Mike’s Diary
Cracking winter - roll on spring...
Posted in Mike’s Diary on 18th March 2013Well from a personal viewpoint I couldn't have asked for a better winter! Over 100 carp banked between November 3rd and Feb 3rd, including a cracking 30lb+ snow caught whacker and a new lake record 37lb 2oz mirror. The vast majority of these fish fell to a water I've been targetting for a while, and with no night fishing allowed, I had to endure long16-hour nights cooped in the back of my van until it was light enough to resume fishing! Not easy at my age but after a few prolonged spells out of fishing in recent years, I proved to myself that the fire is still burning brightly and besides, I was rewarded handsomely for my efforts!
It's now our busy season and it's gone completely mad! We're working hard to keep lead times down but can only make a certain amount of bait each day, so please allow sufficient lead time if ordering freezer boilies. At the time of writing this and with Easter just around the corner, we are currently working on a lead time of approx 3-weeks. All other orders, including shelf-life boilies are processed and sent out the same day.
Finally, the new 'Top B5 Bombing' clothing is now finally available and these garments are really turning heads. We are now working on the new Carp Life range, which will be available in the summer if all goes to plan. Thanks to everyone for their patience and support and let's hope we see some nice 'spring-like' weather soon!
Oh, and finally, we are producing a limited number of Giclee printed (extremely high quality) maps from my book Carp Life. These include Wraysbury, Ashlea Pool, Frampton, Coate Water Park, Horton & Withy Pool. If anyone is interested in a print, please call our office for details.
The use of Food Oils
Richard Kelly is certainly no stranger to big carp, but that's because he understands the importance of a well balanced nutritional food bait. It's paid dividends for him on numerous occasions, as proved again here with another UK forty.
We firmly believe that a well balanced nutritional food bait will completely out fish baits with little or no real food value, and the inclusion of a food oil will help to provide the essential fatty acids required for the carp’s dietary requirements. Further to this, the inclusion of a lipid source will also have a sparing effect on the proteins used within the bait, thus allowing the carp to assimilate the available proteins far more efficiently. In short, food oils will increase nutritional values and provide an extra source of attraction to the finished bait. In short, the fish love them, they increase nutritional values and to cap it all off, they make the bait easier to roll!
Top tip
If making your own baits, reduce the oil content by 50% during the colder months and add a nutritional emulsifier.
