Air Drying/Rehydrating The Alternative View

[hutch]

So before I start I not saying the above is wrong, I am just offering an alternative view on what is happening to your bait.

 

So we air dry our baits why ? well usually to get more shelf life out of them, but what are we really doing to the bait itself, when you design a bait you want it to be moist in the centre it help it release the soluble attraction when the bait gets flooded with water, when you air dry you remove all the water from the bait so when they enter the water it takes a lot longer to get to this point, also are you dulling the effectiveness of the ingredients ? is the soluble content still has effective after the moisture has been removed from them, are they still even soluble ?, after air drying what you are left with ?

 

Hydration mainly used to re hydrate air dried baits right ?, How many re hydrate with a liquid similar to what was in the original bait ?, if not have you taken a bait and changed its profile from what you originally purchased as you may well have neutralised the original liquids that were in the boilie to start with.

 

All this said people still catch plenty of fish using this method but is what you have caught on a bait that has morphed from its original purchased state to a form of high level attractor bait as touched on by the scientist in his rotary entry and thats why it scores high.

 

Is all the above a bait industry tactic to sell more products from add on sales.

 

So there are plenty of thinking anglers present on this site, I would be interested in some of them's thoughts on the above subject.

 

  

Edited September 8, 2016 by hutch

[chillfactor]

Hutch I never air dry my baits, fresh bait kept in a cool style bag will easily last out long sessions 4-5 days . I have a preference for softer bait anyway .

[hutch]

 

 

Hutch I never air dry my baits, fresh bait kept in a cool style bag will easily last out long sessions 4-5 days . I have a preference for softer bait anyway . 

 

Cheers for the input Phil, I am the same i don't use the above myself but very rare you walk round a lake and don't see an airdry bag hanging from a tree, I am interest if some people know what might be happening to there baits by doing it 

[Gazlaaar]

I've never seen the point of drying out frozen baits unless I intend on crumbing a batch up for a stick mix.

What I would suggest,is use the liquid food that you can sometimes get with certain companies.

For example, I used to dry out a kilo of activ8 boilies, then crumb, then start soaking in the activator liquid, not the enhancement system but the actual liquid food they supply for making your own.

As I've mentioned before, and yes this is a bit of a double edged sword subject, I wouldn't rehydrate with oil, the oil will just seal the bait, on the other hand, carp are attracted to lipids, so it's up to you what you want, but I'd be rehydrating with food.

Edited September 8, 2016 by Gazlaaar

[chillfactor]

I know for some it's the first thing they do when arriving in a peg , sometimes it's because they like to use throwing sticks so drying them slightly is the best option.

My bait doesn't like sticks far to soft .... just end up baiting the margin with half boilies

[Gazlaaar]

I can't use sticks, I've tried and tried, I just can't do it, use a spomb, keep em soft, better for digestion

[hutch]

 

 

sometimes it's because they like to use throwing sticks so drying them slightly is the best option. 

 

Good point, but also and advantage to making your own as there are ingredients (or mainly ingredient) you can use to make a firm outer with a soft inner.

 

 

 

My bait doesn't like sticks far to soft .... just end up baiting the margin with half boilies   

 

 

I can't use sticks, I've tried and tried, I just can't do it, use a spomb, keep em soft, better for digestion 

 

You two sound like me, margins rule distance is for pussy's       

[Gazlaaar]

I've even managed to hit myself with a boilie out of a throwing stick, it's just not for me

[chillfactor]

Had a short after work session yesterday floater fishing .

Managed to cop a dog biscuit right in the forehead somehow from the catapult , proper stung for a second or two

[Gazlaaar]

Had a short after work session yesterday floater fishing .

Managed to cop a dog biscuit right in the forehead somehow from the catapult , proper stung for a second or two

Ooo yeah I've done that as well lol

[hutch]

 

 

Managed to cop a dog biscuit right in the forehead somehow from the catapult , proper stung for a second or two 

 

 

Ooo yeah I've done that as well lol 

 

We could start the catapult incidents club   

[chillfactor]

Managed a couple off the top though .... just missed out on one of the biggies , came up went for it but didn't take it. The owner had one on the fly rod too which was a nice fish .

Rubbish photo God knows what happened there lol

 

[hutch]

Nice work Phil  , the fish in my water are such hard work off the top which is a pain because i love floater fishing, its the sort of water where people will tell you they don't get caught off the top 

[salokcinnodrog]

I don't bother rehydrating air dried baits, I use them as they are, rock solid.

 

Why change what I started with?

I usually use a mix of air dried, frozen and shelf life's in the same bait. The exception to this is my hookbaits, which are glugged or soaked in Marine 17.

 

Air dried baits I am certain take on water faster than frozen, actually making them softer than frozen boilies at a faster rate.

 

Catapult incidents?

The number of times I manage to spray myself with misfired maggots, boilies or mixers.

 

And almost every start with a throwing stick sees a few splash down in the near margin...

[chillfactor]

The best chance on this lake is your first one , which nearly paid off with just missing out on that biggie couldn't believe it when I didn't see the line tighten.

Once you have caught one the next one is very tricky I find.

[adamkitson]

I don't air dry either. It's either fresh from the freezer or shelfies as they are. Occasionally in the past I have given baits a soak before using, but these are either shelfies or a freezer bait simply to soften them. I also find a bit of a soak when fishing silt can help. I'd rather a saturated bait going in than a dry one soaking up the silt smell. Probably makes no difference to the fish, but gives me confidence. The bait I'm on now, if I soaked it, I think it would turn to mush it's so soft. I've never bothered hanging bait bags either. Freezer baits just go in a bucket. Never done me any harm.

[Gazlaaar]

Another method I'm hearing a lot about is spombing out boilie crumb soaked in liquid food. Not fine crumb but the bigger bulk crumb, nothing really to feed up on but plenty of attraction.

There's a few liquid food about, you could try.

Molasses

Nutramino

Multimino

Mina mino

Amino 365

CSL

There's just loads

Any of the liquids in the build you own packs.

I wonder whether these companies would supply more of these little bottles of food if you asked.

Soaking boilies in glycerin makes a really hard marble like bait, I discovered that one by accident.

[bishops]

I also do my baits just cooked 60 - 90 seconds mostly (I like fishmeal base so boil until they float), but apart from the first night to dry them in the air before freezing, I don't air dry or rehydrate them before use. As others have said gluing in oils is only useful if your not confident in the ingredients or attraction of your base mix which do the talking. I prefer them lightly skinned and mostly soft inside almost still a paste, to counter this will armour mesh them even if crays or other species of fish aren't present to be sure they are still there in the morning.

[smufter]

I kept being mugged in France by nuisance fish as the two baits I was using (SB Krill and Trents Freshwater Shrimp) were both quite soft.

I air dried a few purely to use as hookbaits. It was the only way I felt confident that my bait was still going to be on the hook after an hour or two in the water. And they were.....

[Andy Hull]

Hi guys,

 

Not sure if this is off topic!

Can i ask why you all (most) seem to prefere to use freezer baits over shelf lifes?

It seems to me the main problem with freezer baits is keeping them fresh which is why i assume you air dry them, would shelf lifes not eleviate this?

I can understand that if you make your own baits that you have no real choice other than to freeze them but if purchasing main brands then you do have a choice.

 

Andy

[smufter]

Some consider that Freezer baits are a better quality than Shelf life due to the preservatives that are put in Shelfies.

I have used shelfies in the past that have been like bullets, made of what appears to be chalk!! I wouldn't touch them with a barge pole now.

But shelf life have come on in leaps and bounds in recent years with many reporting no difference in catch rates between the two if you buy from one of the "better" and more established firms.

I tend to use fresh/freezer baits but am seriously looking at taking shelfies to France next year.

[Gazlaaar]

There's no real difference anymore, I use shelfies now because of limited freezer space and convenience.

[smufter]

There's no real difference anymore, I use shelfies now because of limited freezer space and convenience.

That's why I'm thinking of shifting over to Shelfies.

I can get Sticky Baits Krill as a shelf life, and I think they do Freshwater Shrimp in shelfies too.

[Gazlaaar]

It's just convenient mate, I don't have to take up valuable space in the freezer or worry about them going off, my time is short at home, I don't have time for messing around so I buy shelfies

Edited September 9, 2016 by Gazlaaar

[salokcinnodrog]

I think this has opened up a number of points or even mini topics!

I have a number of thoughts going on in my head, and I can't put them all into words at the moment, so if this seems disjointed I'm sorry.

 

Air dried baits take on water faster than frozen baits I think, which means they go softer faster as well. If there is no moisture in a bait, then it goes in faster, takes on water, than if there is moisture in a bait as per frozen.

It likely means they will appear washed out faster than a standard frozen bait.

 

If you are rehydrating with a liquid, then you will be adding additional attractors and changing the bait in some way, which may neutralise some of its original properties, but increase something new by increasing the liquid attractors, which may or will leach out into the surrounding water.

A vs B, a good bait which (should) work to a bait which has more attraction in liquid form. Which is better a food bait or a liquid attractor and food bait?

A good food bait should work on its own merits, attractive and a food that the carp search for.

 

 

 

Do you use the same rehydrating liquid every time?

If one session you rehydrate in hempy water, and catch, then the next session in CSL water and blank was it the rehydration that caused the catch or the blank?

You may be confusing yourself!

Are you using the rehydration to avoid pre-baiting, or to change your bait because everyone is using the same bait?

 

I think shelf life's have come on in leaps and bounds in the past few years, from a basic attractor bait, almost relying on the flavour to catch, at a higher level than normal, to the same bait as the frozen. There are many shelf life's and freezer baits that are now on the same base!

Nutrabaits Trigga, Big Fish Mix, Solar Seafood Takeaway, Crafty Catcher King Prawn are baits that are available in both shelfie and frozen, but there are others.

I think the preserving method of shelf life's is now air drying, then a sugar/glycerol liquid dip.

This will likely stop or slow down glugging them in many liquids, and prevent 'rehydrating' them, there is almost impermeable layer on them. Any glug will stay on the outside as opposed to soaking in.

 

I happily use a mix of Shelf life's and Frozen. My Shelf Life's are slightly harder than the same bait in frozen, so on crayfish free waters, I use that shelfie as a hookbait as it doesn't soften as quickly as the frozen, suggesting that frozen baits break down faster, which is something that doesn't appear to have changed over time.

Shelf life's often/usually appear to be more instantly attractive than frozen, in the same recipe.

This is something that various anglers have commented and written on; Gary Bayes, Ken Townley and others have all written articles about how the shelf life of the bait they have used can be more instantly attractive than the freezer bait, but both work in the longer term.

Is the instant attraction from the sugar/glycerine dip?

 

For years when I made my own baits I had a preference for glycerol/glycerine based flavours, I felt that the glycerine was more acceptable than other solvent bases, but was the glycerine an attractor in its own right?