PARTICLES - The Basics

Ian Russell
I don't know why more carp anglers don't use particles. As long as they're
prepared correctly, they are a devastating bait - both as attractors and as
hook baits. Some of my best catches have been taken over beds of particles,
and I've also taken some very good fish on particle hook baits. The first
question to address is when to use particles. The answer to this is simple.
Through the spring, summer and autumn, use them as often as you can; as
long as they're permitted on your water. I always make sure that I carry
particle baits around with me, and have a fresh or frozen supply constantly
available at home.

Particles are especially effective when other anglers on the lake are ignoring
them, or using them in small quantities. As with any bait, they can lose their
effectiveness if overused - so evaluate what the other lads on your lake are
doing, then decide whether it would be of benefit to try particles. For instance,
if no-one is going for it big style, it may be worthwhile spodding loads of
particle out and fishing over the top of big beds of the stuff.

On the other hand, if people are already doing that, then you may be better
advised to fish a single particle hook bait on its own.

The fish will be used to finding particle foods, but wary of feeding on big beds
of them. A single hook bait fished on its own can work wonders, but more of
that later! The particles I'm going to talk about today include maize, tiger nuts
and a seed mix called Red Band. I'll leave the latter until last, because it's the
'ace in the pack' bait. Anyway, enough of the introductions, let's look closely at
each particle and why you should consider giving it a go.

MAIZE
I started using maize in 1993, when I was fishing Harefield. I wasn't using it as
a hook bait, just as free offerings which I introduced to specific swims where I
could fish in the edge or cast to areas of bank with no anglers.

My reasons for using maize in 1993 were not entirely fishing orientated. I was
jobless at the time and money was tight. Available from tackle shops or from
wholesalers it's a fraction of the cost of boilies, and in my opinion can be just
as effective, if not more so in certain situations.

Seven years ago I paid just £7 for a 25kg sack of the stuff I'd buy it a few days
before my planned session and soak it for up to three days before boiling it for
40 minutes or so. I soon found that adding an attractor to the maize while it
was soaking gave it added impetus, and the flavour I used was 'Brasem' from
Sensas.

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Designed for match anglers, Brasem is used to add flavour to groundbait. It's
a caramel type sweetener and was superb with maize. I'd add it liberally to the
maize while it was soaking, stirring it in until the whole mixture was gooey as
you like. Brasem is still available to this day, though you may have to visit a
shop that specialises in match fishing to find it. If you do come across a bottle,
give it a smell. It's lovely and works well as a boilie dip too.

My method of applying the flavoured maize was simple. I selected swims that
I thought would produce fish from the margins, and catapulted out small beds
of maize into likely looking spots. Marginal shelves, weed beds and gravel
spots were all potential target areas. I baited on a frequent basis, but didn't
really pile it in.

The results were pretty good. My best session using this tactic came while I
was fishing a swim in the famous Back Bay. In one day I had commons of
12lb and 26lb, along with a 20lb mirror and a fully scaled of 271b - a fish that's
subsequently gone well over 30lb.

So yes, maize does work. However, during this session I wasn't using it as a
hook bait. Instead I was fishing small, l2mm double yellow pop-ups over the
top. The pop-ups were made by the Carp Company and were flavoured with
the classic pistachio, a very underrated flavour.

I also have the utmost confidence using maize on some of the hardest waters
in the country. One such venue is Summerleaze, where I used it in quite large
quantities because of the nuisance fish the take contains. I had to stop
because the tench just went mad on it.

Why more anglers don't use maize in England I don't know. On the continent
it's used all the time, and anglers over there know all about it and how
effective it can be. If you're worried that the carp in your lake have 'wised up'
to maize or corn, try dying it. At this moment I have some bright orange maize
in my freezer. That will be making an appearance soon!

TIGER NUTS
Tiger nuts are the old favourite particle bait
Carp love them, they're easy to prepare and
relatively cheap. Plus you don t need to use
many of them to get a response from the carp.
The first time I used tigers was in 1989, when I
fished a venue called Bath Road near Heathrow
Airport. I did well on them and took fish to 231b,
which in actual fact was my first twenty
pounder.

It fell for a double tiger hook bait fished on a braided hook link. From there I
couldn't fail - I visited Waveney Valley a month later and took my first 20lb
leather, also on double tiger nut. I suppose you could say that tigers kicked off
my fishing career!

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I shan't go into preparation of tigers too much as it was covered recently.
Instead, I want to give you a few of my theories behind using them. I fished
with them extensively, and some of my observations on them have proved
quite interesting.

First, I believe that tigers are best fished hard on the bottom. You won't catch
me fishing popped-up tigers, as I am not confident with them. I don't know
why it is that popped-up tigers are less effective, but I've caught more fish on
tigers fished on the lakebed than I have on buoyant tigers. This doesn't just
apply to me, but to other anglers I know too.

Also, I think the size of the tiger you use on your rig is important too. Forget
these large tigers. Okay, they do catch fish, but if I had the choice I'd go for
two small, pea sized nuts on my hair every time. It wasn't me who actually
discovered' this, it was an angler by the name of Kenny Dorsett - good mate
of mine who's also an exceptional fisherman. He's got many years experience
of fishing with tiger nuts, and he'll always go for the smaller nuts on the hair.

I flavour them from time to time, with Hutchy's Chocolate Malt. When it comes
to presentation, I use heavy leads (3-4oz) and short braided hook links, with
25lb Silkworm being perfect. The reason for this is that carp feed confidently
on tigers, and bite-offs can be common if you use a hook link that's too long

With regards to bait application, I've found that keeping freebies to a minimum
is the best way forward. Carp can detect tigers from a long way away, and
they're actually a very good bait to use on their own. If I do introduce freebie
tigers, I'll put in a couple of pouchfulls from a catapult -no more. That's
enough to get the carp interested and rooting around.

RED BAND
Now here's a secret many of you won't know about Red Band seed mix. This
stuff really is the business. I was told about it in 1996 by Alan Disco' Smith,
and since then I've always had some available to me. It consists of a mixture
of small seeds - like barley, groats and wheat, and comes ready-flavoured
with aniseed.

Red Band was actually put together for the pet food business. Why it contains
aniseed I'm not sure, though a guess would be that it makes the seeds more
palatable to whatever pet may eat it. Whatever the story, the aniseed certainly
appeals to the carp. An added bonus is that it's really cheap too. Pop into a
major pet store like Petsmart and check it out. Alternatively, the Carp
Company make their own excellent version of it, which has been put together
with carp anglers in mind.

If you want a particle bait to apply in large amounts and frequently, this could
be the stuff you're looking for. For the past two or three years most of my
major captures have been taken over beds of Red Band, including two forties
from Summerleaze. At Summerleaze, I won't hesitate to introduce 5kg of the
seeds in one go, right at the beginning of a 48-hour session. I'll use this
quantity because the tench love it too and will be preoccupied on it for long

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periods of time. In fact, this can be a serious advantage - heavy feeding
activity from fish like tench can pull carp into your swim just to investigate and
take advantage of the food source the other fish have found.
As soon as it hits the water, the Red Band breaks up and releases a shed
load of natural attractors, oils and flavour into the water. It has the rare ability
in a bait to stop carp in their tracks. Red Band is also an exceptionally good
hook bait. I cannot emphasise this enough. All you need to do is take a small
lump of Kryston Bogey, mould the seeds around it and put the ball onto a
normal hair rig.

Unlike tiger nuts, these seed balls are brilliant popped-up. If you think the carp
are becoming wary of big beds of particle on your lake, try a single Bogey ball
of Red Band popped-up two inches off the bottom. To create the pop-up,
simply mould the Bogey around a small cork ball.

Red Band is easy to prepare. All you need to do is completely cover it with
boiling water, and then leave to soak 24 hours. After this time, the seeds will
have grouped together into blobs', which enables you to catapult Red Band
further than you can other particle baits like hemp. I like to introduce it with a
Cobra bait scoop, which deposits it in big patches up to 25 yards out. If you
need to apply the bait any further out you'll need to use a spod.

And that's it, a simple guide to the particle baits I use and some theories
behind using them. If you want to develop your carp fishing skills, you'd do
worse than to give some or all of these baits a serious go.

This feature is taken from the May 2000 issue of Total Carp Magazine.