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Q Nobody uses pellets as a hookbait, yet we all put them in our spod mixes. Surely carp don’t associate them with danger. Are we missing out here? If so, what’s the best type of pellet to use on the hook?
A Hi Perry. A pellet can make an excellent hookbait and, as you rightly point out, carp don’t tend to treat them with any real suspicion. The obvious problem with using an actual pellet as a hookbait is their longevity. Pellets are designed to begin breaking down as soon as they enter the water, and the last thing we need is a softened bait that will come off the hair as soon as it has been inspected by a carp or, worse still, has been removed from the hair by small fish pecking away at it.
You have a few options. If you only fish short sessions of a couple of hours then a pellet will probably be fine. If you fish longer, you can try meshing it in a section of tights. This will help keep the whole thing together, although it will still soften into a mush over time. The final option, and the one I prefer, is to shape a piece of boilie to look like a pellet.
If you do this with a bait from the bag, as soon as you shave off the sides, that too will soften, although not as rapidly as a pellet.
If you opt for a wafter, then these are toughened, and a trimmed wafter is usually my first port of call. The pale brown colour of a Krill Wafter resembles a washed-out pellet, the smell is fishy and the carp love them! On a stiff hinged rig they could certainly be worth a try.