How to make Ali Hamidi's super-strength hookbaits!
One of the things I’m probably best known for is rolling my own hookbaits and coming up with special little gems, customised to my own liking or requirements. Having worked with Mainline Baits for a silly length of time now, I’d have been a fool not to, after all, they are, without a doubt, the best in the business when it comes to sourcing the highest quality ingredients, especially liquid flavours and additives. This is coupled with the experience required to recognise and harness the potential of these carp attractants.
Absolutely priceless
It seems a little strange to use the phrase, but I guess I’ve been around long enough now though(!), but back in the day, making hookbaits for me was a priceless edge when it came to fooling some of the most pressured carp around the UK, from busy day ticket venues like Linear, to the huge carp of the Essex Manor. More often than not, there was the added pressure of trying to achieve results on camera… a situation when time is never on your side and you need to deliver the goods, so you really do need every edge you can think of.
This type of fishing has led me to travel the world in search of carp, and in some amazing locations. Generally though, the fishing has been in the same pressured scenarios of having to make it happen for a camera crew or trying to trick wary or cautious carp… or both! This really does teach you a lot of things, and makes you realise how so often, it can be one little change or tweak to your approach that makes all the difference. There are a lot of things that need to come together and your hookbait is obviously one vital element.
In most cases, hookbaits straight off the shelf are more than adequate, but there are times when it’s nice to have something else in your armoury. There’s also a huge amount of added satisfaction to be gained from looking down at your prize, knowing it fell to a hookbait you made yourself.
If one fish could perhaps epitomise everything I’ve talked about here, it would have to be the 42lb common I caught during our Monster Carp trip to the historic and mighty Lac de Saint-Cassien. I still can’t properly put into words the emotions and feelings I felt gazing down into the net at that fish; the experience was simply amazing! I can tell you a part of that euphoria though, was down to the fact that the fish fell to a hookbait I’d rolled myself. A special recipe for success, so to speak, was used to land that very special carp, and one that I’ll share with you now…
Recipe
30ml Essential Cell Activator
45ml Multi-Stim
10ml Juicy Fruit
10ml Fruit Tella
10ml Raspberry Ripple
15ml Sweet Ade
Essential Cell Base Mix (1/3)
Polaris Pop-Up Mix (2/3)
4 eggs