Essential Baits
Shellfish B5

Vital Statistics

"I used the Shellfish B5 ready rolled freezer bait for a couple of seasons during the turn of the Millennium, with some very good results. The bait itself is made up of a blend of soluble fish proteins, low temperature fish proteins, milk proteins & fats, with crustacean extracts and that all-time great carp attractor - Robin Red.

The inclusion of crustacean extracts gives the bait a crunchy texture which several other companies jumped on the back off and started to include waste products such as egg shell or oyster grit to give a similar experience to the fish (but nothing comes close to the natural crustacean extracts in doing so).

The bait was of a medium texture that hardened up nicely after air drying, but also broke down after several days in the water. Straight from the bag, the baits could easily be put out using a throwing stick as far as you need to put them without fear of them breaking up in flight.

The attractor profile of the bait is a strange combination but one that works well together. The attractors used include a subtle plum flavouring, Fruit Factor 6 (a Thaumatin based powdered that smoothes the taste of the flavourings out in the bait as well as adding a sweet undertone), Green Lipped Mussel extract (high in natural Betaine and other amino acids that are known to be attractive to the Carp) and Red Salmon oil."

“The Shellfish B5 is a bait that I always meant to go back to after trying out other baits, but never got round to it. It is one of those baits that you know will produce the goods time after time again” - Darren Wilson UKMA.

Was this still the cult classic big fish bait it was a decade ago or had the variation of ingredients and new manufacturing processes changed the baits performance?  There was only one way to find out. So UKMA contacted Essential baits MD Mike Willmott and after a long, very informative conversation about all things Carp and bait oriented. Mike agreed to allow UKMA to put the B5 through its paces on venues in the U K and in France.

With enough B5 for several sessions in hand, we sent our own globe trotting field tester Phil Bowers of on a mission. We asked the Suffolk based angler to get out on the bank and find out if the Shellfish B5 could still carry the reputation of being one of the best big fish baits available. So after three sessions over an eight week period including a week in France, Here’s how Phil got on;

Session One

Venue – Undisclosed French Water
Duration – 7 night session commencing Easter Weekend
Weather – maximum 10 oC, minimum -5 oC, winds moderate North - North Easterly, occasional rain, mainly dry and very cold.

Catch Report – With conditions being in the favour of Eskimos, during my session in France, my expectations for a result were far from good. As the week progressed and I steadily built up my baited areas, to my pleasure the resident Carp and Catfish decided to put in an appearance. This was a hugely boosted my confidence in the B5 Shellfish, as many anglers on the lake were struggling to make contact with the Venues many inhabitants.

Over the seven nights I landed six Carp including two upper doubles, two low twenties, and a 27lb mirror, with the pick of the bunch being a very pale, 31lb 1oz Mirror. Totally unexpected and I have to admit, not very welcome, was the appearance of a 60lb 1oz Catfish, which  ran me ragged for about 20 minutes. Yes it did give one hell of a scrap but my quest was for carp and when it finally showed its ugly head I was disappointed to say the least.

After landing fish on all three rods and with fish showing in all three areas that I had baited up with Shellfish B5, it was becoming very obvious that the bait had most definitely attracted fish into my swim and stimulated feeding activity. Yes I never broke any world records but when many struggled for a single bite, the Shellfish B5 seemed to give me an edge and produce the goods.

Session Two

Venue – Fenland Fishery, Earith Cambridgeshire
Duration – second week in May 48 hours
Weather - maximum 18 oC, minimum 4 oC, winds variable North –North westerly,
Sunny spells with occasional light showers.

Catch Report – With the venue starting to show good form, I had a good feeling about this session. Plenty of fish were showing themselves of after the long cold winter and the previous week had seen numerous upper twenties and even the resident 30lb plus fish were not shying from the feed. So with everything looking perfect, I settle down ready for the session ahead.

My plan of attack was very simple, I decided to use a 20mm Shellfish B5 bottom bait and a Pop Up, which was fished “Snowman style” Before each cast I heavily glugged my hook baits in advance to stimulate the better stamp of fish into feeding. To draw attention to my chosen marks, I loose fed 16mm Boilies via a catapult at about 35 yds, feeding little and often over a sizeable area to keep them searching out my baits.

After only an hour or so, my left hand Delkim sounded the charge of a very upset Willow Lake resident. Once I engaged the clutch and lent into the fish and all hell broke loose. The as yet unseen beast weeded me up twice and then tried its very best to snag me in the marginal tree roots but finally, the superb creature surrendered and made its way to the net. To my total joy, my first run of four produced the biggest fish of the session, a stunning 31lb 10oz mirror.

 Session Three

Venue – Fenland Fishery, Earith, Cambridgeshire
Duration –Last week in May 48 hours
Weather - maximum 28 oC, minimum 10 oC, winds variable South –South Easterly,
Sunny and very hot.

Catch Report – At last! Summer had arrived with vengeance, clear blue skies with a warm but refreshing southerly wind, far from perfect fishing weather to say the least but not being one to give up, I set my self up on a swim half way down the lake. I chose this area simply because the wind was going to be variable over the next 48 hours and this should and fortunately turned out to be the area were most fish had shown over my stay on the lake.

After doing a bit of stalking, fishing floater in a corner peg full of fish that had followed the warm summer breeze and reaping the rewards from my efforts with a couple of mid twenties in the mid afternoon heat. I decided to head back to my peg and set my stall out for the night’s entertainment. Sticking to the tried and tested Shellfish B5 Snowman set up and loose fed 16mm offerings, I settled in for the night and decided to get an early night.

9pm and just got my head down when that distinctive Delkim scream awoke me from my slumber, this was now becoming a habit. Once I had the fish under total control, I immediately realise that it was a very good fish, after the usual under the rod tip struggle and final attempted run for freedom, another chunk of a mirror graced the landing net and took the scales round to an impressive 31lb 8oz. this was the best of a 8 fish haul which included 5 fish over 20lb.

Final Thoughts

The Essential Baits Shellfish B5 has been tested by UKMA Field tester Phil Bowers in two different countries on two totally different types of venue. During these tests, Phil has fished in three completely different weather systems and during two of the sessions, the weather was so extreme, the cards were stacked against any kind of result but the facts speak for themselves.

I’ll put it to you like this, during eleven nights on the bank (264 hours) Phil amassed a 20 fish haul including three carp over 30lb, eight carp over 21lb and six double figure fish over 16lb. Add to this the three Catfish he has also landed which vary from the smallest of 28lb caught in the UK, to the French Monster which tipped the scales at a huge 60lb 1oz. That works out at a fish every 13 hours. That’s bloody impressive if you ask me, I for one would be happy with those stats.

It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to realise that the Essential Baits Shellfish B5 totally deserves the reputation it has established over the years.

When the Shellfish B5 keeps on producing exceptional results like these, you soon realise how the bait has established such a cult status amongst serious carp heads both in the U K and Europe.

The best way I can end this review is by describing the Essential Baits shellfish B5 as;

                        

“a classic bait that catches fish of legends”