All four have been popular with sales being split more or less equally between the Robin Red and Garlic, the Robin Red and Chilli, the Robin Green and Garlic and the Robin Red and Fishmeal. One benefit of the first three is that they all contain an element of attraction - Chilli or Garlic - built into the recipe. While the RR & Fishmeal does not have this element, it can in fact be used straight from the bag, as both the fishmeal we use and of course the Robin Red are attractors in their own right. That said, as with all our mixes individual attraction preferences can fit smoothly onto the base mix matrix, adding still further to the overall attraction of the bait.

Back in the early days of boiled bait a simple flavour was looked on as being the most important additive anyone could put in a boiled bait recipe. Nowadays, however, things have become much more sophisticated where attraction and stimulation are concerned.

So in this Blog I am going to look at how I create a unique version of the Robin Red and Fishmeal base mix, using a few of the large range of products on offer from the Dutch company Feed Stimulants.

My fellow blogger Ant Woods first directed my attention to this company when my source for some of my previous favourites dried up. The range is truly extensive and I have not yet tried even one tenth of the amazing products they offer, but first impressions have been very impressive.
 
So lets start with a basic recipe:

500g RR & Fishmeal base mix from Haith's Baits.
5g Greenshell Mussel concentrate
1g Dimethyl propiothetin DMPT
1g FishStim
20ml squid liver oil
20ml goose liver
6 large eggs
 
The final piece of the jigsaw comes in the form of an exceedingly good flavour, Blue Oyster from Nutrabaits. This is added at a level of 10ml per six-egg mix. The Blue Oyster is one part of a two-part flavour blend, the other one being FishStim.
 
First the six eggs are broken into a bowl and the squid liver oil and goose liver hydrolysate are added before the eggs and the attractors are beaten lightly with a whisk. Meanwhile the Greenshell Mussel Concentrate, the DMPT and the FishStim are added to a small amount of water and mixed thoroughly in a small tub (put the lid on and shake vigorously!). This solution is then added to the beaten eggs and blended in. No doubt you may have heard of the mussel extract, but this version is superior to most I have tried being the entire (NOT defatted) extract. DMPT is a new one on me but first impressions indicate that it is a bit special. FishStim is a highly concentrated powdered flavour.
 
Now add the base mix to the eggs and attractors and mix together into a ball of dough-like paste. Place this in a polythene bag and allow to stand for an hour. This will allow the dough to sweat and stiffen and make it easier to work with.
 
You can speed up the latter process by putting the bag into the fridge for 15-20 minutes.
 
Now divide the ball of paste (dough) into ten or eleven equal chunks and then roll these into 'sausages' as if you were going to make boilies. Meanwhile put a large straight-sided cook's pan (a shallow fraying pan) on the cooked and 3/4 fill it with boiling water. Now transfer the sausages to the boiling water - you may need to cut them in half so that they lie straight in the pan. Boil all the sausages at once for three minutes and then quickly turn the cooked sausages out onto a clean dry towel and remove the surplus water that is clinging to them with a hair drier.
 
When the sausages are cool transfer them to a piece of cardboard to dry further.

After 24 hours on the cardboard the sausages should be firm, dry and smell amazing! Now it is up to you how you proceed but my preference is to turn the sausages into 'chops'. That is to say, hundreds of small round flat baits with two exposed sides.
 
That way you go from this...To this...in about 10 minutes.
 
The significance of the two exposed sides should be clear by now: a) they allow the attraction to escape more quickly, or b) they allow extra attraction to be soaked in.
 
You can see just how nice and porous the chops are, ready to soak up whatever further attraction you feel will help.
 
This is one product that I know will help. A year ago I had never heard of it. I bought a litre bottle, used it, caught very well on it and nowadays I order it by the five litres!
 
I douse the chops with the sauce and allow it to soak in. Then I freeze. When the chops de-frost the sauce is drawn still further into the heart of the bait and when introduced to the lake it leaks out beautifully.
 
I made up a couple of six-egg mixes as detailed above, took it down to my local park lake, and was playing a fish within half an hour! OK, not a monster but I am now really looking forward to trying it out on the Le Queroy biggies when I visit at the end of October. Watch this space.