Spotted Fin Smokey Jack range

Frank Warwick has definitely forgotten more about bait than you or we will ever know! Thankfully, his latest collaboration with Spotted Fin means that you don’t need to know anything about boilie recipes to catch lots of carp. Spotted Fin has long since recognised that the true value of having someone like Frank developing a bait for you is that he’s done the hard miles, suffered the demoralising blanks thanks to blind alleys in bait development, and come out of the other side with some seriously proven recipes. As well as a bait brain, Frank’s widely known as an innovator, so you can be sure that there’s more to Smokey Jack than meets the eye! Even though it’s got Frank’s seal of approval, you’ll have questions though, right?

The Big Questions

What type of bait is this?
Okay, so it’s an out-and-out powerhouse of a fishmeal. It’s based around skipjack tuna, and we all know how good tuna is in carp baits. Frank had been developing this particular bait for some time, and had perfected the recipe a little while back, but had never got round to getting in onto the market. Luckily, his association with Spotted Fin saw circumstances conspire to create the perfect environment to get Smokey Jack produced, to Frank’s exacting standards. In testing, Frank has caught lots of carp from waters that had never seen the bait before, and it works instantly. However, this one has got long-term bait written all over it, and we reckon that it’ll be a bait that gets better and better once you start giving the fish plenty of it!

Boilies, £11.99

Hopefully, it’s got some quality ingredients in the mix, right?
Yes, like we said, it’s based around the skipjack tuna meal, but it has lots more to it than just that. It’s actually a blend of fishmeals, including the legendary LT94. In the words of Spotted Fin, they’ve “packed as much fishmeal in” as they could. To balance the fishmeal, Frank included other high-protein meals, which help carp digest Smokey Jack easily and the more they can eat, the more chances you’ll get over large beds of it! The distinctive smokey note that helps the bait stand out from the crowd is due to the use of natural, smoked flavours that Spotted Fin say have never been used in the carp industry, and they’re combined with a blend of secret spices that are sure to switch carp on, wherever they live.

I’m off to France on a drive-and-survive, do they do a shelf-life?
You’re in luck. Spotted Fin is making the bait in a freezer variety, as well as a shelf-life bait. There’s plenty of options in the range too, with 15 and 20mm baits available too. You can buy in bulk too (especially good for that French trip) because Spotted Fin offer quantities from as little as 1kg, right up to 50kg. There’s no reason at all to imagine that the shelf-life baits are any less effective than their freezer-bait brethren, because they’ve got an attractor breakdown that’s equally effective.

Are we talking just boilies, or is there more to the range?
There’s absolutely loads in the range actually. Just to prove that Smokey Jack is no flash in the pan, Spotted Fin has launched a whole bunch of products to use with the boilies. First of all, there’s a special Smokey Active Stick Mix, which looks deadly when combined with the Smokey Food Dip that Spotted Fin has developed (there’s also a bait spray to keep those hookbaits pumping out attraction). Speaking of hookbaits, you can choose from a range of hard hookbaits and wafters, which contain exactly the same attractor profile as the freezer bait. Finally, there’s a Smokey Jack pellet (available in 2, 4 and 6mm), which positively pumps out the eat-me message. The pellets are a rich, fishmeal variety that have been specially infused with the smokey attractors and make for an awesome addition to your spot mix, or solid-bag mix.

Anything else to note?
Yes, the baits themselves are quick to breakdown, thanks to the soluble content, but they’re firm and fly out of a throwing stick beautifully, something that Frank absolutely loves! They’ll also take on the liquid food really well, and Frank likes to give his freebies extra punch by coating them in the Smokey Jack Food Dip before introducing them. We can only imagine that it must be the fish equivalent of walking past a restaurant as they’re cooking the most amazing steaks…