The CARPology Debate 3

Shaun Harrison (Shelf-lifes)

"Well, my mind has totally altered on this one. If you had asked me six-years-ago I wouldn't use shelf-life baits after bad experiences in the past. These days it is becoming increasingly rare for me to use fresh frozen baits. So, what has caused this total turn around in my mind? I guess it's knowing what the actual difference is ingredient wise with my own baits. Obviously in the position I am in, it's quite important for me to be seen to be catching the odd fish or two so I will put everything in my favour to make sure I am fishing as effectively as possible. It is just as easy for me to take bait from the freezer as it is to take bait off-the-shelf yet I choose to take the baits off-the-shelf as I know they are just as effective as the fresh frozen. This has not always been the case, though, as some of the early shelf-life baits made available to anglers were most definitely not as palatable to the carp as their fresh frozen equivalents and it is because of this that many old school carp anglers shun shelf-life baits.

"Things have moved on an awful long way in the stabilising of boilies since the early preservative-filled ones hit the shops. I really do think there was an awful lot of naivety in the production of some of the early shelf-life baits and unfortunately, despite totally different stabilising methods being developed, the baits are still tarnished with those two dreaded words 'shelf-life'.

"I can't vouch for every make of boilie on the shelves but I can definitely speak with authority on my own. Interestingly most of the anglers I have sponsored over the years come on board only wanting fresh frozen baits yet now I only have one who still has fresh frozen on occasion. Certainly the most consistent anglers I have had on my books have been totally converted to shelf-life baits after fishing them side-by-side with the fresh frozen versions and now can't see why they ever bothered messing around trying to keep freezer baits in a decent state on the bank.

"As I said, things have moved on a long way since the first shelf-life baits hit the shops and if I honestly thought I would get a couple more takes during a season using my fresh frozen equivalents I would no longer use the shelfies. Out of interest, I also feed shelf-life boilies to my fish at home. Again, if I didn't think they were good for them, then I simply feed fresh, frozen baits instead."

Keith Sykes (Fresh, frozen bait)

"So why do I prefer to use fresh, frozen baits as opposed to shelf-life baits? I guess I should define what I mean by fresh frozen bait. Well, just that, freshly made, excess moisture removed and then frozen. When I am using a full-blown milk-based bait such as my old company's Meta bait, I would use straight from frozen as these baits are enzyme treated and active and work best in the first 24hrs, baits such as these with inhibitors included will not work effectively for obvious reasons. The reasons I don't like shelf-life baits are simple and straightforward: the use of growth inhibitors such as sorbates, benzoic acid and pg in particular are beginning to cause questions in the human food industry and there has never been any long-term work done on these products within carp baits. The fact is that I have shelf-life baits that are in excess of twenty-years-old sat in bags in my study; to all intents and purposes they look as though they were made yesterday! Further more, the extremely slow rate at which some shelf-lifes breakdown (if at all) in water is alarming, I have tested baits that have lasted weeks and this just can't be good and you won't get the same proliferation of natural aquatic organisms attacking these types of baits.

"In a nutshell, bait that has been treated with preservatives at levels well beyond that used in the human food industry cannot, in my simple mind, be good for the fish or the environment. I understand why shelf-lifes are popular but that doesn't change my opinion even though I shall say right now they catch their fair share of fish and are of course very convenient, but that doesn't mean they are better than a good quality foodbait that might even go naturally mouldy!

"I have confidence in the fresh bait approach, knowing that the ingredients aren't being affected by preserves, humectants or growth inhibitors, which really are all and the same, plus there tends to be elevated drying periods and sometimes much higher inclusions levels of synthetic flavours and sweeteners to counteract the preservative taste profile. 

"Most of the bait I use is either a combination of animal bi-products or milks etc. with high levels of other naturally attractive ingredients that just don't warrant the expense only to be preserved and ruined in the process, I am incidentally turning even more now to steaming rather than boiling. It also is very much a personal issue as well and the confidence factor as to why I prefer fresh frozen bait over long-life boilies."

This article was taken from Issue 83 (February 2011) of CARPology magazine. Be the first to read CARPology's articles in print before they're posted on-line, and get your hands on loads of additional content by subscribing on-line.