Tom Maker's Manilla Mulch Mix!
Prolific carp-catcher, Tom, explains how he gets the best from Sticky’s Active range, and what might complement it
Sticky’s Active range of boilies, which started with The Krill Active and was added to more recently with Manilla Active, suit my angling down to the ground. Each bait is packed with extra attraction, thanks to the encompassing layer of paste around every single boilie. Made using a combination of super-soluble liquids and highly nutritious powdered ingredients, this paste layer is designed to break down on the lakebed to create a halo of small food particles around each boilie. This attribute is perfect for boilie anglers. It adds another dimension to an otherwise static bed of round balls. When it comes to my own fishing, I rarely use boilies on their own or as they are. I am a massive fan of small food items, and as such, I tailor the Active range to suit my needs.
Manilla Mulch
My favoured bait for the majority of the year is Manilla, and so I have now worked Manilla Active into my fishing. Chopped and crumbed baits are a huge advantage on most lakes, as the carpet they create is unbeatable. However, in deep water, it is very difficult to get the light, fluffy powder down on the deck. To combat this, I came up with what I call ‘Manilla mulch’. It’s very simple to create, and entails soaking your chosen bait in water for 24hrs prior to your session. Once soaked, the baits will be so soft that they can be scrunched in your hands to form a fine, but heavy crumb. This method ensures that every last piece ends up on the lakebed where you will be fishing.
In the years prior to the luxury of having Manilla Active, I used standard Manilla, adding the matching Cloudy Liquid to the water. This added a little extra pulling power to the mulch, as rather than washing all the attraction out of the baits, the Cloudy Liquid introduced a little more, whilst the soft texture was retained. Since the advent of Manilla Active, I have dropped the Cloudy Manilla Liquid from my mix, as when the Active baits are submersed in just enough water to cover them, they actually produce more attraction than standard baits on their own! The paste layers break down and form a super-thick, sloppy liquid, which combines with the mulched-up boilies to form a perfect mix of fine particles.
Three’s The Magic Number
For a bit of diversity, I always add some hemp and sweetcorn to the mix, taking the total number of ingredients to just three. It is so simple, yet so effective! No carp can resist the crunch and taste of hemp, plus the little black flecks in the contrasting mix of Manilla mulch look an awful lot like water snails, which can only be a benefit.
Sweetcorn, again, needs no introduction. The yellow flecks are very subtle when used over the light-coloured Manilla, giving me a diverse array of hookbait options.
Hookbait Options
In terms of hookbaits, the Active range benefits from its own dedicated hookbaits in the form of wafters and Tuff Ones, which both come with paste wraps. I tend to use baits with buoyancy to them most of the time, and find myself using the wafters more often than the Tuff Ones. Manilla Active wafters are perfect as a match-the-hatch hookbait, whereas with the Tuff Ones, I normally make a little Snowman Rig out of them. If I think the fish aren’t feeding too heavily over the bait, then I switch to something a lot more visual, such as a Sticky Peach & Pepper Pop-Up. These often buy you bites on very tricky days when they aren’t fully on the feed.
Ever since I moved away from standard to Active baits, I have noticed an increase in catch-rate, and the mix needs one fewer ingredient. Furthermore, I think the mix benefits from the much thicker liquid the coating creates, helping my bait get to the lakebed so much faster than before. This helps to keep my spot super small, with a concentrated pile of bait to create an aggressive feeding response when the carp turn up, which is exactly what I put my success down to.
