Tutorials

Late Summer Particle Tips with Aaron Copp! Posted by Aaron Copp

Aaron Copp explains the importance of particles during this time of year!

Now I can’t lie, if I can get away with solely using a good quality boilie, then I will. In addition to being very versatile (used in the edge, or at range, whole via a throwing stick, or spodded broken etc.), I also firmly believe boilie fishing helps select the bigger carp in the lake. Though quality food baits do have one particular drawback, and that’s the fact they are also very attractive to nuisance fish! And in particular tench and bream.

If they are present in numbers, that’s when I get a bit tactical. One venue in particular I have fished over the year’s springs to mind, the weedy little pit is literally infested with tench. As a result, a boilie cast in certain swims will be picked up in literally a few minutes by a tench. Honestly, when using a boilie you can barely keep a rod in the water. That’s when I incorporate particles, and in particular Tiger Nuts, into my baiting approach. In roughly equal quantities, I apply whole 18mm boilies, and Mainline Power+ Particle Tigers, which in addition to being safely prepared, are also boosted with Multi-Stim (an appetite stimulator).

Now the humble Tiger Nut, loaded with natural sugars, is also attractive to tench and bream, and unfortunately I have caught both on nut hookbaits. Remember, in order to work out what’s edible and what’s not, fish suck in/mouth the bait. But the Tiger has a massive trump card to help keep the nuisance fish at bay, and that’s the fact tench and bream pharyngeal teeth are not powerful enough to crush a tiger nut, and so will often eject the uneaten tiger. That’s absolutely key, i.e. no matter how many bream or tench you have present in the swim, you will have bait (tigers) left in the swim that carp love. Anyone who has ever retained a carp that has been recently feasting on Tigers will attest to the fact that their pharyngeal teeth have absolutely no problem in crushing Tiger Nuts. And by baiting with both nuts and boilies, every now and then the carp will get a look in at the boilies, and so I am helping to establish my food bait boilie for the autumn/winter (when the ravenous tench have subsided!).

Share this article