Super hot boilies

A lot of anglers simply purchase their boilies straight off the shelf of a tackle shop and introduce them to the lake here, there and everywhere with no care and attention. Of course this is fine, and the carp will eat them, but there are so many things you do to enhance them to make them even more appealing.

In more recent times I’ve been concentrating on using less bait, but placing more emphasis on creating a lot more scent and attraction into the water column to intrigue the carp and trigger their feeding responses and receptors, and this has been particularly effective on a water that I have been targeting this year. The lake sees a lot of bait, which is introduced on a regular basis and I feel that as a result of this, the fish end up picking at the large beds of bait because they know that it’s always there for them and in turn they soon learn that the longer they leave it, the less likely they are of being caught. As a consequence I’ve started enhancing mine.

Giving them some nice warm sweets which are way more attractive than normal dry baits

Using CC Moore’s Pacific Tuna in recent months, I’ve witnessed a great feeding response whilst fishing in the edge, watching them come in and smash the bait to pieces in seconds. However, I do something a little bit different to stand out from the crowds and it involves some lovely rich-smelling liquids and hot water.

To start off, I remove about a kilo of 15 and 18mm Pacific Tuna from the freezer and then, whilst organising my tackle, I flick on the kettle. Now it’s time to reach for the liquids and many do the job, but I prefer something rich in fish and something that is particularly water-soluble so that it leaks ultimate attraction. My personal favourites are Tuna L030 and Pure Salmon Oil because they complement the tuna bait really well. Once the kettle has boiled, I then pour around half-a-litre into a bucket before quickly adding a good dollop of the Tuna L030 into the bucket and giving it a good mix together so it is evenly distributed into the water. I then add the boilies into the fishy water and stick the lid on the bucket and leave the baits for around 30-40 minutes.

I use Pure Salmon Oil to spice up my hook-baits, too

Whilst the lid is on the bucket, the baits will take on the boiling water and swell up like they do when you first boil your baits. As they swell, they’ll be taking on the water and Tuna L030 mix, meaning that as soon as they’re on the lakebed they will be kicking out a lot more smell than a standard boilie would and will be littering the lakebed with a lovely tuna aroma which the carp love.

When you remove the lid after the 30 to 40 minutes soaking time, you’ll see all the liquid has gone, and this is because the baits have soaked it all in and are now ready for the final stage. While the baits are still swelled up from taking on the boiling water, I douse them in Pure Salmon Oil which will do a few things for me. Firstly, as the baits shrink back down to their normal size they will draw the oil deep into the bait which will prolong the leak-rate of the baits and also leak attraction up and down the water column to draw the carp down. Secondly, as they shrink down, the oil helps harden them up so I can put them out with the throwing stick without them splitting.

The Pretty Lin taken on the tactics outlined

With the baits now all prepped, all I do is stick the lid on the bucket and drive down the lake. By the time I’ve got to the lake, the baits have shrunk back down and will have soaked all of the oil in. Just before I put them out, I like to give them a light coating of salmon oil again just for that initial attraction in the area.

I love this method and it’s one which works really well on lakes that see a lot of bait. I also use it in the winter, but just drop the oil out of the mix and it’s still super effective, helping me land a new personal best common of 34lb 4oz a couple of weeks before Christmas last year, and in more recent times a target fish from my local club water ,‘The Pretty Lin’ at just over 28lb.

How to put together James' hot boilies