ONLYKARP®
🇪🇸 SPANISH

Winter fishing is much more popular these days, due to the milder winters and the warm material we have.

The bait makers are to be commended for their great efforts.

Winter carp baits have never been better. It is good to know that research, testing and development for many years by top-level companies such as Mainline, Dynamite, Nutrabaits, CCMoore, and also in Spain, such as Vital Baits, or ProEliteBaits care about having a product at the highest level . level.

His wish is for fishermen to achieve their dreams, which means catching a big fish or constant catches throughout the year.

Be careful with commercial baits, as the best bait for summer may not be for winter.

Manufacturers take advantage of this fact to market specific products for each season.

In general, many baits are manufactured to meet customer expectations.

Traditionally, brands want to convince the customer to trust their bait. We have seen it many times.

There are other manufacturers that do not have a highly developed balance of ingredients based on the nutritional needs of the carp according to the season.

How to choose the best bait?
What criteria do we choose?

These questions make us ask more questions, like how long should both the aroma and the consistency of the bait last, twelve hours? Or is it better to quickly draw attention to yourself?

Each question should be asked according to the size of the fish, the activity, the environment …

All these questions lead us to endless questions.

An example: hard boilies.
But why?

Some hard boilies, when soaked in water for a long period of time, keep the core dry and hard.

Some people don’t like hard baits.

Mainly because in winter there are still a lot of active crabs, few fish, and I want my bait to be able to spend twelve hours waiting for that big fish.

HARD OR SOFT BOILIES?

What you need to think about is why there are harder or softer baits and when to use each of them.

For example, we can soften a hard bait by rehydrating it with soaking before fishing and both the structure and the texture will be perfect, as well as the release of soluble attractants during fishing.

THOUGHTS AND BAIT

Hard bait is very good in crab territory.

Hard baits aren’t bad, they just need to be used differently to maximize their potential.

The carp, what do you prefer to eat?

Studies conducted in the UK show us that carp prefer to eat natural corn to cornmeal balls made into dough.

This is due to the loss of aromas during the grinding process.

Imagine mashing a sirloin steak into a paste, would that be the same? When coffee is ground it loses its aroma.

Breaking up a piece of natural corn releases a more concentrated flavor than ground corn, so this is food for thought. This is one of the main reasons I prefer to use winter corn and mixed birdseed.

Currently there is a growing trend towards food baits, both carp and fishermen.

FOOD BAIT

This means, in theory, that the carp gets used to eating the bait, because having nutritional benefits it will come back for more.

These types of baits preserve food substances after a long soak in water better than cheap baits made from soybeans, semolina, rice flour, or cornmeal.

Little taste and nutritional attention has been paid to the base mix from which these baits have been made.

In the long run these baits stop working because the carp detects that it is food, but perceives that it is not the best for it. It is as if we eat based on sugar and fat.

Yes it is food, but we will look for other healthier things.

What are balanced baits? (Balanced baits)

A few years ago in England they discovered that a low nutritional bait, even with a good taste, could not compete with a nutritionally well balanced bait.

From that moment they understood that a well balanced bait can produce incredible results, with many catches.

Okay, but what does balanced mean? Well, it means there is a good mix of ingredients.

This type of bait is better since the carp is well fed, it would not be obese or with cholesterol through the roof as in the previous case of Food Bait (Food Baits).

How much bait should I use and what type?

The amount of bait that is used in your lake or river during winter fishing.

Sometimes you may find yourself baiting with the same amount of bait that you would normally consider optimal for summer.

In this scenario I can only advise you very digestible baits. Tigernuts, skinless, can do well in cold conditions.

If you fish with tigernut, you can scoop out its skin with a spoon and naturally release its juice and sugar.

Soft paste baits introduced into feeding “hot spots” or “hotspots” can stimulate carp and actually attract them without over-feeding.

Today there are many commercial pastes available, but it is much better to make your own.

Are there species that bother like catfish or carp?

Sometimes the presence of “nuisance fish” such as catfish, carp, etc. they can be a good indicator that your bait position is good.

THE NEW BAITS

Manufacturers have now reached another level.

Now they add enzymes to have optimal levels of amino acids. This is much more stimulating and healthier for carp.

What is the real need for the tent?

They don’t know exactly, but there are very rough estimates. They can make small compositional variations within those margins.

Do not forget that in all lakes and rivers, the water is different, and that is why there are so many baits, what is the best bait for you, in your lake and for your fish?

It is difficult to give a generic answer, each case would have to be analyzed and tests carried out. What we can say is that the same bait will not give us the same results in all waters.

Think about what the fish needs.

The key to the bait for me is the following, as I have already mentioned, depending on the lake, the deficiencies and nutritional requirements for carp are different depending on some variables.

These variables are the thesis points that you should consider when trying to catch fish.

Carp respond to each type of bait depending on your needs, of course, the carp detects if the nutrition can be efficiently digested by your body and you in this case are on the right track.

If your winter bait offers a stimulating flavor with varied and nutritional appeal, then you are going to fool the mistrust of the carp or barbel into chewing on your bait.