Winter Bait Choice ?

[tim childs]

Dont know if i missed it with all that to read but did you say which water you wherer going on as that may help people help you in your choice. pleny of debait there and some thougth provocing stuff. personally i think if possible you will never beat maggots as a winter bait but small fish cost distance fished extra should be considered. for boilies i honestly can't see me using another winter bait other than dynamites tiger nut FROZEN VERSION. these in 10mm are both small enought to create a little trap and are highlt digestable whilst the sutale flavour combination is well proven from years back. add a couple of tins of corn, some maggots, a few jars of hemp and a selection of my home made high attract pop-ups is all i would take and be confident on any water in the country. As for flavours dt green beast, fizz, mulbery f, squid/oct, and pineapple are all excellent flavours for singles the secret is getting the levels and combinations right!

[Lowey]

I've heard the new Matrix Winter mix is a gooden.
Personally i fish singles in the winter, mainly a Pinapple pop-up with a stick mix.

Lowey.

[tim childs]

Out of interest what pineapples do you use?

[Lowey]

Mainlines.

Lowey.

what is it abou tthe mainline tutti frutti's that works so well in winter can anybody help because im thinking of using these on booths this winter?

[Joephus]

Would say its the base that the flavour is mixed on mate but am sure someone will have a different view.

[steve hurst]

Quite a few posts on this thread refer to bait digestibility.

Generally, carp anglers view birdfood and low protein baits favourable to high protein boilies such as milks or fishmeals. We claim the former to be more digestible.

But...can we be sure that this is so?

I for one don't know the answer.

Does anybody have any hardcore evidence to back this theory up?

And by evidence I'm not talking about some Mainline supported Southern wideboy out of Total Crap saying it is true.

[Joephus]

The carps digestive system is amazingly simple compared to ours, its basically a tube with very little stops on the way through. So for a carp to be able to get the nurtients/fats and protiens from a bait they have to be easily accessible. Lipids in fish oils are quite hard to digest especially when cold, by the way this is only my understanding and maybe horribly wrong.
Birdfood basically just adds to the courseness of the bait making the actaully boilie itself easier to break into small pieces.
There are also additives that some companies make that actaully aid digestion by breaking down protiens for the fish, helping to get full value from the food.
There are so many more issues as well such as Flaa (First Limiting Amino Acid). This is dependant on the amino acids present and depending on levels limits the absorbtion of these by carp. But that is a tad over my head at the mo.
Some high protien milk baits can be very effective in winter in small amounts as long as they have certain things in as alot of protien can be gained from a very small amount eaten.

All my opinion and happy to be corrected on any point. Always willing to learn.