Richworth XLR8 Range

Richworth have literally been part of the carp angling bait market since its inception - they were the first commercial bait company! With all the years of experience under their belts, when Richworth release a new bait to the market, it creates big waves amongst their loyal following of anglers who prefer to stick with a company that they have grown with rather than jump ship because of the marketting from some other bait manufacturers.

The XLR8 range of baits has been developed in close association with one of Richworths top consultants in Steve Renyard. Most anglers who are serious about their angling will know that Steve has caught some of the biggest and sought after carp in the country from some of the hardest waters, so when he has had a hand in the development of a new bait, it is worth taking a look at!

The XLR8 bait started out as one of Steve Renyard's own recipes that he used to use back in the 1990's. After speaking to Bob Baker at Richworth about the bait, the mix was tweaked with some new ingredients and proven during the testing stages to be a very effective fish catcher.

XLR8 is a dark brown coloured bait which has a flavour profile that can only be described as a Pepperami/Garlic Sausage smell which does make the bait smell and feel really "carpy". The texture of the bait is the usual fine texture that Richworth are famous for with a smooth finish to the outer skin that is more than up to the job of extreme range throwing stick use without the need to air dry the baits to marble status for several days beforehand. One thing that Richworth have got down to a fine art is constructing a bait that has the dense smooth texture but also allows good leakage of attractors without making the bait fall apart easily - something that is needed on waters that contain a lot of small silver fish or Crays.

As with any bait that has been sent to the UKMA offices recently, the de facto tank test with the two carp that I keep in my living room was carried out with the XLR8. A crumbed bait was introduced into a darkened tank so the fish could not see that food was being put into the tank - the reaction from the fish was measured with how quick they went to the area that the bait was introduced into as well as how vigourously they stirred up the substrate to get to any remaining crumb. With the XLR8 the response was not as instant as some of the other baits I have tested in the tank, but the fish found it quickly and literally rooted up the bottom of the tank to get every single morsel that was put in. Even after all the bait was gone, they continued to tear up the gravel just in case (yes I do feed them other feed than boilies every day!!). The next test was to put a single drop from a pipette of the dip into the water at the opposite end of the tank to test how quickly the attractors went through the water. When the drop was introduced, the fish were straight to the opposite end of the tank looking for food. The results proved to me that the bait is certainly one that the fish like and the solubility of the glugs and the actual baits themselves were above average and touching the "excellent" end of the test scale.

To accompany the XLR8 boilies, Richworth have put together their standard package of pop-ups, glug, feed pellets and bait spray in the same flavour and attractor profile. The pop-ups are highly bouyant and have no problems holding up a standard Chod rig (size 5 hook, ring swivel, etc) for well over 24 hours. The pellets that Richworth supply are also very uniform in profile and are amongst the best shaped pellets I have seen, making them perfect for use in PVA bags as well as the catapult.

Final Thoughts

All in all, Richworth have done it again and have created a bait that is going to be a long term food source as well as being instantly accepted by the fish. The texture of the baits is amongst the best around and is to the same standard as the rest of the range. Even after 12 hours of soaking in water, very little colour leaked from the boilies and the flavour profile is still detectable to the human nose without taking on any obnoxious smells from the venue substrate such as silt or decaying weed. This is one bait that could be left out for several days on rock hard waters with confidence. I am certain that Richworth have another classic bait on their hands here to go alongside baits such as Tutti Frutti, KG1, Salmon Supreme and Honey Yucatan.

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