Readymade carp baits are a big topic of conversation among anglers but some baits are definitely better than others and particular ones perform far better in particular fishing situations in different seasons for instance; the price should be a secondary consideration if catch results really matter to you! So how can you identify excellent readymade baits at a sensible price from such a bewildering choice? Read on to find out right now!

Quality protein is not cheap and if you are looking for a quality carp bait that performs instantly and is excellent in the long term then protein quality really matters. The protein content of baits has very many implications in regards to their potency as fish catchers or big fish catchers in particular. If you do not know some of the reasons why carp are actually attracted to baits apart from natural curiosity then in very simple terms this bit if information might help.

Proteins when broken down into their constituent amino acids and peptides etc become very much more easily detected by carp when dissolved in solution and additionally they are very much easier and much more energy-efficient for carp to digest and assimilate them to the benefit of the fish.

Carp like other teleost fish for instance naturally derive a massive degree of their nutrition which sustains their existence from proteins. Very importantly fish can utilise proteins far more efficiently in many ways than us humans can. This is logical as carp bodies and systems have evolved to find and process the most energy-efficient food sources at any time

In very simplistic terms, carp are not only attracted to amino acids but when they experience certain amino acids in various combinations they are turned on to feeding intensively by them. But this effect is no limited to amino acids that are essential to carp and sustain their survival, but also to other semi or non-essential amino acids too.

This aspect of carp baits is very interesting. Not only can carp be turned onto your baits if they contain biologically-available proteins but also if they contain proteins that they do not have much chance of actually digesting, but which are very attractive to carp anyway for a variety of reason. Notably this is particularly so if they are highly digestible and easily water-soluble for instance. Apart from freshness and other characteristics of quality protein sources used in carp baits, what really helps in their effectiveness is the concentrations of carp-essential amino acids they may contain in various levels. Essential amino acids really are very significant factor in attracting carp and making carp actually feed but of course there are many other feeding triggers besides just these.

Having said that you would be forgiven in thinking all that matters is amino acids considering what some anglers have written in the past although this is far from the truth! Carp also do need carbohydrate sources and fatty acids for instance, and both are very important in essential energy provision, but they also spare protein so more gets used for body repair etc instead of being used for energy!

It should probably be noted that the protein in very many high protein baits is not able to be utilised by carp due to limiting factors, but one of the big points about high quality protein bait effects is really about getting as much attraction and stimulation around such baits in solution as possible to make them perform to a far more effective degree compared to very many other baits lacking in quality protein.

It is mostly very difficult for commercial bait manufacturers to make a profit from making good quality protein orientated baits unless you are talking about bigger companies with more buying power or companies that are more cash rich or simply have the expertise, knowledge and experience to be able to source the highest quality grades of protein products so finished readymade baits and base mixes can be offered at sensible prices.

In general you might say that if a bait is more costly then this is an indication that probably a concentration of quality protein sources are used in the bait and this will reflect in the outstanding performance of the bait. The best baits for long term use have often been designed so the vast percentage of the protein in the baits will be highly digestible and so able to be utilised within the fish to their ongoing benefit - and to ensure they find such baits highly palatable and energy-efficient food sources.

However, just because a bait contains various highly digestible protein sources does not mean all the protein within the baits will actually get digested as certain impacts of so-called limiting amino acids will usually prevent this unless the designer is an outstanding bait designer.

The relatively extremely few bait designers who can sort out protein bait ingredients in their baits alongside other ingredients so they are not limited by the third limiting amino acid for instance, will inevitably have all the nutritional data for literally every single component of the bait on computer. This way they can compute the impacts of adjusting bait ingredients levels and ratios for instance and quickly see how this affects bait digestibility.

However as I stated, their are very few bait designers out their who can put all this together with any appreciable effect to make their finished boiled baits perform to outstanding levels. Usually such bait makers have a 3 decades-long history in bait design or have had actual experience in the aquaculture or koi food production and formulation industries for example.

But the big question is: Do you want to feed fish or get bites from them? Well ultimately any great bait will give you bites from the very first cast and instantly. But extremely well designed balanced nutritional baits can achieve the effect when regularly introduced over a period of time of ensuring carp can accept such fishing baits as acceptable food. At very many carp waters bait is a huge factor in success and it is very noticeable that some baits simply do not achieve the same levels of success as others in both the short and long-term.

If you are not an outstandingly-talented or experienced angler, the very best quality balanced nutrition baits can be a great leveller of ability etc when fishing busy angling-pressured carp waters. Now I appreciate that some of you may be thinking that you can catch carp on a bit of rubber corn or foam rubber even or a ball of flavoured semolina and soya flour.

However in the extremely competitive world of modern carp fishing any edge you can get can seriously add up and make all the difference between and good season and you best ever. A high quality bait literally can make the difference between continuing a very poor series of seasons on a pressured water with far too many totally unnecessary blanks, compared to having your best season on there that you ever had where you catch all the big fish and even bank the new lake record fish!

I say this from personal experience and from countless related experiences of so many countless anglers I have known over the years who benefited drastically from waking up and becoming deeply aware of the implications for repeated success using totally unique quality protein orientated baits. Quality protein is related to actually improving energy-efficiency and available vital energy in carp; after all this is the ultimate aim of food apart from as a nutrition source. Certain flavours have potent implications in terms of fish metabolism and especially in cold weather, and autumn, winter and spring bait design is very much about fish metabolism maximisation.

It is no surprise to learn that many winter flavours contain genuinely potent components that can boost fish metabolism and increase energy in fish if only temporarily. Buy do not get the impression that all bait flavours are similar because many differ incredibly and their impacts on carp senses externally and internally and responses and reactions can be very different indeed.

Indeed some flavours and components can be revitalised so they actually become incredibly bioactive and impact on carp in far greater competitively successful degrees. Such flavours can in some cases be extremely costly to source or to formulate. These kinds of intellectual property are closely guarded as trade secrets. However many potent edges can be uncovered or simply stumbled-upon if you dedicate enough time and effort in your own personal bait odyssey of discovery and research to enable you to significantly improve your catch results compared to average anglers relatively poor results.

In fishing terms there is little difference between a cheap instant bait and a more costly bait if you happen to be a world champion standard angler. But if you happen to be on this level you will still seek the very best bait you can because again, a champion will seek any extra competitive edge and advantage for improved performance. It is ironical that in sports this inevitably leads to drug-taking. What your bait is ultimately ideally doing is having a drugging impact on fish if only temporarily.

Some of the best baits can be regarded as the ones that get picked up by carp and get the hook in their mouths even though carp experiencing the bait at that time do not feel hungry directly before sensing the bait! These days the pressure for your baits to perform better than other competing baits is greater than ever in many cases just to achieve getting bites instead of blanks.

There is so much to bait that to come up with a rule of thumb for choosing baits is probably impossible. But this is for certain; I would much rather choose a bait containing the highest quality proteins I could buy and use just 1 kilogram of such boilies, than use 100 kilograms of boilies containing cheap low quality protein! Frankly cost is not the issue ever when low cost equals less fish or worse still no fish!

It is a sobering thought that Mr Carp do not care about the cost of your baits or if you personally find them palatable or even if you like or dislike their taste, flavours, smells or aromas etc. He is operating at many levels higher and beyond your senses as a human (with your extremely dulled senses compared to a fish.) All too many commercial baits are unfortunately sold in formats that do not necessarily appeal the most to carp but are formats that carp anglers expect simply because they have become conventional and normal in the buyers perceptions. This is just one reason why so many great original popular baits and flavours get copied by so many companies when very few of those versions can perform any where near as well as the original article.

For instance just how many copies of flavours of the world famous original Scopex, or Tutti Fruiti or Strawberry Jam are there now? Just how many perform as well as the originals is a very big question! Frankly the only direct way to discover this is to personally try these copy-cat baits against the originals! It might be noticed that there are many individuals who run bait companies with very little experience and limited knowledge in bait making, but some guys running a comparatively small bait company may have access to far better nutritional and fish knowledge that it might first appear including using scientists at DEFRA for example.

However I can tell you one complaint I hear too often from bait companies. So many carp anglers expect to spend 4 thousand pounds or more on tackle such as rods, reels, alarms, bivvies, bed chairs, fashion clothing and even bivvy entertainment systems, but then expect to pay a mere 4 pounds for a kilogram of poorer quality bait!

Then they expect this bait to produce for them the very best results! This mentality is about the most expensive one regarding baits that you could possibly have because for every minute you are fishing with almost inevitably inferior baits you are wasting your time not catching the fish you otherwise would be catching. But this mentality is so predominant and it simply dooms lots of average anglers to endless mediocre catches despite the fact that quality baits that are unique can literally catch you the catches of a lifetime but with using just the same effort as using very cheap far less effective bait!

Quality protein is expensive but this magic stuff forms an incredibly important backbone of bait and fish attraction and stimulation beyond flavours, oils etc. Quality protein has proven time and again on countless occasions the difference between catching a fish or blanking, or catching moderate numbers of average fish and higher numbers of the very biggest fish!

If you want easier fishing then establishing unique quality digestible protein orientated baits that are rich in biologically-available nutrition can just keep on producing fish reliably for you trip after trip. Ideally you will establish such bait and keep it going into you waters regularly to maximise their impacts on fish responses and this can catch you as many fish as possible.

But if you are concerned about your bait choices and realise that successful carp fishing is very much about doing and using unique things and refining that which is or has been successful in the past then having an open mind is a seriously valuable asset! When you question the bait manufacturers about the quality of proteins in your bait this should really help your peace of mind in terms of your bait performance but do bear in mind this quality comes at a price.

In 2007 high quality caseins were around 9 thousand pounds a tonne and they are not getting any cheaper; the extremely high cost of quality ingredients such as these will reflect in higher bait prices of quality protein baits. Again if you are an average angler then using a few kilograms of the very best quality protein based bait you can get will certainly pay off as opposed to using cheap carbohydrate based baits. Even certain unique winter baits that are designed to be very highly digestible and with low protein contents such as 24 percent are very difficult to design so that they contain all the correct balances of essential amino acids. The quality of the proteins used in such baits need to be absolutely guaranteed and this comes at a price so even in this case of lower protein baits they will be more costly!

So instead of automatically reaching for a bag of a pineapple, strawberry, banana or Scopex flavour this, or a chilli flavour that, or a halibut this or tiger nut that, why not really consider quality protein first for easier success if you are just an average angler! If your mind is turned on by the aroma of a smoked house fish flavour or a smooth rich strawberry then bring your mind back to the fact that you are not a fish, and remember that exploiting high quality protein will makes things much easier than using what are often highly flavoured and cheap low quality carbohydrate or low quality protein based baits!

A kilogram of quality protein boilies in shops today generally cost between 8 and 13 pounds should be of higher quality protein than other cheaper baits. Obviously it makes great financial sense to team up with friends in order to take advantage of discounts on quality baits and quality base mixes. Also by doing this you can more quickly, more easily and less expensively establish a new quality protein bait with genuine expectations of outstanding success.

Many more carp anglers are turning to making their own homemade baits in order to save money as well as to benefit from using unique baits and enjoy the unique satisfaction of a succession of new personal best fish caught on your own unique homemade bait which is a truly incredible feeling! You can do many things with homemade baits of all kinds in order to include extremely high levels of quality protein type ingredients, extracts and liquids to make your very own potently attractive baits compete very successfully against expensive readymade baits.

Ultimately thinking that big fish will be caught using cheap baits is more likely going to cost you dear when you cannot get bites in fishing situations where quality protein baits will do and where you will most likely be sitting getting no bites while watching other anglers catching loads of fish! (For much more more information on making homemade baits and boosting and adapting readymade baits of all kinds see my unique bait secrets ebooks and articles at Baitbigfish right now!)

By Tim Richardson.

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