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Fair point! Lol! From what I gather, worms are particularly good at releasing free amino acids into the water column, chopped worm especially - although when you cut a worm it's hardly pumping fluid out everywhere is it? While it can be tricky to prove that these additions can be of use, indeed the argument for amino acid use in boiled baits has been going on in bait making circles for ages, some believe that the amino acids help the bait break down protein within the bait making the bait appear more digestible, carp require certain amino acids to aid digestion that they source from their food, so including these in your bait should make it more attractive. Whereas others argue that the boiling process denatures the amino acids, making them worthless. Different amino acids require different temperature ranges to work, so the chances of these conditions being met are slim, it doesn't make it easy to know what to do! I add calcium in my baits pre-spawning as calcium is needed in spawn formation, I use salt for the reasons in regards to osmosis I've already stated. I use a bait I've formulated over 15yrs that I'm convinced gives me an edge over other anglers. Yet on my current water, a lad matched my catch rate one session using readymades. I fished for an upper 30 common for years using my own baits yet caught her at 37+ on maggots. I caught my 42+ pb on a readymade pop up and a fluke cast I chucked into no man's land the first night on the lake. I still make and use my own bait with added nutrients, amino acids, salt etc as I believe they make a difference. I have seen better results in doing so but is it the bait? Or is it the case of confidence breeding success which leads to further success? As I trust my bait 100%, is it the cause of any captures or is it that I can fish better not worrying about the bait and concentrate on location and other variables? I believe that my bait is attractive, they eat it and I hope and think it's providing the carp with a good spread of protein, nutrients, vitamins, minerals, fats etc so it will be hopefully doing them some good. In the way that other animals (and humans) subconsciously crave and seek out foods containing elements the body is missing, carp will instinctively know that a food source has elements it needs and can't find in nature as easily as presented nicely in a little round package. If a carp finds a nice bed of mixed foodstuffs, it will eat it of its hungry enough, these different baits eaten together may even provide a mix of all the different nutrients that it's looking for, but I believe the reason why a good nutritional bait works so well, long term is because it has a good spread of all the required nutrients, whereas something like a readymade is like a sweet - nice smell, lovely taste, could eat a bag or a handful, but you would soon want a nice decent meal with meat veg and spuds. (Protein, vitamins, minerals, fats, carbs and fibre) I concede your point that it's speculation, if grounded in scientific research and theory, the carp won't let on, but it's certainly food for thought (excuse the poor pun) and if it gets people thinking then we all can learn from everyone else.

Just seen this steveo, really sorry to read this. You just don't realise how many people are going through personal battles. And very wise words, you are never alone, although you may feel like it's just you, it never is. Help is out there, you just got to reach for it. Stay safe mate.

I was pre-baiting one close season with my chosen particle mix and boilie in a marginal snag and could clearly see the bottom. Well after a few weeks it was clear for anyone to see that this spot was being baited (glowing like a beacon). Well I turned up one day to see the spot covered in chopped boilie(not mine). I decided to still bait this spot and on my next visit to inspect the spot, it looked just like it did before I put my bait over the spot. They, in my opinion and because i could clearly see the spot had literally sieved everyone of my boilies and all the particle and once again left all the chops. If i recall this bait was there for a few more baiting sessions and only got mopped up once the bream had found the bait. I also knew that my bait, if not eaten would pop up after between 3 and 7 days , depending on water temperature. So if a Carp doesn't want to eat something then it won't, regardless it being a feeding spot or not. I dread to think how many times you go into a swim , find a spot and fish over someone else's bait without knowing.

What I would like to do on one of the lakes you describe is to put out what you concider to be your best bait alongside some raw maize. If I saw with my own eyes that the best bait had gone and the raw maize left then I would be convinced. As you say, I am on waters that are hardly touched by other anglers so I argue that (for me) it is better to spend 25p per kilo than £10 per kilo on bait. I can then afford to prebait as much as I want without breaking the bank and that seems to work for me.

Yes that is a good point. I was wanting to ask if anyone had actually seen bait left uneaten after some time. What I would want to do, in the situation you described, is to put some highly attractive bait next to some ordinary bait and see which one was left. If both were left untouched then your comment about location holds (although they might just be overfed anyway), if only the attractve bait was taken that would clinch it for me.

I guess it also depends what can be considered an average lake buddy. For examples, I know you fish big un-pressured inland seas, where here in the UK we tend to fish highly pressured waters with fish that have seen everything. I know for a fact that on many of these UK waters, bait in the wrong place will go un-eaten and rot on the bottom.

It's up to you mate but personally I would run the mole hill soil thought a riddle if you've got one, get rid of all the hard lumps and stones before you add whatever your adding, that's what I do for my perch fishing. It makes it a lot better to work with but that's only my opinion. Just try it and see what you think. 🙂👍

lol

Got my bucket of mole muck this morning Will get the rest of the Ingredients on the way home Some good point made well done all, hopefully I can put them to good use this sunday I will add some liquids to the muck later to let it absorb into it, the way I am thinking it's high attraction fairly low food content and it should help me get the maggots on the deck if nothing else, I have started to build up a picture of this lake now I have fished it a good few times so even if I can't spot them I hope to be able to get near them, I am a little concerned the lake is fully booked for 2 nights on Sunday and Monday though, I have a theory it's someone doing an early winter series video or something, as I was all by myself the last Sunday I was on

I think that is a senesible approach and it is one that I follow. However, from my simple and rather crude experiment, it would tend to suggest that providing it is edible, it does not matter where you put your bait or what it is - it will still get eaten eventually. The question I ask myself is that although under test conditions some additives may stimulate a feeding response, how much actual difference does it have in the average lake?

I looked into it very closely buddy but never did it. They're essentially fancy composters. We do have a composter which is absolutely loaded with worms but the mrs won't let me nick them lol.

im with yonny on this my mate has used it to great effect creates a natural slick in the water to in the right situation can rip a water apart can be a bit pricey buying the worms and maggots but get it right and you will catch loads if fish