Are we talking Sulfur Compounds Pete?

Some sulphur compounds perhaps....? but very difficult to regulate.....



The trouble with all this attraction lark in carp baits is that very few people actually understand what is attractive, to determine that you have to understand what a carp can detect and at what level that 'attractor', if any, works or doesn't.... it's something I keep coming back to, a few on here know what I mean, to many I may as well type all replies on bait in Mandarin for all the sense it makes...

Oils are not attractors!

Not for one second going to try to contradict you Pete, but I would love to hear you expand on that a little.

In my simple mind oils/lipids are an essential part of a carp’s diet. Given that protien/amino's are also only a part of that ideal diet, why would the detection of amino’s be more of a food signal/attractor than any other component of that ideal diet i.e. lipids?

Andy,

This maybe of use for a very small part of your question..Or it maybe not.. as it raises lot of other questions..

Lifted from.. Knowing BASS – Keith. A.Jones-PhD…. Please note this is a book on BASS

Both taste & smell receptors can only respond to molecules with which they make true physical contact. Accordingly, only stimulant molecules dispersed throughout the water can ever reach the receptor pockets & make physical contact. This requirement puts a physical limitation on what kind of stimulation a BASS can experience. Water-insoluble substances, such as fats & oils, are rarely dispersed as single molecules in the water. More often they form multi-molecular aggregates having the least amount of surface contact with the water. In this form these substances are incapable of stimulating BASS.
To BASS, oils & other water-insoluble substances don’t exist. Besides needing to be water soluble, stimulant molecules must as a general rule be comparatively small. Super large molecules like proteins & fats are simply too massive to fit into the receptor pockets.

For the rest of your question I will leave Mandarin Pete & others more knowledgeable than me to expand on…

feck it,just use good old fashioned tutti`s and forget all about it

We're talking about many facets of 'attraction' when we look at why herbs and spices work in boiled carps baits. pH differentials as already mentioned, you wont find an effective spice or spice blend that does not elicit a change in pH if put into solution.

This is just part of it in my opinion, we can isolate amino derivatives from the aforementioned groups, we can also identify powerful alkaloids which can possibly have interactions with a carp’s nervous system. Couple this to possible immune augmentation and digestive aids and we begin to see the story behind why herbs and spices are particularly useful in boiled baits.

Capsaicin, again it’s quite probable that it interacts with the correct receptor type in a carp, namely the TRPV type and this again elicits a reaction or stimulates a particular gustatory response. There’s more to discuss but these reasons alone should warrant anyone to further investigate and consider the use of herbs and spices in carp baits.

Good answer that mr Saggy belly

Also the blends of certain spices at the correct levels are far superior to the addition of just a single spice.

Where is it possible to find min/max of each herb or spice ?

If I had the time I would play about finding good levels and blends of spices through slogging at it the old way but unfortunately my fishing time is extremely limited now, especially from late april to the end of october.

I know my usual bait works well, I even had a shoal of pound plus roach gorging themselves on my 14mm lightly skinned baits last time I used it, much to the disdain of the local match anglers However with my limited time any increase in bait effectiveness is more than welcome My current test blend of chilli (20g/kg), fenugreek (20g/kg) and garlic (25g/kg) has had one take so far but it's only been used the once, and I lost the bugger as I was busy playing a fish already. The dog, ducks, swans and coots certainly like it and the koi and goldfish in my 'inlaws' pond cleared up the halved and crumbed baits I put in their pond sharpish so it's looking ok so far.
I'll have to try and get on a nice easy water for a day session or two for further tests...

what about a good dose of steak seasoning from schwartz..theres chunks in it like so will need blending to complete powder form..i`d say half a teaspoon to a kilo and the same of tikka massala powdered marinade from knorr..again blended together with a bit of dry mix to make sure the lumps dont sink to the bottom of the blender with blending little amounts...
caught a cat with that in a mix in winter too..with a tiny amount of garlic butter thrown in for good measure