<B>Do you always use a ‘flavour' in your homemade carp, catfish, bass or bass bait? (Is this more for your confidence and just a habit, or is the best thing you can think of?) There are plenty of fantastic alternatives to chose from to achieve that essential ‘attraction' in your boilies, dough baits, packbaits or bait dips! (Not all flavours act as 'attractors as such' but some really have proven to be 'truly outstanding feeding triggers.' </B>

To begin with, there are the simple and familiar ‘sweeteners' and carp 'receptors' (carp and catfish are like 'big tongues') and certainly know all about these. The palatability of your bait is extremely important and may decide if your target fish eats just one bait and leaves your swim, or gobbles up all your baits and your hook! Sweeteners include the old favourites like honey, natural maple syrup, fruit sugars, brown sugar, molasses, black treacle and golden syrup.

Others are white sugar, milk shake powders, flavoured body building and weight gain powders. 'Intense sweeteners like talin and thaumatin are very popular these days also, as are coffee and tea sweeteners. There is much evidence to suggest that combining sweeteners improves their long-lasting intensity and 'must have more' effects.

On the subject of body building, what about those ‘liquid amino acids' protein supplements and those brilliant vitamin and mineral dietary supplements? These often have an alcohol base, making them even more potent! ‘Isotonic' energy drinks are interesting alternative flavours. Then there are the alcohols - like vodka. Try ‘Tia Maria' or ‘Malibu' or whiskey or brandy? What are favourite ‘tipples' or sweet alcoholic drinks?

How about using yeast extract, ‘Marmite' or ‘Vegemite.' Malt and many associated side ‘products and derivatives' are very sweet and rich in goodies for the carp.

Even adding milk powders, cream or evaporated milk, adds flavour, sweet milk sugars and added nutrition, that carp love. Have you tried probiotic flavoured yogurts or melted ice cream as a creamy alternative?

Have you tried using ‘liquidized tinned sweetcorn' flavour? A very sweet alternative is using powdered liquorice root, or turning this into a liquid flavour. Many plants and trees have historically played a massive role in homemade carp baits; supplying so many exceptionally proven attractors and flavours and other associated very helpful feeding triggers and digestion aids. Even the basic cured vanilla pod to spray dried strawberries in natural form work great in bait.

Herbs are great in baits for many reasons. From the famous peppermint to fenugreek and garlic. Many herbs have exceptionally powerful effects on the body and brain, even inducing additive behaviour. Hempseed and the leaves of hemp come to mind. Does tobacco ring a bell too? In this category you could add red and hot peppers, cocoa, coffee, kola, and a whole list of others with great benefits in your bait.

Ground-up nuts and seeds produce their own carp attractive flavours and oils and are an effective alternative where so many synthetic flavours appear to have ‘had their day.'

Crushed peppermint oil tablets mixed with crushed garlic tablets, brewers yeast tablets and cod liver oil, make another interesting combination.

For savoury flavours, how about condiments like ‘Tomato sauce,' brown source, or stir-fry flavourings like fish sources, black bean source, squid source, anchovy source crab source, etc? Many of these things are based on fermented fish; and are very effective. I remember using a fish source as a bait dip and could not stop hooking predatory fish like pike and catfish!

Common ‘supermarket' fish pastes are also great. What about trying salmon and crab and anchovy together! Your local Japanese, or Thai, or Chinese grocery shop could well provide some especially ‘magical' ingredients and extracts and are very well worth experimenting with...

Getting a ‘feel' for ingredients, by looking at labels much more for ideas will really inspire you once you know the kind of ingredients that really ‘pull' the fish! Mixing many of the above ideas together in your bait can well and truly get the fish feeding; without ever visiting the tackle shop for a flavour! But what will happen if your add a ‘flavour' to these too? Perhaps your fishing results might surprise you. Why not go beyond tipping ‘Red Bull' or ‘Coke' into your bait and ‘mix it up a bit!'

This fishing bait books author has many more fishing and bait ‘edges' up his sleeve. Every single one can have a huge impact on catches!

By Tim Richardson.

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