BILL COTTAM'S CARPING ALLEGEDLY

I have always been a huge darts fan, and unsurprisingly I was pretty much glued to Sky Sports throughout the Christmas and New Year period, and I watched virtually every session of the World Championships from Alexandra Palace. I enjoyed it enormously, and no doubt in common with so many other folk, my gob was particularly smacked by the mind-blowing talent of sixteen-year-old Luke ‘The Nuke’ Littler. The teenager does wind me up a little, though…

The competition ran from Friday, 15 December 2023, through to Wednesday, 3 January 2024, with a short break from just before Christmas until 27 December. The Nuke used the break to go home and spend Christmas with his family. He then returned to our screens a mere four days later with a beard… at sixteen!

I have many failings as a carp angler, and a particularly obvious one is that, despite still having a decent head of hair for a man of my (considerable) age, I am incapable of growing facial hair. The problem with that, of course, is that ‘Sir Terrence of Hearn’ aside, virtually all those who sit at the top table of carpistes have, or are at least are able to achieve, substantial beardage. 

Thinking back to my younger days, Richie McDonald, Pete Springate and Chris Yates all had beards, and in more recent times, Adam Penning, Gaz Fareham and Oz Holness, to name but three, all have the propensity to effortlessly rock the facial-hair look. And then there are the Darrel Pecks and Ali Hamidis of this world, those who seemingly, having turned up at a lake on a Saturday clean-shaven, have a fully-fledged, carpy beard by Tuesday morning! I have no desire to spend my time away from carp angling looking like someone who is about to rob a sub-post office, but having the ability to enhance the rugged, weather-warn look prior to a session certainly appeals greatly.

Imagine my joy, then, when I searched deep into Google and discovered that there are indeed products around that boost testosterone levels, and consequently massively promote facial hair growth. If I were involved with one of the big tackle companies, I would be looking at getting the angling exclusive on one such product and rebranding it as Carp Beard Enhancement Serum. Surely, all it would take is a few adverts with Gareth Fareham giving it the big thumbs up and you would be on to a sure-fire winner. I’d buy a gallon!

Organic Acids and Natural Attraction
Organic acids, as their description suggests, are naturally occurring compounds that boast acidic properties, and although it is fair to say that a number of them, including citric acid and taurine, have uses within the carp bait industry, it is N-butyric acid and (to a lesser extent) caproic acid that continue to hit the headlines.

N-butyric Acid, particularly when coupled with a good-quality pineapple flavour, has become incredibly popular over the last couple of decades or so, although, in truth, it has been doing the rounds and was on many anglers’ ‘secret’ lists long before that. Indeed, when Tim Paisley and I first began experimenting with additives in the mid-eighties, the foul-smelling N-butyric was one of the products we had particularly good results on. In those days, we did a lot of playing around with it in combination with essential oils such as fennel, Madagascar clove and juniper berry.

Interestingly, although the pineapple–N-butyric combination is widely regarded primarily as a pop-up alternative hookbait smell, I rate it as probably the best foodbait label I have ever come across. I, and several other Nutrabaits users, used it to great effect for many years with Trigga and Trigga Ice. I suspect if I were still a Nutrabaits user, I would be doing so today.

To say N-butyric is not especially user-friendly is to put it mildly. The pure uncut stuff is nothing short of horrific to the nose. In fact, I can think of a number of DIY boilie-rollers who have had long-lasting disagreements with their better halves over the years following sessions bait-making sessions with N-butyric in their kitchens. That’s hardly surprising, though, when you consider that it is commonly found in rancid butter, Parmesan cheese and human vomit!

N-butyric is a fatty acid that has a multitude of uses. It’s very often used in the production of flavours and pharmaceuticals. It is also interesting to note that it is generally accepted that several species of mammals and fish can detect its presence at 10 parts per billion. Humans recognise it at a mere 10 parts per million.

Inclusion rates vary quite a bit, depending on how you want to use it. As a rule of thumb, however, 1–2 ml per 500g is about right, if you plan to use it as the main smell, half that level being ideal if you want to combine it with a flavour or an essential oil.

Caproic (pronounced cap-ro-ic) acid—also known as hexanoic acid—has much in common with N-butyric in terms of how carp anglers might incorporate it in a bait. I am happy to report, though, that its smell is not quite as foul. It’s often being described within the flavour industry as having a waxy odour reminiscent of wet goat hair. I have to be honest and tell you that, whilst it does not have the type of smell that anglers would necessarily associate with a carp-bait attractor, it has a track record equally as impressive as N-butyric. I suspect the reason it is not talked about in quite the same way is because it is not as widely used by the great bait-buying public.

Caproic can certainly be used to great effect as the main smell for both long- and short-term baits, but I favour combining it with a sweet fruit flavour, at ratio of four parts flavour to one part caproic acid. Cranberry, plum, cherry or strawberry, to name but four, make ideal partners.

Cold-weather anglers might find it interesting to hear that both N-butyric and caproic are rated by many who have used them extensively as being right up there among the very best winter attractors they have ever used, and if I were to embark on a concerted cold-water campaign with a foodbait, one or the other would certainly play a big part in the formulation of my recipe.

Take care, though, as I have already mentioned, using and/or spilling N-butyric or caproic acid in the kitchen will not go down especially well with the better half!