Boilies are boiled fishing bait, often combinations of fishmeal, milk proteins, poultry food, grit, and soy flour, mixed with eggs as a binder, and then boiled to form hard-round baits that will last in the water. Additional flavourings and attractors are also generally included in the mixture.

Carp fishing boilies are cylindrical, or ball shaped. The round shape allows the bait to be precisely catapulted when fishing. They are a fairly large bait with a hard outer skin that smaller species, such as tench and bream, are less likely to eat.

Boiled baits stay in the water longer without the likelihood of them falling off the hook, as with bread or other traditional baits. Although boilies are usually manufactured and sold by large suppliers, you can choose to make your unique homemade boilies.

Boilie Sizes

Boilies come in different shapes and sizes, from small micro boilies (some even as small as eight millimetres) to as large as 40 mm. Generally, it's best to match the size of boilie you use with the size of fish you're hoping to catch. A large boilie will be too big for a small fish, so when fishing for smaller species, use smaller boilies.

The most suitable size for specialised carp fishing is around 14 to 22mm.

Pop-up Boilies

There are floating boilies, commonly known as pop-ups, used to make buoyant bait that sits above the lakebed, making it easier for fish to find and take it.

Anglers can use pop-ups in various situations; where weeds or silts are present on a lakebed or with a standard boilie to create a 'snowman' rig. The pop-up is generally smaller than the regular boilie; which creates a "critically balanced bait", or neutral buoyancy, which makes it easier for fish to bite.

Frozen or Shelf-Life Boilies

The fisherman has many types of boiled carp bait to choose from, some of which have preservatives added so they can be kept at room temperature on store shelves for a long time (shelf-life bait). Boilies that lack these added preservatives must be refrigerated or frozen to prevent them from going off; these are known as freezer boilies.

For decades there have been many exchanges among anglers discussing the pros and cons of frozen and shelf-life boilies. Still, the common view of many carp fishermen is that the presence of artificial preservatives in shelf-life baits makes them less nutritionally beneficial to carp and therefore they lack appeal.

Since to keep the freezer boilies fresh, manufacturers must freeze them shortly after rolling them; not only will the ingredients used be of much higher quality than those used in shelf-life versions, but the ingredients will not lose many of their nutrients. You can think of it as like freezing vegetables.

Because of the additional nutrition, freezer baits are usually more expensive than their shelf-life counterparts.

The downside of freezer boilies is that they must remain frozen to preserve their freshness. This is straightforward at home, but if you are an angler who prefers long sessions, it can be tricky on the riverbank.

You must defrost frozen boilies at the precise time to get the most out of them, and they often need to be air-dried before use. Notwithstanding the disadvantages, freezer boilies remain the carp bait of choice of many experienced anglers.

However, in the last decade, shelf-life boilies have made significant ground in the popularity stakes. The main benefit to anglers is the ease of use, as they do not need special storage.

Food technology advances mean shelf-life boilies now offer almost the same fishing benefits as freezer boilies, but without the hassle.

Boilie Configuration

The configuration most used by anglers is to present a boilie as a hair rig (bait that is not attached directly to the hook) that allows it to settle on the back of the hook. This setup means the bait will behave more naturally in the water and often makes the difference between good and inadequate hook support.

At Urban Bait, we stock both shelf life and freezer boilies in various flavours and in a range of sizes.

Boilie Flavours

You can choose between sweet and savoury flavoured boilies. Salted boilies are more popular than sweet, as these flavours are more common and natural to the fish, making them less likely to distrust the bait.

An angler's preferred flavouring usually depends on a combination of factors, including the fishing spot and the time of year.

Generally, during warmer months, a strong-flavoured fish, oily bait, is preferred. In the colder months, a sweeter flavour is often the chosen option.

Fish eat less in the winter, and oily baits will leave them satiated, meaning they will leave your baited area.

It is ideal to go for a boilie that offers a good combination of attractors and nutrition to fatten them up and attract them to your hook.

We supply supplied boilies in 1kg-100kg bags, so whether you want to give our tasty boilies a try or bulk stock up, we have the ideal size.

Hookbaits are boilies usually selected to use in a fishing rig in certain fishing conditions. They have better, more effective properties than standard boilies due to a higher concentration of seasoning, so they are doubly attractive to fish, thus giving us a greater potential for a catch.

Fishing hookbaits come in jars, usually of 100 grams. At Urban Bait, we stock a wide range of hookbaits in our catalogue, and anglers are increasingly using hookbaits across Europe.

What Types of Hookbaits Are There?

Hookbaits vary in size, colour, and shape.

You can find hookbaits of all sizes, but the most used in carp fishing is hookbaits from 12mm to 18 mm in diameter.

Concerning their shape, you can buy hookbaits in the form of cylindrical boilies or barrels. You can choose between hookbaits of many different flavours and colours, depending on the tastes or preferences of each angler.

When are Hookbaits Used?

Fishermen will often use standard boilies as "free" bed bait to give the fish confidence, then use a hook carp bait of the same flavour to catch the fish.

Accustomed to the flavour, the fish won't hesitate to take the hookbait of the same brand as the boilies used. Hook bait is more enduring than boilies and more concentrated, making the fish more likely to bite.

However, you can also use hookbait alone without boilies. Casting out a singular hookbait without any free bait is an unappealing prospect for some anglers because they can't see how the fish will find that tiny single bait in such a vast body of water. Well, fish do, if you follow a few simple steps.

Use an Intensely Flavoured Hookbait

To improve your chances with a single hookbait, you need to use bait that appeals to the carp's sensory system. The flavour and smell of the bait influence your chances, so choose a pungent, highly flavoured hookbait. Savoury, spicy, fruity, or fishy, it doesn't matter; but go for a bait that leaks plenty of attraction.

Choose Bright Colours

Carp is attracted to colours, so make it easy for the fish to find the bait after receiving a flavour signal by using a brightly coloured hookbait.

The colour also improves the chances of a bite through curiosity. Different colours may stand out more strongly at varying times due to light levels, weather, etc. So, try several colours across your rods and change them after a period of inactivity. This way you will find out what works best.

Glug the Hookbait

Only investigative carp will sample hookbait, but hopefully, once will be enough for a catch. Because it's not intended to be eaten like free bait, you can add the maximum amount of flavour to hookbait. Using a hookbait glug before casting will greatly heighten the appeal of a single hookbait and leak an instant feed signal through the water.

Increase the Flavour Leakage

With boilie-style hookbaits, much of the flavour is locked inside by the hard skin produced by the boiling process. It will leak out over time, but you can hasten the delivery by trimming off the sides of the hookbait. This increases the flavour leakage and sends a strong signal to the carp.

Cast at The Fish

It's good to know how to get carp attracted to the hookbait, but we shouldn't forget to get the bait as close to the catch as possible. Carp don't swim about much in cold water, so it is a good idea to cast to different sections now and then. If a fish shows, don't hesitate to cast, as this will often result in a quick take.

Without an appealing hookbait, your rig and all efforts are worthless as the fish has got to want to take the bait! Hookbaits are suitable for both short and long carp fishing sessions.

Thanks to their unbelievably fast performance, they are increasingly used by fishermen, so never leave for a fishing trip without a jar of hookbait.

At Urban Bait, we stock an extensive range of irresistible hookbaits that allows you to increase your catch percentage significantly without breaking the bank.

Pellets were first used as animal food or as feed for fish to induce weight gain before fish farmers sold them to market. Nowadays, this protein-packed fish is also popular with anglers, as pellets are an excellent bait to attract many fish species, including carp, bream, catfish, tench, and barbell, among others.

Pellets are made with raw ingredients such as fishmeal and vegetable matter. The mixed ingredients are forced through small tubes to create a sausage-like shape. Steam heating hardens the mix. The cooked mixture is then cut into the desired length.

As such, pellets are fundamentally compressed ground bait. Once in the water, they break down quickly and form a fine layer of mush on the lakebed if left long enough.

The time it takes for pellets to break down depends mainly on the size. In a few minutes, tiny 1mm pellets will turn to mush, while hard 21mm pellets can take up to a few weeks to completely break down.

As the pellets begin to dissolve, any undertow in the lake will carry the scent of the dissolving pellets through the water, attracting fish to follow the smell and eventually influence them to pick up the bait or move through the dissolved pellets searching for food.

Which Pellet to Use

We do a choice of flavoured pellets in stock in 2mm and 6mm sizes.

The 2mm micro pellets are impracticable to hook; they break down very quickly and are optimally used to quickly create a highly scented layer of attractant mushy matter that will draw fish to your hookbait. Pellets from 4mm upwards can be hooked but are also excellent for loose feed.

There was a time when savvy anglers would soak a bread crust in vinegar to attract carp, but these days you can find plenty of tasty elixirs in the form of additives to make more bait more enticing.

Artificial Additives

Synthetic flavourings made to imitate foods like strawberries and bananas are used in some additives. However, you need to these potent products with caution because if you exceed the advised dosage levels, the bait will smell too strong and turn the fish off rather than attract them. You must be especially careful when using synthetic flavours with ground bait and must dilute them to spread the flavour throughout the feed.

Natural additives

On the other hand, there are additives made with natural extracts produced by processing real foodstuffs.

Natural additives can be added to ground bait or dripped onto baits like boilies, corn, and pellets. The liquid soaks into the bait and is released into the water to draw fish. Natural additives are not as pungent as artificial flavourings, but you are still advised to stick to the recommended dosage.

Many natural additives contain large quantities of amino acids. These signal to a fish that matter is edible. Natural extracts are proven to be great carp attractors.

Sweeteners

Sweeteners and bait enhancers make bait tastier. You can add them to homemade boilies, pastes, or ground bait. Like many people, fish like sweet food, and adding a sweetener to bait can encourage the fish to bite.

Oil additives

Oil additives come in two forms with different applications.

There are standard oils derived from nuts, fish, or seeds like salmon oil, hemp oil, or nutcracker oil. These products are obtained from natural origins and contain large amounts of fatty acids and proteins. These oils are perfect for adding to ground baits, injecting into dead baits, or using with method mixes.

As they are generally not too concentrated, you can afford to play with the dosing level. The second type of oil additive is essential oils. These are highly concentrated tinctures derived from spices and herbs. These should only be used in drops and are best suited to adding to boilies or pastes.