Specialized Hookbaits

[greekskii]

18 hours ago, OldBoy said:

Anyway, just my personal view.... I don't need to say this to the long standing members on here, but no one will convince me a so called wonder bait will ever be replacement for location and hard work on any venue,

No one ever said it was? So not quite sure what your entire point is. 
 

also to answer point 2. The big common from a club pit has been caught on SHB multiple times over. It’s a club ticket. Plenty of day ticket and easily accessible venues amongst the catches. 

Can’t understand the point you are trying to make about venues tbh. Makes no odds on if they are effective or not. People might look at the fish and go “I’d love to catch that I’ll try get a ticket”. But no one goes “SHB is catching those fish, I’ll get a ticket so I can use it on that venue” 

[emmcee]

On 09/02/2026 at 11:33, elmoputney said:

Something else that sticks with me is Elliot Grays description of what he wants his hookbait to achieve and that is to give the fish a choice of whether to take it or not. He makes his hookbaits a blatent pink pop up or wafter and by making it the most clearly visible highest attraction bait in the swim. The fish then has the choice. I can see these pop ups doing the same sort of job. 

When i first started out carp fishing i met a bloke on a lake i fished in the Colne valley. If I recall, it was before the hi viz hookbaits were all the rage was about but they were starting to appear more and more in the shops. Anyway,  this bloke was a margin fisher, made his own bait but all in pellet shape. His hookbait though was always a hi viz pellet so he could see it better in the margin. He'd catch a few fish but he saw that the hi viz hookbait would be ignored mostly when one or two carp were on his spot but readily taken when 3 or more were feeding. I think most would agree that carp are easier to catch when they are competing with each other. He wanted to catch though when they weren't competing.  One day i watched him bait a spot with his homemade pellet and slip in a hi viz one as well, the difference being the hi viz one was a freebie and his hookbait was a match the hatch (clever angling I thought to myself). His catch rate more or less  trebled by making that change.  When he couldn't get a margin swim he'd fish pva bags in open water and fill the bag with his pellet and one "decoy " hi viz pellet and he caught plenty. 

On a side note, I read in this thread about yellows for commons. Well, I nearly always fished yellows as my hi viz hookbait and nearly always caught mirrors. 

[crusian]

" On a side note, I read in this thread about yellows for commons. Well, I nearly always fished yellows as my hi viz hookbait and nearly always caught mirrors. "

Well that's blown that theory then , emmcee , Just don't tell Kev. as he's after a big Common ! .

😁

[OldBoy]

On 27/02/2024 at 17:00, framey said:

Who have thought little round balls can cause so much fuss….

Exactly right mate 👍

Posted Friday at 08:0

@greekskii

also to answer point 2. The big common from a club pit has been caught on SHB multiple times over. It’s a club ticket. Plenty of day ticket and easily accessible venues amongst the catches. 

Can’t understand the point you are trying to make about venues tbh. Makes no odds on if they are effective or not. People might look at the fish and go “I’d love to catch that I’ll try get a ticket”. But no one goes “SHB is catching those fish, I’ll get a ticket so I can use it on that venue” 

Can't be to bothered, honestly, but some of the captures were made from a couple of North Devon 'holes in the ground', and were very expensive venues, some from syndicate venues, a few from london club lakes which I give respect to.

Anyway, the point I was trying to make, obviously unsucessfully, is that the ' what rod, line, hook size etc newbies' will lap the catch reports up and no dought part with dosh for these 'wonder' baits ☹️

I get the feeling that so many new hookbait 'companies' will be popping up soon - no pun intended - it will be a war out there!

 

[greekskii]

1 hour ago, OldBoy said:

Anyway, the point I was trying to make, obviously unsucessfully, is that the ' what rod, line, hook size etc newbies' will lap the catch reports up and no dought part with dosh for these 'wonder' baits ☹️

Can’t stop it. At least they’ll get a good hookbait to use instead of rubbish. But Mark doesn’t push his baits apart from the other forum and posting catch reports on socials. He doesn’t need to. The baits do the talking. 

Can’t deny how good they are in the right hands, even in Mediocre hands to be fair. Think you’re the only one classing them as a “wonder” bait though so keep your point going. 

[salokcinnodrog]

How many bait companies are already producing specialist pop-ups?

Dynamite, Rod Hutchinson, Baitworks, Mainline, Crafty Catcher, DNA, Sticky, CC Moore just off the top of my head.

On the 'right time, right place' note, our syndicate lake fishes badly in winter. The few fish that come out tend to be caught on pale pink pop-ups, not yellow, but pink. Even the difference between purple and pink is enough to not catch in the same spot.

3 hours ago, OldBoy said:

Exactly right mate 👍

 

Posted Friday at 08:0

@greekskii

also to answer point 2. The big common from a club pit has been caught on SHB multiple times over. It’s a club ticket. Plenty of day ticket and easily accessible venues amongst the catches. 

Can’t understand the point you are trying to make about venues tbh. Makes no odds on if they are effective or not. People might look at the fish and go “I’d love to catch that I’ll try get a ticket”. But no one goes “SHB is catching those fish, I’ll get a ticket so I can use it on that venue” 

Can't be to bothered, honestly, but some of the captures were made from a couple of North Devon 'holes in the ground', and were very expensive venues, some from syndicate venues, a few from london club lakes which I give respect to.

Anyway, the point I was trying to make, obviously unsucessfully, is that the ' what rod, line, hook size etc newbies' will lap the catch reports up and no dought part with dosh for these 'wonder' baits ☹️

I get the feeling that so many new hookbait 'companies' will be popping up soon - no pun intended - it will be a war out there!

 

 

1 hour ago, greekskii said:

Can’t stop it. At least they’ll get a good hookbait to use instead of rubbish. But Mark doesn’t push his baits apart from the other forum and posting catch reports on socials. He doesn’t need to. The baits do the talking. 

Can’t deny how good they are in the right hands, even in Mediocre hands to be fair. Think you’re the only one classing them as a “wonder” bait though so keep your point going. 

 

[elmoputney]

16 hours ago, salokcinnodrog said:

How many bait companies are already producing specialist pop-ups?

Dynamite, Rod Hutchinson, Baitworks, Mainline, Crafty Catcher, DNA, Sticky, CC Moore just off the top of my head.

On the 'right time, right place' note, our syndicate lake fishes badly in winter. The few fish that come out tend to be caught on pale pink pop-ups, not yellow, but pink. Even the difference between purple and pink is enough to not catch in the same spot.

 

 

Most companies are just making pop ups tbh either bright alternatives or match the hatch. Most just made from a typical pop up mix, there are only a small % I would class as specialist tbh. As for colours I would very much say they are water/subrate/fish dependant tbh and it's about using the right one for the right situation. I like washed out pink as a colour also. But my biggest commons have been on yellow, also I have caught numerous pike on yellow pop ups which also ties in with the theory that commons are slightly more predatory than mirrors and hunt using their sight to feed more. Might be coincidental but I can't poo poo it as a theory. 

[framey]

My biggest common came to orange and based on a tutti frutti flavour

[yonny]

And my biggest common came on a white shrimp cork ball......

....... so it's settled..... yellow, pink, orange, white, and match the hatch are good for big commons. And mirrors. 🤣

[OldBoy]

12 minutes ago, framey said:

My biggest common came to orange and based on a tutti frutti flavour

My biggest mirror, from Horseshoe lake, in the 90's came over a big bed of premier amino boilies, hook bait was a Hinders Strawberry pop up soaked for days in their glug, was it a wonder bait? Yes for me and others at the time it was.... 

Did it cost £20 0f course not 😀

[yonny]

4 minutes ago, OldBoy said:

hook bait was a Hinders Strawberry pop up soaked for days in their glug, was it a wonder bait? Yes for me and others at the time it was.... 

Did it cost £20 0f course not 😀

Hinders pop-ups are 7 quid and a bottle of their pop-up glug is a tenner so you're actually not far off after inflation.

[elmoputney]

58 minutes ago, framey said:

My biggest common came to orange and based on a tutti frutti flavour

Have you got any pics would love to see it? 

[elmoputney]

36 minutes ago, yonny said:

And my biggest common came on a white shrimp cork ball......

....... so it's settled..... yellow, pink, orange, white, and match the hatch are good for big commons. And mirrors. 🤣

I'm not saying you won't catch on other colours BTW, more that if you are targetting a big common using a visual hookbait such as yellow might not be a bad idea. 

[OldBoy]

1 hour ago, yonny said:

Hinders pop-ups are 7 quid and a bottle of their pop-up glug is a tenner so you're actually not far off after inflation.

Actually mate, sorry to disappoint you on prices, my fishing mate at the time was a best mate of Brian Jarret (ex Hinders Bait when in a glorfied shed), so pop ups and glugs at mates rates 😀

Anyway, the pop ups were probably the cheapest avaiable back in day, and glug was probably a Gycerine based 'flavour' who knows? 

Deff in those days, nowhere anything like rip of prices now.....

To pre-empt, any replies, YES, they were a 'wonder bait' for me and others at the time,,,, were they 'double or triple or whatever cured' of course not 😂

Believe what you want, it's still the ability I had at the time to be on a venue to study fish movements etc and shared knowledge that caught me a few lovely fish.....

Oh best not mention Chum Mixers before flying rats invaded.... not sure how much that bait cost!!

Edited 19 hours ago by OldBoy

[greekskii]

6 minutes ago, OldBoy said:

To pre-empt, any replies, YES, they were a 'wonder bait' for me and others at the time,,,, were they 'double or triple or whatever cured' of course not 😂

Still the only one mentioning the term “wonder bait” 😂 

Tbh I’d rather pay £22 a pot of SHB, a food based base with cork chunks for buoyancy and whatever processes used to cure them, clearly effectively, than £45 for a pot of airballs like over at the baitroom. Depends what you class as a rip off or whatever agenda you have eh 🤷🏻‍♂️ 

I’ve caught plenty of carp on pepperami, I’ll still buy SHB because 1. They suit my fishing and 2. I have confidence in them getting me a bite if I put them somewhere in the area the fish are. 
 

[framey]

2 hours ago, elmoputney said:

Have you got any pics would love to see it? 

No publicity, sorry…

and not at all that big compared to some.

Edited 19 hours ago by framey

[elmoputney]

1 hour ago, OldBoy said:

Actually mate, sorry to disappoint you on prices, my fishing mate at the time was a best mate of Brian Jarret (ex Hinders Bait when in a glorfied shed), so pop ups and glugs at mates rates 😀

Anyway, the pop ups were probably the cheapest avaiable back in day, and glug was probably a Gycerine based 'flavour' who knows? 

Deff in those days, nowhere anything like rip of prices now.....

To pre-empt, any replies, YES, they were a 'wonder bait' for me and others at the time,,,, were they 'double or triple or whatever cured' of course not 😂

Believe what you want, it's still the ability I had at the time to be on a venue to study fish movements etc and shared knowledge that caught me a few lovely fish.....

Oh best not mention Chum Mixers before flying rats invaded.... not sure how much that bait cost!!

So am I right in thinking you bought some, didn't catch anything and then blamed the bait? 

I don't see why you are so opposed to SHB. 

[commonly]

4 hours ago, yonny said:

And my biggest common came on a white shrimp cork ball......

....... so it's settled..... yellow, pink, orange, white, and match the hatch are good for big commons. And mirrors. 🤣

I did start a thread on this back when I had a Yately ticket (& more than 3 people posted on here🤔), must have been around 2018-19.

My take away was scope baits seemed to catch slightly more commons, yellow was favoured, but not a given.

Although, my mate did the lake record (Slate grey (along with a few named ones) with a yellow topped Cell snowman.

[yonny]

13 hours ago, OldBoy said:

Anyway, the pop ups were probably the cheapest avaiable back in day, and glug was probably a Gycerine based 'flavour' who knows? 

So if cheapo airballs and a tub of glycerine are 17 quid in todays money, 22 quid for a pot of SHBs is starting to sound pretty good imo.

Pays your money, takes your choice, innit.

13 hours ago, OldBoy said:

Oh best not mention Chum Mixers before flying rats invaded.... not sure how much that bait cost!!

Imo that's largely irrelevant on a thread about SHBs. On the right day I'd take a tub of black foam over any proper hookbait, but this thread is about hookbaits.

[kevtaylor]

I assume we're still talking about these special baits at 20 quid a pop.

What I don't understand is were paying for a curing process with active enzymes/ingredients?  Surely the active elements only last a short period then it's just a normal bait?  never understood this part.

[elmoputney]

16 minutes ago, kevtaylor said:

I assume we're still talking about these special baits at 20 quid a pop.

What I don't understand is were paying for a curing process with active enzymes/ingredients?  Surely the active elements only last a short period then it's just a normal bait?  never understood this part.

That's a can of worms Kev, I'm sure someone will be able to assist but I used Co pilot to try and understand bio active ingredients a bit better. Still don't properly but this is something I learned which may help 😱 😂 

 

[OldBoy]

17 hours ago, elmoputney said:

So am I right in thinking you bought some, didn't catch anything and then blamed the bait? 

I don't see why you are so opposed to SHB. 

Actually mate if you are referring to SHB, I would never buy any, and wouldn't from any of the new 'companies' with hookbaits that seem to be on line now.

I am not opposed to SHB, tbh couldn't give a t*ss, just feel that so many anglers are buying a pot of hookbaits that, imo, are so overpriced, just trying to put another point of view that's all 👍

[elmoputney]

33 minutes ago, OldBoy said:

Actually mate if you are referring to SHB, I would never buy any, and wouldn't from any of the new 'companies' with hookbaits that seem to be on line now.

I am not opposed to SHB, tbh couldn't give a t*ss, just feel that so many anglers are buying a pot of hookbaits that, imo, are so overpriced, just trying to put another point of view that's all 👍

I really don't follow your logic then, you are disagreeing with people purely about the cost. When you read the process they go through it doesn't seem that expensive to me, especially when you are comparing it to a tub of off the shelf pop ups that need a bait spray, glug or whatever to make them standout ? 

Some pop ups are overpriced I agree but these actually go through a 3 week process other than just rolling and boiling. 

[OldBoy]

36 minutes ago, elmoputney said:

I really don't follow your logic then, you are disagreeing with people purely about the cost. When you read the process they go through it doesn't seem that expensive to me, especially when you are comparing it to a tub of off the shelf pop ups that need a bait spray, glug or whatever to make them standout ? 

Some pop ups are overpriced I agree but these actually go through a 3 week process other than just rolling and boiling. 

With repect mate, from another forum I dip into, this bloke not actually shared anything about a 3 week process? Maybe you know better and would share?

Anyway. guess the guy will have made loads of dosh from his well documented elsewhere exploits on gambling winnings 😀

Think I will dip out of this thread now, probably going to be a lot of his 'fan boys' his phrase defending the 'company', coming on here if they even know it exists?

Just for others, don't be taken in by a lot of bullsh*t about bait, been going on for sooooo many years.... just do your own thing and enjoy being out on the bank 👍