At certain times of the year, particularly when the weather is at its warmest, boilies are not necessarily the best choice of bait for feeding in quantity. Yes you will still get takes on boilies, but to encourage the fish to start mooching around and take a few boilies, a scattering of particles is often the best tactic.
So why stick with boilies on the hair? It amazes me how many anglers bait up with particles and pellet but still insist on using a boilie on the hair. Particles over particles can be an absolutely devastating method, yet it's so rarely done. Particularly devastating if you include a couple of boilies in the particle mix - let me explain.
Particularly on clear, pressured waters, the carp can become very wary of boilies lying around - but they will hoover up the particles without too much caution. Why?
Well it's simply that they've learnt the rules. "If I find boilies and particles together, take the particles but not the boilies and I won't get hooked". Present one of the particles on a rig and you may be pleasantly surprised how many more takes you get!
I also prefer to mix several particles together (and different sizes) rather than just fish over one type. This makes the carp work a little harder for its food, hopefully making them less aware that the slightly heavier one they've just sucked up is the one with the hook attached! It's a constant theme of my fishing - try to be a little bit different. So often I've found it brings rewards. Quite simply, if you do the same as everyone else you're only going to catch the same as everyone else. Take a gamble and be a little different.
In my opinion no bait range can be complete without the addition of a selection of particles - certainly I would be lost without them in my armoury - so we've included the ones that have been the most successful for me.
My Top Tip – for hook bait use only is to select a few dry particles and leave these simply soaking in water for a couple of days without cooking them. This way they will withstand heavy casting and will stay on the hair longer even if small fish try to pull them off. It is ESSENTIAL though that you thoroughly cook all the particles you use as loose feed.
Click here to see our cooking chart.
Dry particles are available in 5, 10 and 20kg quantities.
TIP! Click here to see Shaun's advice for fishing with particle baits.
Want to learn more about particles?
Click here to read Shaun’s Carpworld article on them… “Particle Fever!”
Click here to read Shaun’s Crafty Carper article on them... “10 Tips & Tricks for Particles”
 Click here to see a video tour about the in's and out's of particle baits.
Particle Cooking Chart
|
pre-soak |
boil |
Hemp Seed |
over night |
Untill it Splits |
Mixed Seed |
over night |
20 minutes |
Aniseed Seed |
over night |
20 minutes |
Garlic Feast |
24 hours |
30 minutes |
Garlic Feast |
24 hours |
30 minutes |
Rahja Seed |
over night |
30 minutes |
Rahja Seed |
over night |
30 minutes |
As a general rule of thumb – if you are trying a particle for the first time and aren’t sure how to prepare it, a 24 hour pre-soak and 30 minute boil and simmer should be fine. If in doubt over cook the bait rather than under cook the bait. This ensures all the natural oils and attractors are released and there is no chance of further swelling of the particle once eaten.
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