WILL IT BE SENSIBLE TO USE BOILIES THAT I GLUGGED EARLIER?

Q I’ve got some really oily glugged boilies left over from earlier in the year. Will they still be okay to use in the winter? Antony Desmond, email

JIM WILSON: I would say that it depends on the type of oil that the bait has been glugged in. I am not a fan of using fish oils in the colder months, as they will congeal and won’t release their attractants effectively. If it is hemp oil though, this will work well in the cold water and, for me, this won’t be a problem at all. In fact, it could be a serious edge that will give you an advantage over the other anglers around you!

Q I want to use maggots this winter but have been put off by the cost. Are there any cheaper baits that work well with maggots that I can use to bulk them out? Matt Bird, email

MYLES GIBSON: Maggots are one of the best winter baits, so if you want to use them without breaking the bank, you could just buy a pint of maggots and use them for hookbaits and in mesh bags. That way you will be able to have a small pile of maggots around the hookbait. To bulk maggots out, try frozen sweetcorn. This works out a quid for a kilo! Maples are another great one because not only are they really cheap but they take on flavour well. I would make a mix of maples and corn and crumb a kilo of Manilla. That way you have some boilie crumb down there and it gives you another hookbait option. The key in winter is to get the mix as attractive and as appealing to carp as you possibly can. You don’t need a lot of bait as the fish won’t be feeding that hard.

Injecting a solid bag with a glug will boost its attraction

You can bulk out maggots with a variety of baits