Carp flavors and feeding stimulants are numerous in their make-up, background, and actual ability to stimulate feeding in wild fish. Many times the flavor of the product on the shelf can be designed more so for the carp angler than the fish itself… this can be seen with a high quality non-flavored food source boilies that can catch large fish on a consistent basis, usually not mass produced or commercially available to others. There are also some incredible smelling commercial baits that appear not to do as well over the long run. We all have our favorites, but ultimately the fish decides.
Erick Maybury with ‘Barnaby’ in Texas
Carp, as humans, do have nutritional needs in their diet and will actively seek out these food sources in their daily forage, natural habitat and feeding patterns…there are naturally occurring triggers in nature that will stimulate feeding in the species and if those natural elements are incorporated into a man made bait, then you are halfway there. Unfortunately there is a lot of misinformation on the subject, freely available, as well as marketing to contest with for the new angler who may be just getting into the sport. We always recommend that you do your research, look at the track record of captures in the USA of any bait you are considering, and get some unbiased perspectives.
Undertaking the task of creating a high quality carp bait, that could be made commercially available, is not as straightforward as many might have you think. It takes years of experimentation, failure, and research to get it right. Having had numerous conversations with other professionals in the past, in what constitutes a high quality food source bait for the species, both here in the USA and overseas, we factored in both the positive and potential negative attributes of commercially rolled, mass produced baits. We then set about the task of combining a bait that would be recognizable instantly to the fish in the USA as a legitimate food source. It would also have to include a specific balance of trace minerals, protein, fats and amino acids with a high level of attractant. We would use only local, natural and farm sourced ingredients, and it would all have to be handmade here in the USA.
The bait would have to be ‘all seasonal’ and viewed legitimately by the fish as a genuine ‘food source’ with a very high nutritional value in order for them to actively seek it out throughout the year.
Carp have no stomachs to digest food and so the food that they eat travels directly into the intestine….Now that’s something worth thinking about when considering the human stomach contains acid that can actually dissolve metal! We use our stomach to breakdown the food so that it can be used in our bodies and converted to energy etc…that’s where most of the work is done. The carp do not have that luxury and so it is really important to get it right, not only for the angler, but also for the health of the fish.
Carp eat hard shell mussels, crayfish, crustaceans, and a number of other mollusks as well as live fish…with no stomach to digest it, and so the enzymes within the intestine have to break down the food in order for it to be absorbed into the carp’s body. There is no doubt that they are attracted to amino acids (there have been multiple scientific studies on this) and so the right balance of fat, protein, minerals and amino acids in a bait has a direct correlation to both its long-term effectiveness as well as its attractiveness to the fish.
Erick Maybury
There are some flavors and bait combinations that will catch pretty much anywhere initially…and there are others that will not. Coming up with something ‘new’ in this realm is not for the feint of heart. We have been lucky ( ‘Lucky’ actually means countless hours of research, failure and hard work! ) with all of our baits in the Barnaby’s Revenge Range as they ‘tick all of the boxes for us’ and will be equally as effective in both the summer and winter months.
Remember that carp are a cold water species and their metabolizing and ability to digest certain types of foods during the colder months is not the same as it is in the summer. Too much protein during the winter months in a bait can be simply too much work for them to bother with, given a choice. On the other hand a filler bait with little nutritional value won’t hold their interest for long during the late summer / autumn if they have other options. This is what happens when you hear about a bait ‘blowing’…It was initially very effective on the water….and then just dies. You have to have something that will get their attention…and hold it.
I know Wayne has experienced this phenomenon fishing a lake where there was so much natural food present…the fish wouldn’t even look at anything on a hook…including corn, proving that their efforts were not going to be wasted looking at a boilie, tiger-nut, or a piece of corn, when there was a fresh snail bed to munch on.
I recommend doing your research on this subject as there are a number of scientific studies (that all correlate with the bait experts in the field) that edify the above points made here. John Baker is a master on what constitutes a high quality flavor and so I would recommend that anyone with a serious interest in bait check out anything he has written on the subject. Remember that the fish’s perception of a high quality flavor may differentiate from your human nose telling you what is!
Scientific studies that have been conducted on the species are the best unbiased and honest resource for understanding their diet requirements and what they are really attracted to….this will help with understanding also the difference between a high quality bait and one that may not be as effective, but may have a lot of marketing and hype behind it! Again, look at the track record of actual results to make your decisions.
Cheap isn’t always the best option…and neither is over the top expensive!
Simple corn and tigers are of course always a solid ‘goto’ bait for carp bait….but when you are able to turn them onto a high quality bait that they are actively looking for, you do have a higher chance of getting one of the really big girls…your average size will also increase significantly.
Who knows…maybe a 40, 50, 60 or even a 70lb+ fish…. like Erick Maybury or James King!
James King
Photo: Jeff Kramer