tips

1) Avoid cheap and cheerful shelf life boilies like the plague. I can think of few things worse to ruin your chances of success than poor quality boilies that have been ‘over-flavoured’ to mask preservative odours!
2) If the manufacturer states there are no preservatives in them, ask him to tell the truth!

3) Beware of semi-soft shelf life boilies. These are likely to be overloaded with preservatives. We tend to rely on reduced moisture levels, which in turn creates a 'tougher' bait, but with far less preservative.