Barney2

Why not just use a fused loop fluoro boom Gemini are a nice company booms aren’t my thing but I got some to look at anyway for possible sea rigs they’re good.. they don’t like the loop being mucked around with I can’t remember what I was doing to it Personally I just see crimps as certain influential parties going a bit ott with the sales pitch side of things crimps are for shark (and lake shark) anglers using wires.. and those species get no bother from me anyway

I worked it out it’s nothing new using very good quality dog biscuits as a boilie base, I went for more wallop in the liquids plus an oil which is different, special and hard to find, plus semolina and albumen in dries.. bricks and mortar mix nothing very flash going on (however pet food is far from simple technology/science) I spoke to a bait wizard who may be connected to here I am not going to name them or their workplace I just wanted a mix that serves as good base feed and also serves as special hookbaits which are tough yet absolutely zero issues with safety as loose feed (I don’t rate soft baits and suspect that trend is mainly to do with a very obvious saving to be made)!! soft boilies become roach ground bait rather too fast for my liking!! Hydros are of course used successfully but I went against them in the end, but same old and I suspect often neither here nor there in a mix sometimes anyway mix needs trialling soon as nights warm up properly, I don’t do cold damp fishing anymore, been there done that the T-shirt got tired of ‘hardcore’ a little while ago, back is creaky body is a bit tired and round now anyway I see no harm in potentially showing a nice skint youngster reading here that there is still life in throwing your own mixes together simply, inexpensively maybe I’m lucky but carp fishing can be simple, easy, cheap, straightforward and clutter free

XTRB are fine, I didn’t like DL at range not enough feel too much flex in reel body but I have all DL for light fishing at close range I prefer DL 4000 for big fish on small venues They are damn robust I tested one to destruction and it was very strong, it’s the flex body which makes them feel not robust while they are in fact more than I think Baitrunners are still number one for a good reason, super reliable, line is hard to get under spool (unlike some copycat fairly expensive ones I had which I won’t name but I expected better) at £100.. it was bad, constant and extremely annoying As I say I just fish light with small weights up to 40 yards out on small lakes I don’t do big pit blasting

Your boilies sound too soft and inappropriate you need some specific hard hookbaits mate Hookbaits are purpose designed, Sticky Baits ones are good and come in generous big pots they are useful if in any doubt Coated braid will produce a thick knot but you can still use it but you need a big hard hook bait, and drill the hook bait as well which helps stop baits fracturing, a small selection of drills are cheap, just get small name branded ones rigging baits is faffy, takes time, you can experiment with different loop sizes use a ruler to measure out the loop and a gate latch needle to help tie them

I think pet food is full of yeast mate.. it’s used cleverly for years by bait companies and was apparently a high percentage of a big name base mix of the noughties.. I think I know which one it was I ‘caught’ a massive bloodworm on my hook point at a very old silty sand pit, bailiff told me they can bite!? 😅

I dunno I think you might underrate the power of them in a bait, others talking about eggs sealing up flavours etc, carp can smell a bloodworm under the silt Im sure they can get a hint of a good hydro leaking out of a ball of boiled cake lol

Pasta

My old Wizard carp magnet mate reckons semolina with eggs is good, just that nothing else, both high quality proper grass fed eggs and pure organic semolina.. so you’re basically giving them past which is as we all know completely delicious he uses it as tough hookbaits over mixed beans and seeds such as cooked spelt, he hates boilies in gen and thinks they’re too rich, he has a point, to a point, he caught on strawberries and stuff and is a proper Walrus character who can literally charm carp into his waiting arms

First batch I put in 20g Oyster sauce and 20g Calanus, it rolls and binds beautifully.. four posh eggs, (blitzed fine, twice, in Ninja F.P) organic dog biscuits, 22% organic semolina to dry ings.. I’m a hippy I rate organic but what do you think of the Oyster sauce mate it is not a strong liquid but contains msg and msg enhancing guanylate stuff

Did matey mention what main line he is using? I went back to an old reliable stretchy line I’m not going to open that can and name it light tackle is murky water I think far too much is made of test curves and not enough about line stretch cheers all a little tussle of opinions is healthy enough

I didn’t want to get into a nerdy spin off sorry I do have sound experience of VERY soft mouthed carp on a silty as hell ancient sand pit avoid curve shank hooks and use a very smooth material link.. none of this rough surface thin rubbish the honcho was right a lot of braids including coated are built on mainline braid vile mass produced overpriced and all wrong as a hook link Better off using Amnesia if any doubt, see how you get on.. ESP loaded (use the SOFT) makes a very good link UNSTRIPPED; as well.. I found the black one best, green and brown a bit too thick and delicate coating dont be afraid to keep things simple, ESPECIALLY on hard lakes!! I never have anything on hooklink just a very minimal helicopter with NON LEAD weight

There will be little subtleties which will quickly annoy you badly That’s my experience of cheap and/or copycat reels I prefer to stick to proven big names but I’m not a mug for latest and greatest - mid(ish) range does me proud

I went 40g/ml on a mix yet to try mate calanus has a gentle taste (quite nice) Im not sure 50ml either way will make much difference.. someone else in the trade a bait guy at a major tackle shop said to go very high but it gets silly trying to bind eggs and messing around with albumen, whey gel, wpc etc lol

Millions of people have been using superglue on knots for decades.. it’s been tested and retested since the 50s and 60s and is absolutely more than fine fine in the right place lit does nothing whatsoever to harm lines, make them brittle or weaken them as for ‘putting carp off’ Id say the 10K carp my 77 year old lake complex builder, aquaculturist and tackle shop owner would disagree with that he always glued his links on rather than swivels, and even glued baits together

Maybe I’ve tried more hooklinks than you mate (like literally everything on the market far and wide for 35 years).. some hooklinks with knotless definitely slip around, especially if the eye is big.. the simple test is to put some tension in and watch how the hook behaves/ moves out of line.. superglue (the right proper pure cyanoacrylate) doesn’t cause materials to fracture, it improves knots but it must be a pure superglue not a cheap one.. Gorilla and Zap are the ones. As I said most coated braids have a horrible rough thin braid core, and that is always asking for trouble with soft mouthed carp try the PB Jellywire it’s your best hope in 35lb

I don’t do dry mix and liquids separately mate I prefer to go by the egg for liquids

Dears Im making boilies with good quality dry dog biscuits well blitzed up to fine powder in a Ninja They have a pungent smell, and only bind well with 20% semolina or 10% albumen and 10% semolina (I hate soft boilies) I need advice on how much hydrolysate to put in as well to make them more interesting please

I would sling it, personally I dislike fluorocarbon anyway but the technology has moved well on now from 15 years ago, don’t forget it’s just a bit of line marketed as a hook link and virtually worthless in reality except to sell to some reminiscent mugs on eBay lol

The inner braid is too thin and has a rough surface, that’s the problem, also your link is a bit too long.. how long are you fishing it? I looked at masses of hook links bought online at great expense and hated most of them. Korda etc are concerned about profit, Fox and Nash are no better they don’t care if the braid has a rough surface You are also clearly fishing for soft mouthed carp, it happens on some lakes.. The trouble with leadclips is there’s a lot of play before the weight is pulled up so people think they’re using say eight inches but really it’s about 11 Use an in-line arrangement in silt with 9 inch link And the braid you want is 35lb PB Jellywire.. it’s got a beautiful silky soft & smooth inner braid which isn’t extremely thin and harsh like most.. I also suspect you have knotless slippage issues, knotless knot with braid should always be glued or the hook moves around too much with the braid slipping up and down.. Also try a small wide gape, smaller hooks bury in better and stay put