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Maple peas (also known as carlin peas, brown peas, pigeon peas) were very popular as a fishing bait in the 70s and 80s of the last century. Then their use decreased and most anglers started using other modern carp fishing baits.

Maple peas are now widely used as food for racing pigeons. It is also used in the human diet in a variety of dishes. However, its use in fishing is slowly returning as bait and mostly as part of the partickle mix. They contain a lot of protein, vitamins, sugars, carbohydrates, oils, fiber…



Preparation of maple peas for soaking in water

Let’s start with the preparation.



I found among maple nuts: ? corn and green peas.

Fill the container with water until the maple peas are covered.

Soaking

Now soak them for 10 to 30 hours. The longer we soak them in water the less time they will cook.



After 6 hours of soaking

They already look great.


After 21 hours of soaking

They are almost ready to cook. Only a few hours of soaking remain.

They look like mini boilies ?.

Finally it’s time to cook the maple peas…………..

After 26 hours it’s time to cook.

Advice for hook bait: They soften a lot already during soaking, so I recommend that if you want to have them for hook bait (especially recommended if you are fishing with a hair rig or similar rig), you don’t need to cook them at all or let them cook for a maximum of 3 minutes (depending on how long you soaked them).

…………. and I add some extra ingredients before cooking ?‍??‍?.

I just added an example of what I add to maple peas or other particles. If you want, you can add ingredients to your liking or simply add nothing more to the maple peas. Otherwise, the maple peas already have their own specific flavour so you can easily skip this step.



Cooking time of maple peas is very short. When they boil let them simmer for about 10 to 20 minutes. Check regularly with your fingers if they are already soft.

I advise you to drain the hot water as soon as you finish cooking the maple peas, as the maple peas may be too soft if left in hot water. Of course you save the water in which you cooked the nuts and cool it then add the chilled nuts back to it. It would be real nonsense to discard this water and add fresh water.

if you will only use nuts for feeding, I recommend cooking them so that they are very soft or, as chefs would say, overcooked. I therefore recommend that carp and other fish can digest them quickly without any problems and then return back to feeding.

If you want to ferment them after cooking let them stand in water for 2 to 4 days. Ddepending on the temperature of the air in the room or outside. The higher the temperature the sooner they will ferment. I usually let them stand in the water for 2 – 3 days. You can also cook them in larger quantities and store them in the freezer (if you have enough space in it).

Advice: If they are very soft that they can be easily crushed by hand they are a great ingredient for groundbait, hook paste, spod mix, feeder, pva bags, … The possibilities of using cooked maple peas are considerable, you just have to try different ways and find out how the fish like them prepared on the water where you fish.



Try it, you will not regret

If you have not yet decided to cook them, you do not have time, or you are in a hurry to go fishing, you can buy ready-made ones in the store and thus be convinced of their success in fishing for barbel, carp, grass carp, tench and other coarse fish species.

If you want cheap, nutritious and bait that stands out from the crowd I recommend you try them the next time you go fishing.

Till next time …

Tight lines!


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This time I went fishing on a commercial lake. Fishing matches are also common on this lake, so there are plenty of fish in this lake. Because there are many smaller carp in the lake, it is so much harder to catch carp over 4 pounds. The 4 pound carp really isn’t big, but on this lake it’s a real challenge to catch it. Some anglers say there are also grass carp in the lake, but I haven’t seen or caught any in all these years. Maybe I catch a grass carp on my next fishing trip, who knows, anything is possible.


I have already written about this lake on my blog in one of the previous posts, click: Boilie waggler Carp fishing – if you want to read this post.

Happy day

Weather:

  • Air temperature: max 24°C
  • Wind: 12 km/h
  • Precipitation: slight rain showers during the day, evening, heavy rain

I mix groundbait before I start fishing. During this time when I prepare my fishing rod and other fishing equipment, the groundbait slowly moistens.

Prepared landing net before start fishing is important especially when fishing alone and it’s so much harder to put together a landing net when we catch a fish. My advice is to prepare everything you need for fishing and then start fishing.

I decided to use a 0.5 gram float for fishing today. Lightweight, sensitive and visible, perfect combination for today’s fishing ?.

The first carp caught after a few minutes of fishing. The beginning is promising.



Spawning time

In addition to hook baits I had with me, wild strawberries grew nearby. I didn’t eat them all, so I used some of them as bait on a hook.

The most beautiful part of float fishing for me is enjoying nature, observing the float and of course catching fish or two.



In addition to groundbait, I also fed the fishing spot with home-made particle. Because there are quite a few fish in the lake they ate the fishing food quickly. That the fish were active I noticed after the muddy water rising to the surface. I didn’t have a specific feeding timing, I only fed by my feeling.



And the float disappeared beneath the surface ………. fish on ??.

One of the many carps I caught that day. Happy day ?.

Damage to the gill cover probably occurred during spawning. In this case, we must be very careful that the antiseptic does not get between the gills. If we do not apply the antiseptic carefully, we can do more harm than good. If you are not skilled in this procedure, you better not apply anything.


Backwoods.com

While waiting for the fish bite, it’s time for a hot challenge. But they’re not as hot as I expected. Maybe next time I’ll try to catch some fish on these Smoki Fun Hot Challenge.



Perfect, the groundbait ball landed nicely next to the float.

It started to rain and the fish became very hungry.

Because it started to rain heavily, I decided that I would end up fishing that day. For that day I caught quite a few carp, I didn’t count how many. The number of carps is not even important to me, but the fact that I was by the lake and enjoyed fishing to the maximum.

Tight lines!


Disclosure – if you buy anything using links found in this blog post, I may make a small commission. It doesn’t cost you any more to buy via these affiliate links – and please feel entirely free not to do so of course – but it will help me to continue producing content. Thank you.

Making the boilie paste

What we need to make boilies (click on the ingredient to buy – ebay):

Boilie base mix
✔ 3 eggs or whole egg powder
2 tablespoons of powdered ginger
4 – 5 tablespoons of ground black pepper
✔ 3dcl Liquid CSL
✔ Oil (hemp oil, olive oil, ..)
Beef stock cube
Water
Fork
Timer
Electric portable hot plate or similar
Cooking Pot
Boilie freezer storage packaging
Drying rack net, for drying boilie
Basket Strainer Silicone Colander
Colander


fishing camera banner

Crack three whole eggs together with the eggshell (crunch effect, calcium, simulates carp food – crustaceans, shells) If you use boilie gun, you need to dry and ground (coffee grinder) the eggshells because boilies will be difficult to roll (cracking the boilie dough, …). As a substitute for egg shells you can also use fine ground oyster shells.

If you do not want to use the eggshell or similar, you can easily remove them from the boilie recipe.



Add 2 tablespoons of powdered ginger (natural fish attractant, lemon scent) and 4 – 5 tablespoons of ground pepper (flavour, sharpness, fish attractant) to the egg liquid. Always add all the additives (liquid and powdered) to the egg mixture (preservatives, aroma, stimulants, color, spices, oils, etheric oils …). I almost never use flavour because boilie paste already have their own specific smell and attractiveness.



I also add liquid CSL attractant  – corn steep liqueur (amino acids, protein, natural sugars, enzymes, dried boilis turn dark brown) to the egg mixture, about 3 dcl / 1.27 cup / 17 tablespoon. You can use any other liquid instead of CSL or simply skip this step.

Slowly add the mix to the liquid. It is very important that a dry boilie base mix is always added to the egg mixture.

Mix the mixture with a fork or similar cooking tool until the paste becomes harder.

When the paste becomes harder I start kneading with my hands.

When the paste is done (it looks compact, it doesn’t stick to the surface, it’s not too wet, it can form into boilies, …) I oil (olive oil, hemp oil, fish oil, …) it from the outside. The oil prevents the dough from drying out. Then put the finished boilie paste in an airtight container or wrap it with plastic foil. I leave the boilie paste so prepared for at least 3 hours (I usually leave about 12 hours or more). But of course you can start making boilies right away when you finish making the boilie paste.



Next day – boilie making and boiling day ?

First prepare the pot and the electric cooker. I pour water into the pot and then add the beef stock cube. Which contains ingredients of course depending on the manufacturer: salt, sugar, yeast extract, powdered herbs, protein, fat, dehydrated vegetables and other ingredients written on the product packaging. I use a beef cube because in my opinion it adds some extra attraction to the fish, better than cooking in the water itself, adds to the nutritional value of boilies, …

Once the boilies are made it is time to boiling them ?.

The only thing to do is always boil boils in boiling water and only so many boilies at a time that the water does not cool. When boilies are boiled they float to the surface of the water, but in my experience, in some of my boilie base mixes, boilies do not rise to the surface. Then it is necessary to look at the clock for how long they boil.

Boiling time:

14mm – 16mm boilie ? around 60 – 80 second
18mm – 20mm boilie ? around 90 – 100 second
20mm – 24mm boilie ? around 110 – 120 second

This is an indicative boilie boiling time, which can vary due to the boilie mix.

When boilies are boiled, let them cool and dry. Leave them to dry for about 24 hours at room temperature or outside in the shade (never in direct sun). When dried, they can be used for fishing or stored in the freezer. After drying, the total weight of the boilies was approximately 1.1 kg.

Next day ready to freeze.

One boilie from the freezer for the test in water

After 12 hours in the water, I easily crushed the boilie.

Boilie test in a bottle.

Testing how boilies dissolve and the release of attractants in water can be tested at home (transparent or glass packaging, aquarium, pond if you have one, …). This home test provides approximate information on how boilies dissolve at the bottom of a lake, pond, or river. Approximate because at home we cannot create the conditions and environment that is in the water in which we fish. I’ll list a few: water temperature, ph or acidity of water, type of bottom, small fish activity – bream, roach, F1, crucian carp, chub and more, crustaceans, the time of year, weather and so on.

Summary

Making home made boilies is really a little more work than opening a bag of readymade ones. Of course, readymade boilies are nowadays more or less very good quality, as I use them myself, but catching the carp on the home made boilies in which I put so much time and effort is really invaluable (especially pb).


Disclosure – if you buy anything using links found in this blog post, I may make a small commission. It doesn’t cost you any more to buy via these affiliate links – and please feel entirely free not to do so of course – but it will help me to continue producing content. Thank you.

You probably know that terrible feeling in your fingers (especially in winter) when trying to crush 15 or more boilies for pva bags or mesh, spod mix, groundbait mix and more.

There are quite a variety of fishing tackle available for crushing boilies and other baits (nuts, cooked partickle, …). After comparing between different crushers, i decided to buy Korda Krusha (size Small). On the advice of other anglers I chose the size Small. My opinion is that larger size does crush more boilies but it is much easier to crush more times with smaller ones than to bother with bigger ones. Of course the decision is yours. Since my local fishing shop ran out of Korda Krusha size small (so the size of the small is really quite popular against the larger), I decided to wait for the purchase until they got the product back in stock. When I received an email that the product was back in stock I immediately decided to buy it.


It looks very monstrous.

The package came in the mail and when I opened the package I was surprised by how imaginatively they designed the box.



At the back of the box are some instructions and tips on how to use the product.



Teeth look very sharp.





So let’s start crushing. The more we twist, the finer the particles are.


Boilie 20mm before / after.

Very soft boilie before / after.

Wholegrain flakes before / after.

Peanuts before / after.

Cashew nuts beforre / after.

In the photos below, the ingredient Korda Krusha has broken very little or actually nothing. I was expecting that as well, as these were ingredients that are very hard. I wanted to try and crush as many ingredients as possible so that I could see for myself in practice. I still have a few ingredients to try out for the crush, which I will show in the next blogs when I go fishing (hopefully as soon as possible). But you can try the crush yourself (if of course you have any crunch gadget – the brand doesn’t matter), which I haven’t yet and write in the comment section below how it crush.

Cat food, csl pellets, millet.
Raisins, bird food mix, dry feeder pellets.

Pros and cons, my reviews on Korda Krusha (size Small):


Till next time …

 tight lines and wet landing nets!


If you would like to use content from the Fishing Religion website (in whole or in part), please add a link to the contribution on our site in your post.


Disclosure 

Some of the links in this blog and in our videos may be affiliate links, and pay us a small commission if you use them. We really appreciate the support. Thank you for your support.

This site contains affiliate links for which I may be compensated. As an eBay Partner, I may be compensated if you make a purchase. As an Amazon UK Partner, I may be compensated if you make a purchase.





As usual, when I get to the fishing swim, I first mix the groundbait (meanwhile, the groundbait is slowly moisturizing) and then throw in a fishing spot small amount of bait (corn, boilie, pellet,…) with a spod, fishing catapult or throwing stick. In the meantime, when I am assembling a fishing rod, rigs, bait, rig system…, free bait attracts fish without unnecessary danger to them (monofilament, fishing lead, fishing hook, rig tube, hooklink, …).


Fishing rods waiting for action.


Someone was looking for food on this rotting trunk, probably a woodpecker. For someone waste for someone important for survival. Nature took care of everything.

I know it doesn’t look like a super perfect tied carp rig from some famous fishing magazine or video from internet but the rig works and that’s enough for me.

FIrst mirror carp and…….

…… very soon another a little bigger mirror carp.

Some don’t have any feel with fish or they don’t care about our water friends. Please take your time and fight the fish slowly and not at all power to pull the fish out of the water. Because we go fishing to enjoy nature, catch fish, be they big or small, they all deserve the same fish care respect. We need to look to the future for fish to be healthy and in best shape. I’m just wondering who wants to catch a crippled carp, even if it’s 40 kg or 80 pound or more. I definitely don’t.

Proper carp care is important for carp as well as for the future of fishing.

Happy days.


On the carpy menu today: a little amount of tigernuts, corn, can of sweet corn, groundbait mix, crushed boilies, sweet pellets and liquid csl .

Any kind of garbage does not belong to nature (these also include monofilament or braid pieces that fishermen cut), so everyone who brings with them should also take with them and throw away in the dedicated trash can!

I picked up that trash (and other trash I found) and took it home and dumped it in the trash can (just a reminder, I don’t need any medals and compliments, anyone who appreciates nature and hopes for a better future would do it).

The last hour to finish fishing today. Fingers crossed.

The buckets and other fishing accessories are empty and partially cleared (finally is cleaned under running water at home, not to transfer any fish diseases to other lake, pond, river,…), which means that the fishing day is over for today..

The last rays of the day are still trying to illuminate the sky through some clouds. The singing of the birds slowly slows down and the lake slowly goes into its nightly rhythm. For a few moments I still admire this beauty of nature and then go home hoping to visit this beautiful lake soon.

Till next time …

 tight lines and wet landing nets!


If you would like to use content from the Fishing Religion website (in whole or in part), please add a link to the contribution on our site in your post.


Disclosure 

Some of the links in this blog and in our videos may be affiliate links, and pay us a small commission if you use them. We really appreciate the support. Thank you for your support.

This site contains affiliate links for which I may be compensated. As an eBay Partner, I may be compensated if you make a purchase. As an Amazon UK Partner, I may be compensated if you make a purchase.




Which carp rig to choose?

A huge variety of carp fishing rigs are used today. They differ in complexity, the time of year, bait presentation, usability on different types of bottoms, and so on.

I have tied a lot of different carp rigs already and I use some of them on almost every fishing trip or have them with me in my korda rig safe. This time I will show you through photos how I tie a carp screw rig. I have been using this rig successfully for a long time so I decided to present in steps how to tie it.

pop up rig

I use this rig mainly for pop ups, but it works great for all other baits as well. The only thing I need to note, If you use baits that are quickly softened in the water, the bait may eventually fall off. It can be used on all different types of bottom and when is not too much weed or debris in the water.



What you need to tie a knotless knot screw rig?


Here’s how you tie it up, in pictures below:

  • Place a bait screw onto the hook shank.
  • Add hook bead (slowly and carefully, the sharpness of the hook can lead to unpleasant injuries quickly)

Cut off the length of the hooklink. Cut off a slightly longer hooklink because the final length of the carp rig is reduced by knots (swivel, hook knot, knotless knot, hair rig, loop knot, … and the like).


  1. First insert the selected hooklink through the hook eye.
  2. Hooklink is now through the hook eye.
  3. Wrap the hooklink material around the hook body.
  4. Wrap hooklink around hook shank (5x – 10x times, depending on hook size, pattern and shape, hooklink thickness, carp rig type and individual decision, but not beyond where the hook point begins).
  5. When your are satisfied with the number of wrappers, then pass the hooklink back through the eye of the hook (recommend for beginners). For better hook strength I recommend wrap the hooklink in the opposite direction (2x – 4x times) and then put hooklink through the ear of the hook.
  6. Always end knotless knot (whith or without hair) by pushing the hooklink end through the hook’s ear toward the hook point. Very important: If you do not do this in this direction, the hook does not turn properly in the carp mouth.
  • Add anti tangle sleeve to hooklink.

Clinch knot that is very easy and fast to tie, strong, reliable and uncomplicated. I recommend all beginners to first learn how to tie this knot. Below I described how to tie this knot. I am sure that after 2x – 3x attempts you will have already mastered how to make it. As they say practice makes perfect ?.

  1. Thread hooklink end through the eye of swivel.
  2. Make 4x or more turns around the hooklinks.
  3. Thread the hooklink through the very first loop above the eye of the swivel.
  4. Always moisten knots, then slowly tighten the knot. Trim the tag end and blob it with a lighter.
  1. Attach bait (pop up boilie, tiger nuts, hard corn, bottom boilie, wafter, dumbells, imitation baits …) on bait screw.
  2. Add a small piece (amount depends on presentation method, boilie size and buoyancy, etc) of tungsten putty, for balance hook bait and efficient rig mechanics .
  3. FInally rig is ready for fishing.
  4. In the end I just check in the aquarium, bucket or similar how your screw rig looks like in the bottom. When you know how to tie a rig properly, it is not necessary to check every rig in the aquarium, but I recommend when we tie a rig that we have never had before. Better to check the rigs at home than to get to the fishing spot and find out that we need to tear down for example all 40 rigs and tie everything up again (fortunately this has not happened to me).


Till next time …

 tight lines and wet landing nets!


If you would like to use content from the Fishing Religion website (in whole or in part), please add a link to the contribution on our site in your post.


Disclosure 

Some of the links in this blog and in our videos may be affiliate links, and pay us a small commission if you use them. We really appreciate the support. Thank you for your support.

This site contains affiliate links for which I may be compensated. As an eBay Partner, I may be compensated if you make a purchase. As an Amazon UK Partner, I may be compensated if you make a purchase.





Well, we’re going fishing, fishing gear and food packed……….

This year’s winter temperatures are quite high but also very windy and rainy in my country. When I was planning to go fishing the weather got worse (as usual with a strong wind) and I had to postpone fishing several times. The forecast for Sunday was 16 degrees and sunny, the perfect day to go for my first winter fishing this year. Finally, I go fishing.

And Saturday came and with it the change of weather for Sunday (again a strong wind and showers). my boyfriend and I quickly decided to go fishing Saturday. Better a few hours fishing than nothing. We get our fishing gear quickly in the car and go fishing, finally.

When we got to the fishing spot I first prepared a groundbait for carp fishing. I have already prepared a groundbait dry mix at home (a combination of different ready-made mixes and other ingredients). I added some pellets and a little amount liquid krill additive to the mix. I slowly added lake water to the mix (mix thoroughly until a nice consistency and texture is achieved).

When you add water to the mix, you should always use the water from your fishery . Due to the different chemicals, I do not recommend that you use tap water or at least boil it before use.


While the groundbait was slowly getting wet, we prepared fishing rods and everything else needed to finally start fishing.

When we started fishing, the wind started to blow more and more. Hoping that the wind won’t affect the carp appetite too much and that at least one will be on the fishing mat.


I used pop ups of my own making (testing) and bought at the fishing store.

I used a naked helicopter system on both fishing rods. Instead of carp fishing lead I used a light method feeder lead (30gr or 1oz) filled with groundbait. I had already modified the feeder lead at home so that I could use it as a normal carp lead with a swivel.

Gusts of wind became more and more frequent and stronger. Hmmm , the wind forecast was for tomorrow. But maybe the weather scientists were wrong again.

Later I added some sweet corn to the groundbait and then fed each fishing spot with two groundbait ball and every half hour one smaller ball with fishing catapult. Carp and similar related fish eat very little in the winter, so I adjusted the amount of food accordingly. Hoping that the food will tempted any carp or fish of any kind ?.

Hoping that the sun’s rays will awaken some carp to feed.


My boyfriend and my best fishing companion put some food around the lead, which later turned out to be a great decision. After 20 minutes the top of the fishing rod bent and a bite alarm sounded…..fish on ?. After a short fight, the mirror carp showed up ( heavy between 4 to 5kg or 8 to 11 pound), but luck didn’t last long as just before the landing net the hook got rid of it ?. Let’s try to catch another one…

When the sun hid behind the clouds it became cold.

Except for a few slight beeps, there were no more bites that day. It was getting dark and it was time to pack the fishing gear and go home.

A wonderful day was spent by the lake and the view of the beautiful sunset at the end of the fishing day is invaluable to me.

Till next time …

 tight lines and wet landing nets!


If you would like to use content from the Fishing Religion website (in whole or in part), please add a link to the contribution on our site in your post.


Disclosure 

Some of the links in this blog and in our videos may be affiliate links, and pay us a small commission if you use them. We really appreciate the support. Thank you for your support.

This site contains affiliate links for which I may be compensated. As an eBay Partner, I may be compensated if you make a purchase. As an Amazon UK Partner, I may be compensated if you make a purchase.