Boilies

Boilies are boiled paste fishing baits, usually combinations of fishmeals, milk proteins, bird foods, semolina and soya flour, which are mixed with eggs as a binding agent and then boiled to form hardish round baits which will last in the water.

The modern day Hair-rig was devised by Kevin Maddocks and Len Middleton in the late 70’s. It was while conducting tank tests that they concluded that Carp were actually frightened by the effect of the hook and hooklength passing over their lips. The way round this was to mount the bait on a very light, supple, two-inch Hair (donated by Kevin’s wife!), which was attached to the lower bend of the hook. The long supple Hair allowed the Carp to confidently pick up the bait and pass it back to the Pharyngeal teeth without feeling the effect of the hook or hooklength over it’s lips. The Hair-rig has changed a lot since then in that there is less emphasis being placed on the Carp’s fear of the effect of the hook and hooklength over its lips. Nowadays the emphasis is on the hook being able to turn and find a good hook-hold as the hookbait is being ejected by the Carp.