Carp fishing with boilies: it’s all about the bait!

All carp freaks, passionate and even freshly baked anglers already know them – the boilies. The tasty-looking, small food balls from the fishing shop have become the most popular bait when it comes to large carp fish. The Englishman Fred Wilton is said to have invented this in the 1970s. They are made on a dough basis from vegetable and animal flours and enriched with eggs, other proteins, extracts and herbs. Only then are they cooked, as the name suggests (to boil = “to cook”). No wonder that carp are really hot on it and always like to bite it.

Using boilies was a real revolution in traditional carp fishing in the beginning. Because here the bait does not come on the hook as was used until then, but on the hair. The boilie is threaded onto it with a bait needle and fixed with a boilie stopper. So the carp does not bite directly on the hook, but it is sucked out by him, so to speak, together with the bait. And that’s not the boilie’s only secret. Most of all, what makes this such a selective bait is its hardness. Because almost exclusively only carp can grind the hard bait with their powerful gullet teeth. This makes boilies unattractive for other fish and it is easy to get rid of them.

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Which boilies are the right ones?

The round baits come in numerous colors, sizes and flavors. Carp are not only a real sweet tooth, they also have an excellent sense of smell and can perceive aromas from a great distance. So you can experiment with boilies as you wish and experience for yourself which of them are most successful in your case. The ingredients of the boilies are more important in cooler waters or in winter and spring, because then carp are not as active and do not need as many nutrients. In these times of the year, fruity boilies are more suitable, such as those with strawberries, bananas and vanilla. In late summer and autumn, however, heartier variants are recommended, such as the classic Monster Crab Boilie, which is made with fishmeal.

The color of the bait is important in many cases and should be selected according to the situation and, most importantly, the bottom of the body of water. In principle, the following applies: lighter, warm colors such as pink, yellow and red attract fish more quickly. However, these color tones can put off experienced, older carp and make them suspicious. In these cases it is advisable to use boilies in muted, natural colors.

Regardless of whether you buy boilies in the local fishing shop or online, you should focus on high quality. Then make sure that the baits are free from artificial flavorings, colors and preservatives.

The main advantages of boilies

The round baits have long been tried and tested and carp fishing can hardly be imagined without them. This is not only due to its ease of use, but also to the other advantages that are briefly listed below.

Boilies are:

– very nutritious and tasty for the fish

– properly selective bait – due to size and hardness all whitefish are excluded

– versatile when it comes to colors, size and taste

– very suitable for very long throws

– more stable and last longer in water without disintegrating

– Throwing it far away into the water with a boilie throwing pipe or a throwing trowel

A few clever tips for carp fishing with boilies

Although boilies are very tasty in and of themselves and smell attractive to the fish, they can be made even more attractive before use. A popular method is to refine this with a special dip, gel or spray with a delicious taste and aroma. Other aromatic liquids and liver acid are also suitable for this. All of these products can definitely be found in well-stocked fishing shops. These are mixed with the boilies and usually left to stand for about 24 hours. If desired, you can also add fish meal to further increase the attractiveness in the water.

The combination with the smaller pop-ups, also known as snowmen in technical jargon, is very popular. The bait does not sink as much and is used particularly successfully in murky, spongy waters.

Experienced anglers sometimes advise combining boilies with cooked tiger nuts. These are not only extremely popular with carp, but also cause more intense feed envy. When eating the nutshells underwater, other carp hear the cracking noises and are attracted by them. Tiger nuts are also very often used to feed the fish, because they stay a little longer at the feeding place.

We hope that you have found these tips and tricks to be really helpful. In this sense: Holy salvation and have lots of fun carp fishing!