Leaderboard

There is no reason you couldn't use tigers throughout the winter mate.

I have to agree with Yonny. I don't think that carp change their diets during the colder months, they just feed less often. IMHO If Tigers are what they're used to then just carry on using them. Ian.

You are ignoring the type of water, and parts of the whole of nutrition. I know that Tim Paisley DID fish against other baits at Waveney on his trips there, his bait had to compete against local angler's, some of whom were researching baits (at Lowestoft Fish Research) and holidaymakers. I know that Premier Baits in the 1990's were out fishing other baits on the Darenth complex. Savay, Kevin Maddocks, Rod Hutchinson and Andy Little, good baits out fishing other angler's. On Earith the bait that Bruce and I had outfished other baits to other angler's, AND hi-vi's and hi-attract that we fished at times to try to provoke a take in colder weather. Other anglers to get takes had to go buy a bag of Trigga, I kid you not. Bruce and my bait was Trigga with a twist... This thing about nutrition and tiger nuts (and peanuts); the nuts themselves are addictive to carp, they will eat them to the exclusion of other baits, until death. They contain very little useable nutrition, only that that can be digested off the surface. In nutrition, the FIRST requirement is energy, whether that is provided by protein, fat or carbohydrates. YOU need the energy to digest the rest of your food, as do carp. Most waters are overstocked, the fish NEED to eat bait to survive, and that is any bait that goes in. There are very few waters now rich enough in natural food to support the fish stocks present in them. Baits also work in conjunction with other baits. Particles provide energy, vegetable fats and carbohydrates, higher protein boilies provide protein. You have this thing for fishmeal; a very good ingredient, it is high in protein, useable animal protein, providing almost every required amino acid. It is an attractor in its own right, it is why fishmeal boilies work so well. Vegetable, nut (legume) meal even maize meal do not provide as good as useable protein, they are missing a few required amino acids. There is one non meat protein that contains every essential amino acid, and that is yeast. As for Cell, a bird food and coconut base with a yeast background. Ring a bell here? The amount of protein does not need to be massively high, the days of 45/50% are long gone. As an example, humans need no more than 75grammes of protein a day. As anglers a kilo of food source boilies need not provide anymore protein than 300grams, and it is likely that kilo will be shared by more than 1 fish! Protein is required for tissue repair and growth. If carp don't get enough protein then they cannot grow to their maximum. There are many waters full of carp no bigger than double figures, simply because: a) there are too many fish, b) they aren't getting enough food to grow. Provide a better bait or thin the numbers they will start to grow, unless they have become permanently stunted.