Baitcraft T1 Range

Baitcraft are a name that most anglers will have heard of but maybe not got round to trying any products in the company's portfolio. The man behind the company, Mark McKenna, has been angling for over 24 years and has personally caught carp to 47lb as well as being the current Bream British record holder with a huge fish of 22lb 9oz from Ferry Lagoon on the Fen Drayton complex.

Mark put a lot of time into researching the science behind putting together an effective bait, and countless time into perfecting a food source that was instantly effective, nutritionally beneficial to the fish and most importantly, the fish readily accepted time and time again.

The first bait that Baitcraft bought to the market was the T1. The T1 is a bait that Mark and his team of field testers had been using to great success on the waters they hade been fishing.

When you look at the T1, you could be mistaken for thinking that it is just another red bait, but it simply has a unique aroma that does stimulate even human taste buds (even if you do not like the smell!). The T1 has a fishy aroma with an undertone that I cannot put my finger on, but it reminds me of Oriental foods. It is not an unpleasant smell, but it is also one that you don't want to be spilling in the car or anywhere that the Mrs may be frequenting. It is certainly one of those aromas that you know is going to catch fish.

Upon breaking open one of the baits, you can see that the mix is of a good consistency and that the "skin" is approximately 0.5mm so will allow the attractors to leak out effectively in all water temperatures without breaking down too quickly. Looking at the ingredients it is noticable that their is a content of fishmeal as well as obviously other ingredients which are impossible to make out just by looking at them (it would not be fair to ask Mark to tell us exactly what was in the baits).

UKMA have been testing the T1 baits out for a few months now to get a true feel of the effectiveness, and the team members that have been using it have been catching on it, with fish to mid-20's being caught from a variety of venues that the guys fish at.

The T1 baits are not just available in boilie form, and Baitcraft have also bought out a range of supplementary products to give a full bait system. Pellets are also available to match the T1 boilies, and are of a low-mid oil type. The pellets have a breakdown time of around 2 hours on average during the testing periods and when we placed some in a glass, we noticed that the water had taken on a light reddish tinge and that the water smelt of the T1, which shows that the attractors are water soluble and will attract any fish that are around the baited area at the time.

Upon feeding a neighbours pond kept carp with the T1 pellets, the fish homed in on them when placed into the water at the opposite end of the pond in a PVA bag (so the fish were not coming to the splash of the bait being thrown in).

The pellets are also some of the most uniform pellets I have seen when it comes to shape and size, which will lower the chance of pellets flying everywhere when catapulting them out and also allow neatly tied PVA bags.

A stick mix has also been developed for those that like to use small sticks in their angling. The stick mix also works well when incorporated into a Spod Mix or used as a Method mix. The stick mix is more of a brown colour than the red of the other baits, but it does take on a reddish tinge if knocked up with some of the Baitcraft T1 Cow Cola hookbait glug/dip liquid. The Cow Cola is also added to the pellets to give them added attraction.

The Cow Cola made waves amongst anglers when it was released and oon become a vogue additive that anglers who were not using the rest of the T1 range, where using the Cow Cola in their angling as a dip, additive to spod mix or a dip for hookbaits. The Cow Cola has the same aroma as the T1 baits but obviously a bit stronger. You can use Cow Cola in PVA bags with confidence as well as it does not melt it - perfect for this time of year where anglers are looking at holding back on large quantities of bait in favour of single hookbaits with lots of attraction.

The Corker Pop-Ups that finish off the T1 range are one of the most impressive "off the shelf" pop-ups that I have seen. As someone that uses the Chod & Hinged Stiff rigs for most of my angling, a bouyant pop-up that is not going to sink after a few hours in the water is very important.

The T1 pop-ups contain a good quantity of cork granules and dust added to the base mix and attractors, before being rolled into hookbaits. I put an 18mm T1 pop-up into a pint glass of water attached to a typical Chod rig (Size 4 hook, 2.5" stiff material, size 10 swivel and some putty), and after 5 days of immersion in the water, the bait was still as bouyant as it was straight out of the tub.

Confidence in a tub. Even a trimmed down pop-up will remain as bouyant as it was before placed in the water as the cork granules will eliminate any water drawn into the bait.

Each of the T1 Pop-Ups that I took out of the tub where as close to being round as possible - which means that they are more aerodynamic on the cast and will give less drag through the air when every yard is important.

Final Thoughts

After the team having been putting the T1 range through their paces over the past few months, I can say that the baits do indeed catch fish. All the waters that have been fished are pressured waters that see lots of anglers day in, day out. The T1 smells just so "carpy" & it is just one of those baits that simply ooze confidence. Unlike a lot of bait companies, Baitcraft are not a company that are releasing baits simply for the fun of it to boost their range. The T1 was the first of the company's baits to hit the market and Mark has been working on other baits since the launch, and incredibly only has three baits (T1, Snowball & Super Tutti) on the market with a forth (Super 'K') going through testing still (even though it is available via the company website to buy).

One final word of advice, make sure that you have a good hand cleanser when handling the Cow Cola or the Pellets, as two days after handling them and two showers, I still have pinky/red fingers!!!!! The dye used is that good!!!!!

For more information on the Baitcraft range, please click the image below to visit the website.