Ask Mike Willmott: Boilies – Ingredients for Success!
Good morning Mike, I’ve heard a lot about you through Julian, so it’s great to finally talk to you. My main question is to do with the advice would you give to someone intending to roll their own boilies. Quite often I hear people talk about rolling their own baits and they seem to add all manner of ingredients, additives and flavourings, all in addition to those recommended by the manufacturer! What’s your take on this, do we really need all the extras or should a good quality base mix be enough to do the job on its own?
Also, briefly, do you have any plans to write another Book? If so you can put me down for a signed copy, not for ebay mind! Your first was a quality read.
Many Thanks,
Rich Gillett
NWC Moderator
Hi Rich
Thanks for your questions. The longevity of a bait in terms of its ‘catchability’ will be dependant on a number of different factors. These include its nutritional profile, as well as its ability to attract in the first place, ie, spell food.
A good quality nutritional base mix will always catch fish, but I believe it can be further improved by enhancing its attraction qualities with the addition of certain additives to send food signals. I’m not usually one to compare human instincts to that of fish, but a comparable situation would be to walk past a restaurant with closed doors. You may not be hungry, and you may not even be aware that you’ve just walked past a restaurant, but then on the way back, what happens when you walk past the same restaurant and the doors are open? Basically, you instantly smell the food and it triggers a feeding message to the brain. I hope you understand where I’m coming from.
 "A good quality nutritional base mix will always catch fish.."
As a bait begins to break down, the nutritional ingredients play a bigger role because they begin to send their own food signals, usually long after any waterborne attractors have disappeared. This is why I believe it is so important to use high quality food baits, simply because the food signals will always be working. If you choose to use a cheap non-nutritional formulation, what happens when the initial attractors have dispersed? Basically nothing, because there is nothing there that spells food!
I certainly wouldn’t suggest adding more additional additives, flavours, extracts etc, than those recommended, simply because they could end up acting as a repellent as opposed to an attractant. Stick to the levels and guidelines suggested and you shouldn’t go far wrong - all you have to do now is put it in the right place!
Lastly, thanks for the book comments. Carp Life has completely sold out but I am considering a re-print later this year. As for another book, it’s highly unlikely but hey, stranger things have happened!
Mike Willmott
You can lean more about Mike’s Carp Baits by visiting: www.essentialbaits.com
Do you have a question for Mike Willmott? askmike@northwestcarp.co.uk
Click here to see our 270+ page Carp Fishing e-book
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