How to put the punch back into your pellets

Carp love pellets. Fact. And yet there can be times when they start getting twitchy when they come over beds of trouties or little mounds that have been created by using PVA bags. This is where having an arsenal of options can, and does, make the difference. I don’t mean just giving them a good glug of some sort of fish oil, as that has a limited life in the short run. If you do opt for a fish oil, though, use good old cod liver oil, the fish like it, and importantly it will do them good.

One of the most simplest and very effective additives is rock salt. Okay, I know people bang-on about the issues, but used sensibly this won’t harm the fish. A couple of tablespoons into a kilo of pellet is more than enough and the carp will dig into weed or the bottom to get to the lure of the salt.

Another nice little edge is to glaze the pellets very lightly with cod liver oil or Solar’s Liquid Belachan; a brilliant attractor on pellets in its own right, but then to a pound of pellet sprinkle a 50/50 mix of Betaine and MSG. There is plenty of room to experiment here, so don’t be frightened to use higher levels than you would in boilies. I will start off at two teaspoons per pound of mixed pellet. This is particularly effective when bag fishing and even more so when fishing in heavy weed.

Some of the easier ways to pack a punch is to add fishy flavours to the pellets. I have already mentioned the Solar product and this is an excellent carrier for flavours such as Squid & Octopus, Monster Crab, Smoked Herring, along with tuna or spicy flavours such as Frankfurter. If there is one that stands out head and shoulders over the rest, then it’s Nashbait’s Shellfish Sense Appeal; they absolutely love this on pellets. Believe you me, these will pack a punch to your pellets and give you a punchy edge!