Ever since boilies were invented back in the 1970s, it has grown one of the bait staples of anglers. It’s considered the undisputed king of all carp baits since boilies never hook just about any gamefish. However, you need to know how to fish with boilies accurately if you want to make it run for your angling.
WHAT ARE BOILIES?
Boilies are a protein-rich blend of many food powders, grains, pellets, and even bird food. All of these are blended and cooked together to form a flavourful bait that will attract fishes. Once mixed in a paste, it will form the mixture into balls with a size of about 8 mm - 40 mm. After that, the paste spheres will be boiled until it thickens; thus, the name ‘boilies’. Commercially prepared boilies will be air-dried to extend their shelf-life.
Boilies come in different flavors like krill, bloodworm, tuna, tutti frutti, and more. Apart from the taste, it also varies in color, which plays an important role when fishing during various seasons.
Boilie Varieties
Typically, bright-coloured ( red, pink, yellow, etc.) boilies are ideal during winter fishing since the water is dull. Meanwhile, dark-colored boilies ( purple, brown, black, etc.) are suitable for warmer seasons. If you’re troubled with carp, you probably tried using carp boilies before. Carp love boilies since it’s prepared with attractants that gamefishes can’t resist.
Remember that boilies are cooked to be nutritious for the carp. Also, before using boilies, you must soak them in water overnight to soften them up. Through this, the carp won’t drown, and you can easily put each piece on the hook. Besides, soaking is necessary to soften up the tough outer layer of the boilie. This will enable the attractants to release once the bait is placed on the water.
Boilie Base Mixes
Boilie base mixes change based on the preference of the angler. Usually, boilies have three potential bases: milk protein, fishmeal, and bird food.
1. Fishmeal
Fish Meals are powdered and blended with other ingredients. This is packed with fatty acids that will be powerful attractants to carp. It’s also high in protein used to feed fish, making it entirely safe for carp.
2. Bird Food
This is a mixture of various seeds and grains. This base aims to give carp a healthy diet.
3. Milk Protein
This is an excellent choice if fishmeal isn’t available. The protein and fatty acids will attract carp, but they may not be as strong as fishmeal. Although these components can be standalone bases, some mix them to diversify the attractants and taste. It also makes the baits less likely for game fishes.
Although, these bases will be blended with egg as a binding agent. After boiling, the egg will make the boilies thick.
Boilie Sizes
Take note that just because you’re getting a large carp doesn’t mean you’re going to hook the largest boilie. You also need to balance the boilie size, hook size, and rig size.
How Many Boilies Should You Use?
It depends on how the waters respond to your baiting method. Some carp on lakes choose a carpet of crumbs while others home in moving whole boilies. We suggest using a maximum of 60 boilies per rod. Going ahead, that could be a waste of bait even if boilies are cheap.
Anyway, it all boils down to your fishing method. If you’re a volume baiter, you may want more boilies to hook a big catch. There are several manufacturers of karper boilies and scopex boilies. Most anglers have some go-to companies they trust because they’ve used them the most and grabs the most fish with them. It comes down to what you feel most convinced in.