Food for thought "Carp detect their food initially via olfaction, detecting dissolved components in the water like amino acids, ribonucleotides and others in no particular order. In scientific studies of Carp, it was found that the dietary proteins (%) needed to satisfy the requirements of carp depended upon the water temperature, the carps age and the environment the carp lives in. The Essential Amino Acids are; Leucine, isoleucine, valine, threonine, phenylalanine, tyrosine, methionine, cystine, tryptophan, arginine, histidine, and lysine respectively. A diet of 40% protein and 80% digestibility is the target. Why anyone with a brain thinks that it’s a good idea to mask Carp bait in perfumed oil making it impossible for the Carp to locate it, extract anything from it is baffling. Emulsifiers If you are using an emulsifier with your oils, then this a different argument, however this in NOT what is being preached by the industry. Generally, an emulsion is a viscous, uniform substance created from two otherwise immiscible liquids — typically oil and water — and a third component, which facilitates mixing. This component is known as an emulsifying agent, or an emulgent. Of course, the final “ingredient” is energy, usually supplied in the form of shaking, blending, agitation or some other vigorous motion. The best mixers are capable of achieving emulsification quickly and efficiently. (A food blender). Emulsions can be found in numerous industries, making commodities anywhere from milk, yogurt, mayonnaise and salad dressings. Milk Homogenized milk, for example, consists of lipids (oil) dispersed more or less uniformly throughout a water-based matrix (skim milk). Milk proteins serve as emulsifying agents in this instance, helping to stabilize the mixture once these two incompatible substances have been thoroughly blended. This will and can be diluted into water! It is Hydrophilic. OIL-IN-WATER VS. WATER-IN-OIL Emulsions may be either oil-in-water or water-in-oil. Technically, when generating oil-in-water vs. water-in-oil emulsions, one phase (known as the dispersed phase) is mixed into the other (the continuous phase). In other words, one liquid serves as a sort of base into which another liquid is added. When an emulsion is “oil-in-water,” oil is the dispersed phase that is distributed into the continuous phase, water. In a water-in-oil emulsion,

the roles are switched. Milk is an example of an oil-in-water emulsion, while butter is water-in-oil. Hydrophobic. Milk proteins make great emulsifiers & consist of two main fractions: caseins by about 80% (Fantastic Carp bait) and whey proteins by around 20% (Very Good carp bait). Caseins are very heat stable but denature at a pH value of approximately 4.6. (To put this in layman’s terms PH is simply the acidity / bitterness of a substance. Beer = 4.5–5.0 PH. Water is 7 ish. It is well known that milk-based proteins are excellent emulsifiers because of their amphiphilic structure. The hydrophobic (Hate water = Oil) and hydrophilic (Love water = Milk) parts of the proteins are able to connect a water and an oil phase. As such Milk & Cream are both excellent emulsifiers due to oil droplet formation and stabilisation by milk proteins. In Conclusion You wish to adulterate a perfectly good bait by polluting it with oil, then you better get some milk & cream added, pop a little whey protean or casein into the mix. Ensure its all mixed well (Emulsified) and ensure it’s a warm day if possible. The best place for it is in the margin. I am not going to bang on about Casein / Milk / Cream, there is no substitute for it. The industry has gone fishmeal crazy. Good luck with that. We are sticking with Essential Amino / Casein / Milk / Cream / Whey Protean / Hemp Milk / Tiger-Nut Milk/ Liquidized Casters and Maggots / Lentein. (Do some research on Lentein. Stop being lazy, switch on, research & study is good for the grey matter and will drastically improve your catch rate). (Tiger & Hemp Milk. Take half a pound of each. Cook in a pressure cooker with the minimum of water. Heat up milk and cream. Put tigers, hemp & the fluid from the pressure cooker into the milk / cream & stick the whole lot into a blender and blend until smooth. Leave it over-night in a warm place. Pass through a fine sieve, add your favourite amino, a little ginger a squeeze of honey as a preservative. Pop your bait into the milky elixir before you set off to the water. You now have a Hydrophilic, Amino Packed, Protean Packed, Nutty, Hempy Carp attractor, second to nothing). Tight lines.

Glugging your bait in neat un-emulsified raw OIL, thinking that it helps? You are not doing yourself any favours. Carp simply cannot detect their amino / nutrient’s masked in thick, nasty, perfumed oil. They may detect traces of bait that are carried by the oil but only once the oil has broken down sufficiently, and that’s not happening in cold water. Ever. In the cold oil thickens and is of no use at all, whoever is perpetuating the oil rumour has lost his mind and is totally deluded. However, I’m certain that they already know this as they stock the tackle shop shelves with their magic oils at £12 a time hoping to snag the gullible new carp angler.