The Test of Time

By Rich Adams

With so many bait companies to choose from and so many different varieties of boilies on the shelves it can leave the mind boggling as to which one to choose. I do not wish to get into a debate about which boilie is the best or the worst, I will leave that to the bait experts to decide. What I do know is that when I am deciding on a bait for any particular campaign I want a boilie that has high quality ingredients and one that I believe will catch a few fish. Two years ago I came across such a bait in the shape of Mistral Baits i40. It was a Saturday morning and I was on my way to fish my syndicate lake, however, bait supplies were running low and a trip to see Allan Parberry at Mistral was needed to replenish the stocks. Whilst there Allan told me of a new bait he was working on and asked me if I fancied giving it a go. When I left Mistral baits I had enough of the new bait (it didn’t even have a name at this stage) to fish on one rod.

That weekend there were no other fish caught on the lake but I had a nice brace of fish in the shape of a high twenty and a cracking 33lb common on the new bait. Needless to say I was on the phone to see when the next batch would be ready for collection!

The i40 is a totally carp friendly bait which consists of three types of nuts and a blend of birdfoods along with a few secret sweet and spicy additives that give it a fantastic balance of natural sweetness with a spicy kick. It is the kind of bait I could eat myself but despite my size I have managed to resist the temptation so far.

Since that first time of using the i40 I have caught well over a hundred fish in all manner of weather conditions and circumstances and I can honestly say that it has produced fish when other baits have failed. On a trip to France I caught seven fish in a week up to a new French p.b of 46lb all on the i40, those fish had never seen the bait before so again testament to its instant attraction. I have found that it is a good all year round bait and have had some cracking results on it even in the depths of winter. I believe that the reason the fish in my syndicate lake continue to feed on it two years after it was introduced is because it is a highly nutritious and easily digestible bait and I’m confident they will continue to do so. One thing I would like to add is that all of the bait I use is shelf life and I have complete confidence in using shelf life baits regardless of the time of year or the temperature of the water. The i40 is definitely a bait that has stood the test of time.

I have recently been lucky enough to gain fishing rights on a local Cemex gravel pit; it is approx 15 acres in size with an unknown quantity of carp. Going on local knowledge and talking to fellow Mistral team member Malc Grice who also has fishing rights on “The Secret Lake” I am led to believe there are probably between twenty and thirty carp in the lake, this figure could go either way by ten fish or so. I have been prebaiting the lake for a couple of weeks now and have fished one session alongside Malc but unfortunately we both blanked on a session when the elements really were against us, I will be starting my diary pieces for 2011 in the very near future so watch this space to see how I get on. My bait for the up and coming campaign is a new edition to the Mistral baits range, as a Mistral consultant part of my job is to field test any new baits. I am not too bothered though, as the bait I am going to be using is still the i40 but with a new twist to it. It is called i40 Red and it has the same base mix and ingredients as i40 but with an added ingredient which is robin red, a known and proven fish attractor and I firmly believe that this edition has made an already fantastic bait an even better one.

So follow my diary pieces throughout 2011 to see if the i40 red lives up to its pre-empted reputation and becomes another of Mistrals' range that can stand “The Test of Time”

Until next time, tight lines and enjoy your fishing

Rich “Fatbloke” Adams (Gardner Tackle/Mistrel Baits)

TheTest Of Time is sponsored by Gardner Tackle & Mistral Baits