THE FLAVOURS YOU CAN’T DO WITHOUT!
My fab four bait additives will get you more bites this winter
DO flavourings matter? Will adding a few drops of the essence of choice increase your catches?
Flavours cannot transform a poor day into one to write home about, but flavoured baits can bring more bites than plain ones.
All baits have a unique flavour and adding more, perhaps conflicting, scents may not help.
On the other hand, fish that see lots of pellets know exactly what their smell represents, but if you want an edge, flavouring them can put them in a class all their own.
For pellets, and fishmeal baits in general, one flavour stands out for me – Monster Crab. This might be as old as the hills, but that just proves how good it is. Whatever trends come and go, great flavours still catch their fair share of fish. As with all strong flavours it is easy to overdo it, so stick to just half-a-teaspoonful (2.5ml) to a pint of pellets. To disperse this tiny amount evenly, first mix it with a small amount of water and pour this over the pellets.
Monster Crab is equally as good on other savoury baits, especially meat – no wonder, then, that this flavour is just as effective for barbel as it is for carp.
SWEET SMELL OF SUCCESS
At the other end of the spectrum is Scopex, which has a lovely sicklysweet smell. Scopex combines perfectly with baits that have a naturally sweet taste.
Sweetcorn is one such bait that combines brilliantly with this flavour. A teaspoonful (5ml) really boosts a large tin of corn. Although it smells sweet, Scopex can be boosted with the addition of half-a-teaspoonful of concentrated sweetener, making it ideal for baits that have a slightly bitter taste.
Scopex is a brilliant all-rounder, and can be used right through the year for a wide range of species. Try it in bread paste for chub and you will see how effective it is, or add it to pellets when you’re fishing for bream.
A flavour that I use almost exclusively in the winter months is Pineapple, which disperses easily in even the lowest water temperatures. Yellow pineapple pop-ups are a winter carp classic, and this flavour is equally effective for roach. Although their skin means that they do not soak up flavours particularly well, I do like using this flavour on maggots, especially when roach are my chosen target.
THE OLD AND THE NEW
One flavour that I wish I had more of is Whiskey. As a barbel bait additive, especially in the colder months, I have not found anything to compare with this strange smelly liquid.
It certainly doesn’t smell much like the golden nectar to me, but there is obviously something about its chemical composition that the fish really love.
Flavours like Whiskey tend to fall out of favour among anglers simply because they don’t appeal as much to us compared to the sweet baits. Having seen the sales statistics for several bait companies, the best-sellers are the
ones that appeal most to us. Spicy flavours are a good example. They work great for everything from roach to carp, but tend to be used less than many others, so they don’t get the same attention.
NOT ALL THE SAME
The name on the bottle might be the same, but chances are that the exact chemical composition of flavours from different companies may well not be the same.
Even a simple sniff-test can often highlight the differences between two versions, but often they are much more subtle, if no less significant.
For this reason, if I find a flavour that is particularly effective then I will stick with that brand, and may even buy several bottles, just in case it should be discontinued.