Carping Allegedly - May 23'

The ‘Solubles’ Era
It probably will not have escaped your attention that some of the great and good of the bait industry have recently launched soluble ranges. Outlaw Pro, Nutrabaits and RG Baits are three that spring to mind, and I suspect more will follow shortly.

The fact that solubles, in their various guises, are round, throwing stick-able and designed to break down to crumb quickly has led to many likening them to the old-style ball pellets that Nutrabaits, Nashbait and Ant Baits used to make available a number of years ago, and although it is easy to see why such comparisons have been made, in truth, they are radically different.

The ball pellets certainly had their uses. They were sold in large quantities and accounted for a lot of big fish, but they had a negligible food value, their emphasis being more on attraction rather than nutrition. From what I understand, the new soluble-style baits represent a nutritional foodbait in their own right, and in the vast majority of cases, the ingredients used virtually mirror those in the corresponding boilie recipe.

I have to confess that I didn’t particularly envisage solubles having much of a part to play in my own fishing. However, having called in at RG Baits recently and discretely filled my pockets with a few samples of their Formula + Arctic Crab Aqua Solubles—which mirror the boilie recipe I have such faith in—I am now rethinking that a bit, as I can certainly think of a few waters and a few situations where they could come in very useful.

Initially, the better half didn’t seem massively impressed, but I dropped a dozen or so samples into a bowl of water, and after binge-watching a few episodes of The Repair Shop, I returned to find my wife breathing fire in a kitchen that had a smell rather reminiscent of my catapult pouch in July, and a bowlful of broken-down Formula + Arctic Crab nosebag!

I hear the arguments which suggest that all disappearing-food-source baits, such as solubles, pellets, groundbaits, bag mixes, etc., are basically the same as each other, in that they all break down to virtually bugger all on the lakebed. But at the risk of repeating myself, these new kids on the block are spherical. As such, they are much more practical to use, and offer many more options than irregular-shaped food items. They can also be used in conjunction with boilies of the same make-up.

Whilst there are numerous ways to use the solubles. I suspect that, if and when I use them myself, I will probably loose-feed equal quantities of boilies and solubles, and use a boilie hookbait with a good old-fashioned soluble stringer attached.

Bait and Aftershave Choices
Many anglers’ attitude to bait, and the thought process that goes into them deciding which specific bait they should use, have long confused me. I lost count many years ago of how many ‘carpistes’ had contacted me or collared me at shows, on the back of very productive seasons, to ask what bait they should put their faith in for the year ahead. Why? I suspect one of the reasons is that some still believe that the holy grail of piscatorial nosebag really does exist, and that somewhere out there, there’s a bait that carp simply cannot swim past without eating, irrespective of whether they are hungry or not.

I am sorry to be the bringer of bad news, carp tigers, but despite what some of the hype might suggest, such a bait has not, does not and will not ever exist! So that leaves us in the position where we are stuck with using the most effective bait we can find for the situation we find ourselves in. On the back of a productive season, I would suggest you weren’t too wide of the mark with the bait you were using already. It’s worth bearing in mind also, that a sensibly applied, good-quality foodbait should get better year on year anyway.

Before you say it, I know I should be past this type of thing. I do, though, still enjoy the occasional night out in the beer shops and fleshpots of South Yorkshire, and believe me, if I had some brand of aftershave that women couldn’t resist, one that might have them queuing up for hour upon hour of endless, meaningless ‘leg-over-ism’, I would constantly slap it all over; I wouldn’t buy something different in the hope that it might be even better!

My approach to carping is remarkably similar. I began using Trigga during my time with Nutrabaits in the early nineties, and give or take the occasional tweak, I continued to use the same bait with total confidence until left the company in 2018… if I were still with Nutrabaits, I would still be using it today!

Since early 2018 I have been using Formula + Arctic Crab from RG Baits in Rotherham. I hung my hat on this particular bait, not because of some Cristiano Ronaldo-esque sponsorship deal or any financial incentive, but because after a considerable amount of time spent weighing up my options, I thought it was the bait that best suited my own angling and offered me the best chance of fooling the occasional lump or two.

My approach this year will once again centre around RG’s Formula + Arctic Crab boilies, possibly a bag or three of Aqua Solubles, and Carbon Baits Hemp & Maize… and unbeknown to Mrs C, six and a half gallons of that aftershave! 

ESP Syncro XT
I have never been one for changing line every time a new so-called wonder product arrives on the market. For me, it’s all about confidence, and the experiences I have had in the past. The last thing I want is to be wondering whether the line I’m sitting behind is ultra-reliable and up to the job.

When Shimano discontinued Catana, and after I’d exhausted my stash in 2017, I found myself not really knowing where to go. Let’s be honest, swapping a line you have used for a number of years is not like investing in a new baiting needle! 

Both the standard ESP Syncro XT and the Loaded version got great reviews, and having done a few trials, I eventually settled on the former. I can see that the heavier, Loaded offers undoubted advantages when slack-line fishing, but only on very rare occasions do I adopt such tactics.

Syncro XT has served me unbelievably well since I swapped over to it, and although the 12lb has proved itself, it is the 15lb version that I use most of the time. The smoky green colour is very much to my liking. It is lovely and soft, which helps enormously, given my distinctly average casting ability, and its abrasion resistance is right up there with the best lines I have ever used. It also sinks like a stone.

For reasons that remain something of a mystery to me, the stated breaking strains of modern-day lines tend to be governed more by their diameter than their actual breaking strain. It is claimed that the 12lb line, which has a diameter of 0.33mm, breaks at 15.75lb, when correctly knotted. The 15lb, which has a diameter of 0.37mm, apparently breaks at an unbelievable 21.75lb! Bold claims indeed, but claims that are totally backed up by the exhaustive and very interesting line testing that the Tackle Box in Kent conduct from time to time, their results being available for all to see at www.tacklebox.co.uk

ESP Syncro XT is available on 1,000-metre spools in 10lb, 12lb, 15lb and 18lb at £19.95. What’s not to like?