How to target a boilies only water
Fish a venue which doesn’t allow pellets or particles – basically just boilies? Then with everyone doing the same – ‘sticking’ out 18millers – then you need to do something different.
Washed-in
Everyone harps on about washing-out baits to give them a safer ‘I’ve-been-in-the-water-for-a-long-time’ look, but why not put in more attraction? It not only has the benefit of creating a barrier around the bait to stop the horrible smell of the silt soaking into it, but as the oil slowly leaks off, it pops to the surface and helps pull the fish down to the lakebed. It’s also a great indicator if there’s fish on your spot, as when disturbed you’ll often see flat spots on the lake’s surface like that in the image below. All oils will work, but real favourites at the moment seem to be Sticky’s Krill boilies glugged in their Cap Oil.
Boilie crumb
It’s one of Adam Penning’s all-time favourite edges. Why? Because again, no one does it. As highlighted by Frank Warwick in a Rotary Letter contribution, how much attraction does your bait kick-out? If you’re not glugging them, then in the grand scheme of things, not a lot. What’s the first thing you do whenever you smell a boilie? You crack it apart, right – i.e. breaking the seal – so imagine how much attraction you’d be kicking out by blending up a kilo of 18millers?! It’s not only incredibly effective at pulling fish to your spot, but it’s amazing at holding fish there for long periods of time, sifting through the debris, getting more frustrated and competitive and ultimately easier to catch. Add an oil to it and you’re increasing its attraction properties even further. Now go grab the Spomb and get a decent bed of high quality food out there in a format that’s different to everyone else’s.
Tight baiting
Read or watch anything related to boilies and we’ll guarantee you one thing: you’ll be told to “spread the boilies around to get the fish moving between each one”. However, as Sharpy told us, “On pressured lakes, I like to do the complete opposite to what the masses are doing,” and he did just that at Redmire Pool in 2007. Fishing with Hinged Stiff Links, he baited incredibly accurately, almost landing each boilie inside the rings created by the last one hitting the surface, but why? “One: like you’ve just said, everyone spreads boilies out over a large area so it’s different and two: I like to have different sized baits all around my hookbait and rather than spread out where the fish could maybe have time to think about each one before eating it, they’re all tight which, when you get a few fish in on the spot, will create competition between them.”