A To Z Of Boilie Fishing

A Avid Sight Stops

As proven thanks to the Below The Surface series, a tipped hookbait will, nine-times-out-of-ten, be taken first. Avid’s Mega Sight Stops adds both visual attraction and buoyancy to your hookbait. £2.50 for 15; avidcarp.com

B Ball Bearing Swivels

When it comes to rigs for boilie fishing, the two that seem to rule the roost are the Chod Rig or Hinged Stiff Link and both of these rigs work because of their flexibility and movement. Add even more ‘spin’ by binning the Teflon-coated swivels and replace them with Solar’s Ball Bearing Swivels. £4.99 for 8; solartackle.co.uk

C Chod-It

A new tool from Korda which makes tying the Chod and Hinged Stiff Link easier. It’s designed to make the perfect ‘D’, form the correct loop on the boom and the ‘mushroom’ cap is ideal for tensioning ring swivels. £4,99; korda.co.uk

D Dental floss

Boilies just go hand-in-hand with the likes of the Chod Rig and Stiff Hinged Rig, both of which require a pop-up and when you use a buoyant bait, always tie it on otherwise you’ll take on water. ESP’s Super Floss, £3.75; esp-carpgear.co.uk

E Easy fishing

Your hookbait should always match the size of your hook, and as a result it makes fishing ‘bits’, such as corn, trimmed down boiled food and half a tiger nut, so much harder. With boilies you can get away with bigger hooks, bait up easier and, fingers crossed, catch some of the bigger residents…

F Funnel web

Used nowadays mostly for the ‘Dynamite Stick’, but not used so much for it’s real purpose: boilies. Place three in the tube and then attach one to the Hair. When it dissolves, the two free boilies ping away, giving you a lovely little baited patch – something most carp won’t have seen for years. Korda Boilie Funnel Web, £9.99; korda.co.uk

G Greedy carp love ’em!

Simple maths here: how does a person you get fat? They eat loads. It’s the same with carp – they only get massive by eating – and by eating boilies – so give them plenty.

H Helicopter set-up

Although all lead arrangements will work perfectly fine, opting for a helicopter set-up means you can switch between your key three rigs: Chod, Hinged Stiff Link and a standard bottom bait rig. For ease and convenience, go for ESP’s Helicopter Rig Leadcore Leaders. £6.05 for three; esp-carpgear.com

I In Pursuit Of The Largest

Boilie connoisseur, Terry Hearn knows exactly the advantages of boilies and describes those ‘plus points’ in his first, award-wining book. He even shows and talks how the famous ‘Hinged Stiff Rig’ works. £24.95; tacklebox.co.uk

J Just stringers

Again, like ‘F’: Funnel Web – hardly anyone uses a stringer these days. A three-bait stringer is ideal, or if you want go old school, then make up two or three small stringers (one to three boilies per stringer). Gardner PVA String, £2.50; gardnertackle.co.uk

K Kutter

Korda’s latest invention: a device that chops boilies perfectly in half with total ease. By cutting your boilies in half it means (a) there’s more attraction being realised, (b) they settle better over weed or silt and (c) if mixed with standard round boilies, it means the carp is consistently changing the amount of suction required to eat the baits. Three sizes available: 16, 20 or 25mm, £9.99; korda.co.uk

L Light Pop-Ups

If you’re looking for performance pop-ups that look dead right and weigh as much as a Malteser, then check out UUBaits. They hand-roll corkball pop-ups (the ultimate hookbait for Chods and Hinged Stiff Links) for bait companies such as Nashbait, Essential Baits and Solar Tackle. ubbaits.co.uk

M Mixed sizes

Don’t confuse yourself, but the carp. Get a selection of different sized baits – 10, 12, 15, 18, 20, 22 and 24mm (you pick which ones) and fire them in. It means the carp will have to suck at different levels and best of all, it means you can use a bigger bait and hook. Outcome: better hook holds. Move onto ‘S’ to find out how to feed them…

N Northern Specials

A firm favourite of many a big named angler is to fish a fluoro pop-up over a bed of dark foodbait boilies. These special hookbaits have been put together by CC Moore and top carp angler, Gaz Fareham and achieve this perfectly. They are available in four colours – Red, Yellow, Pink or White and come in two sizes: 12 and 16mm. £6.99; ccmoore.com

O Oil ’em up!

The last word on extra attraction. There’s two ways of doing this. (1) “Just before you’re about to freeze your bait, pour in some liquid, reseal the bag and place back in the freezer. The bait will now take on the liquid better,” Kev Knight at Mainline Baits told us. (2) Otherwise, give them a good doze before you leave to go angling.

P Pouch

It may sound silly, but using a baiting pouch makes the whole baiting up process a lot easier. We recommend ESP’s Boilie Pouch which even comes with a ‘catty punch holder. £7.50; esp-carpgear.com

Q Quick and easy

If you’ve not used on yet, then you’re missing out. What are we talking about? Korda’s Krimping Tool of course. It means tying Chod Rigs and Hinged Stiff Links child’s play. Krimping Tool, £13.99; korda.co.uk

R Regular baiting

Along with point ‘A’, the Below The Surface series in CARPology has also taught us carp eat far more bait than we think. Just like in match fishing, baiting on a little-and-often basis is a brilliant idea – just 10 or 20 baits every few hours will work in your favour.

S Spomb

A product that has reinvented baiting! Although a Spomb works perfectly well with all manner of baits, it just seems to be a match made in heaven when it comes to boilies. You don’t get any spod-spill, the birds can’t steal any, you can bait up to distances over 120yds and you get a good spread. A must-have product. £12.99; spomb.com

T Throwing stick

If the birdlife isn’t a problem and you want to create a really wide, well spread out baited area, then you can’t beat a throwing stick. Try putting three or four baits into the tube each time. Nash Cobra Quick Sticks, £21.50; nashtackle.com

U Ultimate catapult

Although the humble catapult is the perfect tool for baiting up to 40 or 50yds, there doesn’t appear to be one ‘ultimate ‘pult’. For example, for really precise baiting – i.e. one boilie at a time – you can’t beat a Fox Match Midi Catapult, whereas if you want to introduce a large quantity of bait in a short period of time, then opt for an ESP Mega Pult. Fox, £4.99; ESP, £10.99

V Versatile

If the thought of just putting out 100 or so boilies isn’t quite cricket to you, then crush some, blend some, half some and add them to your spod mix. In six words: the boilie is a versatile product.

W Wide baiting

Another real Brucey Bonus with boilies is that you don’t need to bait up real tight, in fact, we vote you really spread the bait about. The key to boilie fishing is to get the fish grazing, picking up one boilie and then moving on to the next one. Get the ’pult or stick and cover the swim!

X ‘X’ model hooks

Thanks to those large, heavy boilies you’re using, it means you can up all your end tackle. Stiff hooklinks and both larger and stronger hooks too, which means better hook holds. Opt for the ‘X’ versions most manufacturers do: Korda Wide Gape X, Nash Fang X and Fox XSC. Nash Fang X, £5.50; nashtackle.co.uk

Y You don’t need loads of other stuff!

Because you’re just using boilies, you don’t need to carry loads of other stuff – pellets, hemp and a range of multi-coloured pop-ups. Just take some sight bobs (Avid’s Sight Stops) and corkball pop-ups and you’re sorted.

Z Zillions of carp fall to ’em!

Look through the weeklies, look through the monthlies, look on the web and you’ll discover zillions – maybe gazillions of carp have fallen to them. What are you waiting for: tackle shop – boilies – lake – NOW!