Mike’s Diary
All work and no play!
Posted in Mike’s Diary on 20th June 2011Unfortunately fishing is currently the last thing on my mind. After a long hard battle with the local planning authority we finally received planning permission to build a house overlooking our lovely lake here in Somerset and the build has already started.
I'm project managing as much of the build as I can between running the bait business and as you can imagine this is taking up a huge amount of time and commitment with 14-hour days seven days a week being the norm. (Apologies to customers finding it difficult to get hold of me lately but I always answer emails if you can't get me on the phone)
As we all know, such commitments often mean personal sacrifices in life and mine has to be my fishing! The rods have been put away for several months whilst everything is put into place but I only have to look at the stunning views to know the sacrifices will be worth every minute once everything is finally finished.
The foundations are coming along nicely and as I write this we are close to laying the block and beam floor. The main house build then starts in mid July and should be finished by late September. In the background I'm slowly adding a few words to Carp Life 2 with a view to releasing in late 2012 if all goes to plan.
I would like to take this opportunity of thanking everyone for sending in catch reports on a regular basis. It keeps me in tune with reality and is the next best thing to actually being there myself - if only!!
Powdered Additives and Extracts
Long time Essential Baits consultant Rick Golder with a stunning '48' from a mega difficult venue. Rick knows the importance of a good food bait combined with the correct ingredients to trigger a feeding response. His results prove this year after year.
The inclusion of powdered additives and extracts within a boilie recipe will undoubtedly make a massive difference in terms of attraction and palatability. Used at the correct inclusion levels, they will trigger a feeding response and lead to prolonged feeding. They can also be hugely beneficial at repelling nasty sediment odours from 'tainting' the bait. The FF6 found within the B5 is a classic example of this and will always make sure your baits smell 'sweet', even when fishing amongst horrible black silt.
Many of these products are used extensively within the aquaculture industry to promote feeding, so it goes to show that these ingredients will play a huge part within the inclusion of a successful bait recipe, both short and long term.
Top tip
Betaine is an excellent ingredient for triggering the carp's receptors. If you want an 'instant' feeding response for short session fishing, just pour 20ml Boilie Glug or Liquid Food over 1 kilo of boilies and sprinkle one level tsp of betaine over the top before shaking vigourously.
