Carp Fishing Bait - Boilies

Boilies - The carp fishing bait revolution.

Ever since boilies came onto the carp fishing scene, they became so popular that the carp fishing bait making industry has undergone huge changes and expansion as the carp fisherman searches for that special or unique carp bait that will give him the edge over other carp anglers.

There is now such a massive range of ready made and custom made boilies available to carp fisherman that it is almost impossible to choose from the huge array of flavours, colours, sizes, and shapes with these superb carp fishing baits. Boilies are the most adaptable and versatile of all the carp fishing baits now available.

They come with a long shelf life or frozen for maximum freshness, and many carp fisherman even create their own unique boilie and use them immediately after they are thoroughly dried and hardened, in an effort to minimise flavour and nutrient loss.

Of the thousands of different colours, flavours and brands of boilies now widely available, some are far better than others, with the best actually taking into consideration and meeting the carps nutritional needs as well as all of the carp fisherman's many bait specifications and requirements.

What point is there in using a carp bait that has very little or no nutritional value to the carp!!!

When planning your baiting strategy, more often than not it will involve giving the carp plenty of "freebie" boilies in an effort to instill confidence in the cautious carp and trying to make the carp become so pre-occupied with the bait that they lose their wary inhibitions and readily feed on what they consider to be a safe food item. Hence the more they feed on boilies without being caught, the more confidently they will react and respond to that type, flavour and colour of boilies.

This process is not thought about in a carps brain as it is in ours, but the carp's natural instinct is wariness and caution to anything that is not the norm, so we apply the tactic of loose feeding with "free" carp fishing baits creating a positive confidence in the carp that does not associate boilies or other carp fishing baits with danger or fear.

Boilies, on some carp lakes are so widely used and easily out number other carp fishing baits, that many many carp see them as a "natural" food source and do not associate them with danger or fear, as they eat so many "free" boilies before eventually being hooked.

Hence the danger of over using boilies as a single hookbait ONLY approach, if too many carp were caught using a single hook bait with no "free bait", it wouldn't take long for the carp to start associating boilies with the hidden dangers of being caught and then avoiding boilies altogether.

There is much talk of "blown baits" in the UK carp fishing scene, this little phrase refers to the over use of a particular bait or boilie to such a point that the carp actively avoid it at all costs. Once a carp fishing bait becomes "blown", you will find that those carp fisherman in the know will ring the changes and find a new carp fishing bait to use, and select one which the carp will not associate with the dangers and fears of being hooked. This could be as simple as changing the your current boilies colour, flavour and texture, or could even mean switching from boilies altogether and using a completely different carp fishing bait, any of which will help alleviate any negative associations the carp may have.

HOWEVER...... it is not uncommon for the unsuccessful carp angler to blame his failure to catch on his "blown bait"!!! Rumours abound!!!.

Even if a certain boilie is/was blown, after a few seasons with the majority of carp anglers fishing that particular lake not using the "blown bait", you will find that in many instances the carp will respond readily to those boilies or carp fishing baits when they are re-introduced. Sometimes with surprising results.

Whatever boilies you decide to use, fish them with the confidence of knowing that boilies are now so popular and widely used, that for the most part, carp all across the UK have seen them many times before, and generally speaking do not see them as being unusual or alien in any way.

The good quality boilies now available are probably the most versatile, convenient, easy to use and successful carp fishing bait there is.