november-2026-free-line-part-2 - Flipbook - Page 119
FREE LINE / FIELD JOURNAL
KRIS FORD
FIELD NOTES
A few years back, I wrote an article Bait it s a load of balls , and this is
the sequel. I do not consider myself a bait aficionado or master-baiter to
borrow a pun from Jim Gibbinson, but I do have some serious thoughts
based largely on simple logic and much experience. I have been considering
writing this article for some time but have now been spurred on by the
release of Tim Paisley s latest book Carp, bait and nutritional recognition .
Fair to say, I think that most carp anglers just want a bait that works, and
there are plenty of those around a boundless supply. To the minority bait
demands a world of exploration.
As I said, my bait theories are based on logic, experience and in addition
some technical(?) knowledge. It would be extremely remiss of me to write
this article without reading Tim s new book to see if there was anything
within it to change my mind and opinions or anything to be learnt.
This article is not an attempt in any way to slight Tim book or his writings,
which would be a rather silly thing to do, as he clearly knows far more
than me on the scientific/technical side. The same applies to the myriad of
pioneers credited by Tim and those contributing to his book.
So, to the history Carp used to be thought uncatchable, then along came
honey paste, cheese paste, then sausage meat, cat food, Bacon Grill etcetera.
At the start of the 1970s, the carp world became obsessed in two different
directions simultaneously, those being on one hand, particle baits with
the king being sweetcorn and on the other hand high nutritional value
(HNV) pioneered by Fred Wilton, and the boilie was born. Surely in this
day and age, everyone knows about both of these elements, so no further
explanation is warranted. My focus is mainly on the boilie and its contents
along with the carp and animal behaviours.
My beliefs and baseline theory on bait are very simple: a successful bait
should ideally be something that they like and preferably totally new or
previously unseen that s it, simple, in a nutshell. Now to expand on that
statement, let s look at the parameters and variables. The inference and
implication of the HNV innovation was that within its alchemy lay the Holy
Grail, an infallible carp bait.
FREE LINE
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