Mainline Baits New Grange

Long Term Test

About 18 months ago I was educated into how to catch winter carp whilst out on a feature with by Derek “The Don” Ritchie at Willowcroft Fish Farm & Fisheries in deepest rural Cambridgeshire. He showed me the new bait from Mainline that he was taking venues apart with including Willowcroft and after many twists of his arm and a few death threats, I finally got him to spill the beans and he introduced me to the New Grange from Mainline Baits. So on my return home, I was immediately on the blower and contacted Mainlines Baits' maestro Steve Morgan (top bloke) who after a bit of haggling, finally agreed to let me have a go with this very productive bait.

Here’s how I got on with the New Grange from Mainline Baits over the Past 18 months.

The New Grange Range Vital Statistics

Freezer Bait 15mm Bollies…………...RRP £11.99 per kg
Hook Bait Enhancer System………... RRP £10.99 per175ml
Mainline Pop Ups…………………........RRP £  6.99 per Tub of 60

The New Grange from Mainline Baits is a light biscuit brown in colour very similar to the now legendary Cell. It has a very distinctive meaty aroma that instantly reminds you of a cold Roast Chicken, a perfect description given to me by an angling friend, after he had a whiff of this gorgeous bait. As with all Mainline Baits you can expect a very high standard of roll and the New Grange was no exception. Apart from the odd deformed end of roll offering, which are great for a change of bait shape when the resident creatures have learned to ignore round or symmetrical baits. With most of these 15mm Boilie offerings being near identical in both size and shape, this made them perfect for short to medium range feeding via a Catapult or Throwing Stick.  

To accompany the New Grange Boilies, Mainline Baits have also released the superb dedicated base mix range New Grange Pop Ups that are 15mm in size and these can comfortably hold up a size 6 “Chod” hook and retain their buoyancy for well over 24 hour. These reliable Pop Ups also create the perfect Snowman presentation when used in conjunction with the 15mm New Grange bottom baits. To complete the range you can also purchase The Hook Bait Enhancer System Liquid, this thick liquid is not only ideal for glugging your hook baits but it is also PVA friendly making it perfect to use as a soak for pellets and stick mixes. This offers the angler a complete food source that is really attractive to fish and incredibly productive.

The Venues For Testing

Over the past 18 months of testing, I concentrated my efforts on several different venues based upon the Stock levels and fish size, if the lakes bed had Silt, Gravel or Clay and the type of water vegetation that was present. These venues were carefully chosen to establishing a far representation and ensuring all the above criteria was covered. This venue selection would enable me to confirm which type of venues the New Grange would perform best on and under what circumstances the bait wouldn’t perform. So after careful deliberation, I selected my venues and proceeded to in turn, fish each venue, using baiting approaches and presentations, which were the most productive methods for each venue all year round.  

The On the Bank Tests

In Early April, I arrived at my first venue with great expectations from a bait I had personally see land over 18 twenties and 3 thirties over a 48 hour period only four weeks earlier (Top angling Del). The venue was a man made reservoir of approximately 4.5 acres. It had an average depth of 6 feet and had dense beds of Canadian Pond Weed. Although the lake had a predominately clay bed, there were numerous areas of silt that seem to appear where the vegetation was not in attendance (obvious feeding area). So I baited two of these area with approximately 40 well spread freebies and fished a single bottom bait on one area and a Snowman with a 10mm Pineapple on the other to see what would happen.

During the next 48 hours I caught steadily from both areas with fish from low doubles to low twenties putting in regular appearances. By alternating the two rigs I was able to establish that once the Carp had found one free offering, they would continue to search to find others until you eventually would get a take, no matter what or how you presented your hook bait. After landing 12 Carp to 23lb, the New Grange had me convinced it was something special. This pattern of success continued all through the summer and autumn on the varied selection of fisheries I used to test the bait. It produced the goods on Clay Silt and Gravel bottoms without prejudice and even when the weed was a major problem, the bait still produced result that were unexpected.

Up till December I had amassed 65 Carp over 20lb, with over 30 of them over the 25lb mark, With over 75 mid to upper doubles and both Bream and Tench over 10lb to its credit. The New Grange from Mainline Baits was building a  good reputation for itself (in my books anyway) now with winter hitting hard and many venues frozen for nearly 2 months meaning I was unable to fish during this period. So after consulting with “The Don” he advised me to contact Mainline and get hold of the New Grange in the 10mm size, as this was the bait to have in winter months. So yet again I called Mr Morgan who arranged a 10kg run for me to have a play with and to be totally honest, this was the best thing I could have possibly done.

At long last Mother Nature finally released here chilling, wintery grip and finally the temperatures reached the dizzy heights that allowed the lakes defrost for the first time in nearly seven weeks. I needed to catch fish, so I headed of to a clay pit that was originally a match venue. Over the next few years the venue had changed hands, allowing the resident Carp to pile on the pounds and the venue had started to regularly produce good twenties and the occasional thirty. I arrived on the Monday and set my stool out for the session. I fished right over to the far margin in eight foot of water and fed 20 x 10mm New Grange boillies on both lines and fished a Mainline 10mm Pop Up on a hinged combi-link rig over the top.

Over the next 48 hours I realised the full all-weather catching potentials of the New Grange from Mainline. With three other anglers in attendance who between them landed nothing, apart from one Bream. I was in amazement when I finished my session and I had ended up landed 9 fish in total that included five twenties to 24lb 13oz. To make this capture even more rewarding I landed my three biggest Carp from underneath cat ice as the temperatures plummeted down to a very cold – 6C backed by a 10 MPH easterly wind. The New Grange had now conclusively shown me that it could catch fish even in the most adverse weather conditions I have personally ever had the privilege to fish in.

Final Thoughts

Over the past 18 months I have tried and tested numerous baits from virtually every manufacturer you can name. Admittedly I have had some very good results with these products but none of these other bait offerings have given me the total confidence I have gained whilst using the New Grange from Mainline Baits. It has accounted for the majority of my 92 twenties over 56 nights on the bank and literally hundreds of singles and doubles over the same period. It works superbly on all venues that contain dense weed, heavy silt, clay or gravel and the performance rate is virtually identical. To summarise, The New Grange from Mainline Baits has proved to be an all-season food source that can catch large numbers of fish.