Julian Cundiff's Recipe For Success

Over my thirty-plus years of carp fishing, I’ve tried all sorts of things, from week-long sessions, to weekends and overnighters. In all honesty, I’m probably at my best when it comes to short-session angling and having to make it happen sooner, rather than later. Be it girls, work, gigs, family or motorbikes demanding more time, there always seems to be competing interests when it comes to finding time to catch carp - probably not dissimilar to the position many ’Ology readers find themselves in. Let’s be honest, carp fishing isn’t exactly rocket science, and generally you can make it happen if you follow a few golden rules:

Minimal time, maximum rewards

Simple, in theory perhaps, but the second part of the equation if you like, and the one thing missing, is bait, and that’s something I place great importance in. Bait can make carp fishing easy, especially when it’s a bait they want and you apply it in a way that encourages frenetic and competitive feeding. When I’m fishing, I don’t just want to attract - and possibly catch - one carp, I want more!

Just as with surface fishing, the more carp you attract and the more they compete, the more likely they are to slip up with the hookbait. As I said in last month’s head-to-head with Kev Hewitt, I’m primarily a boilie angler, but I like to fish them particle-style, with lots of mini boilies all oozing attraction from day one.

Properly prepared particles have an immediate edge over standard boilies, as the creation of latter locks in much of its attraction. Many particles however, kick out ‘eat me’ signals as soon as they’re introduced. I don’t have the time (or patience) to wait for the boilie to do that, so over a few years’ trial and error, I’ve come up with a glugging and glazing technique to turn any boilie into an immediate winner… absolutely perfect for those with limited time on their hands. Combining your favourite bait with liquid attraction and crumb that rises and falls (as I describe in detail shortly), will give you a massive edge over all those anglers who simply fish over standard frozen, or shelf-life boilies.

Boilie Plus Bulk Liquid Food Plus Dry Mix

A. Boilie
The great thing about this edge, is that it works with any quality boilie. As a Nash-backed angler, it’s been Nashbait Key and Scopex Squid that have done me proud, but friends have also gone on to use the tactic with rival brands. Personally, I prefer frozen baits. I understand though, that not everyone has the space to store frozen bait and may have to use shelf-life/stabilised baits instead. As frozen baits thaw, they draw in the liquid so much better, but fear not if you’re an angler that uses shelf-life offerings. Simply pop a kilo or two in the freezer at least twenty four hours before starting the process I’m about to describe; this will aid their ability to draw in the bulk liquid. For waters with a lot of nuisance fish, the slightly harder shelf-life/stabilised baits are an advantage anyway. Surely everyone has a freezer… even if you have to sneak your bait in behind the peas when the wife goes to bed! Size-wise, smaller is better. I tend therefore, to opt for 10 to 12mm when possible - keep them grazing longer and they’re more likely to make mistakes with hookbaits.

B. Bulk Liquid Food
Whilst plain boilies will attract carp, once you add liquid they become a whole lot more effective. Liquid under water certainly has more pull, and whether your water is three feet, or thirteen feet deep, the correct liquid will not only spread out, but rise up too. My favourites are the bait soaks that compliment the Nash boilies, but you can use fish oils, hemp oils or any bulk liquids - don’t use neat flavour under any circumstances!

C. Dry Mix
By adding a dry mix, you have the advantage of boilie crumb, but sticking with the boilie makes the whole package far more potent. The Nash Cultured Stick Mix is different gravy, as they say, but if that’s a little too pricey, then a standard Stick mix, boilie crumb or even a dry mix will work. As the liquid washes out, the glazing effect rises and falls, drawing the carp in much quicker than plain old boilies straight out of the bag.

D. Delivering The Goods
A Spomb or catapult are my first choices. Because the liquid food, combined with the dry mix can make it sticky, keep the catapult clean by lubricating it with lake water from time to time, likewise with the Spomb.

E. Hookbait
I tend to fish low-sitting, high-attract pop-ups on Multi Rigs as my starting point. If I don’t feel I’m getting takes quick enough, I’ll ‘match the hatch’, or eventually try a bottom bait. The whole point of glugging and glazing is to encourage competitive feeding, so I like that pin-sharp hook off the deck and ready to grab hold as the carp gorge themselves over the baited area.

Tools of the trade

Jules' Glug/Glaze Mix

Scopex Squid 12mm boilies
Scopex Squid Liquid Bait Soak
Scopex Squid Cultured Stick Mix

1. For those using shelf-life boilies, stick them in the freezer at least twenty-four hours before you intend to start this process. In the summer, I do the glugging and glazing process twelve hours before I intend to fish, and twenty-fours ahead of a session in the colder months.

2. Take one kilo of the frozen bait and put it in a (very) strong freezer bag to shake everything up in.

3. For every kilo of bait, add 20ml of bulk liquid food. Shake well to ensure an even coating of all the boilies.

4.For every kilo of bait, add half a mug of dry mix. Once again, shake well to ensure an even coating.

5. Place the bag of glugged and glazed boilies in your cool box or freezer bag ready for the session. As the boilies thaw, they draw in the liquid and the dry mix adheres to the outside of them.

6. For both Nashbait Key and Scopex Squid, I find that all the liquid is drawn in within twelve hours, the dry mix adhering beautifully. Obviously, not all baits are the same and how quickly they draw, depends on how porous they are, so you may need to experiment.

7. They’re at their most potent twelve to twenty-four hours after the process - ideal for shorter sessions, overnighters and day trips.

Good luck, and believe me when I say that this will catch you more carp, providing you get the first part of the equation right.