Bait

THE TACKLE BOX’S LEE JACKSON SAYS: Spotted Fin is relatively new to the world of carp baits, and in the short time that it’s been around, its Catalyst range of boilies, pop-ups, wafters and pellets and suchlike have brought about excellent results wherever they have been used. Is it any wonder then that they enlisted the help of carp fishing legend Frank Warwick, whose expertise around a high-attract pop-up is second to none? The range comprises 12mm and 15mm pop-ups plus booster sprays to match and comes in five flavour combinations – Fruit Zing, Caramel Cream, Miracle Berry, Masala Spice and Classic Corn. Whether fished over a bed of free offerings, a single hook bait fished in isolation or used to tip off a bottom bait on a snowman rig or suchlike, these pop-ups give the ability to attract and catch carp on practically any water that they are used. LEE JACKSON’s VERDICT “Frank knows his stuff so worth a try for sure” 7/10 £4.

Stand out this winter, and we don’t just mean on the bank but the lake bed too. Hinders is proud to release the brand-new Betalin Sweet Almond range of readymade shelf-life boilies available in 1kg and 3kg quantities. As you would expect, there is also a wide range of accompanying products from wafter hook baits and pop-ups to highly attractive slime and concentrated bait soak. All the products utilise the amazing sweet pulling power of Betalin with a rounded note of sublime almond.

Stick mixes and liquids are among the best forms of baits to use at this time of year – maximum smell and attraction but limited feed to fill the carp up; you want them to look, but pick up your hook bait in a competitive feeding scenario. Available in a range of sweet and savoury/fishy flavours, Bait Aktivator is the perfect liquid to boost pellets, boilies and particles or to add a cloudy element to spod mixes. Stickmix is ready to use straight from the bag and with an almost moist texture you can form neat little parcels of attractive feed around your hook bait in an instant, with the use of some PVA mesh. I would also like to try and mix it with a few of the liquids to see if it’s possible to make a Method groundbait mix that will explode, releasing various effective attractors throughout your swim.

Utilises the same proven attractors and soluble peanut protein found in the boilie rangeAllows you to tweak your hook baits for a real edgeIdeal for hard hook baits or cork-ball pop-upsComplete base mix and liquid package Simply add eggs and go! £9. 99 WWW. STICKYBAITS. COM .

Sinking, artificial soft hook baitsPerfect for either stalking or used as a mag-aligner setup Durable nature resisits nuisance speciesSupplied in packs of 10Colours include beige, red and green £3. 79 WWW. THEKRAKENTACKLE. COM .

This one brings back some seriously good memories because I used the original T1, developed by Mark McKenna, during my time on Grenville, and it was phenomenal. In fact, it is still the bait that accounted for my personal best carp. Baitcraft then went through a period where it seemed to lose its way, but more recently the company was taken over by Bank BUG and the baits have, I’m told, been returned to their former glory. The boilies certainly look and feel the same as the original, as do the pop-ups, although the Cow Cola liquid is definitely not the exact same texture, albeit it could well have the same ingredients.