Way back in the 1970’s there was a revolution in carp baits, angler’s discovered seeds and pulses and it was an era of particle fishing. Hemp won the battle of the particle baits and even today it’s still regarded as one of the most outstanding carp attractors there is. Like everything in fishing pressure can take its toll and eventually hemp slowed down, this lead anglers to look at other seeds and pulses and they found there were other good seeds that were attractive to carp.
Pigeon conditioner, it makes a great spod mix for carp
Among these other seeds were baits like groats (rolled oats), red dari seed, white dari seed, wheat, barley and pulses like mung beans, pinto beans and black eyed beans. It’s easy to see why Pigeon Conditioner has proved so popular with anglers ‘in the know’, a quick look at the label to see what’s in it and you will see most of these seeds, they are all attractive to carp and they come with the added touch of an aniseed flavour, again another highly rated carp attractor in its own right.
How to Prepare Pigeon Conditioner for Fishing (Click below to watch)
Preparing pigeon conditioner for carp fishing couldn’t be more simple, just put your pigeon conditioner into a cool box, poor boiling water over it and close the lid, leave it overnight and next day you have perfectly prepared pigeon conditioner ready to go fishing with, it really is that simple. (See the video above).
Using a coolbox to prepare pigeon conditioner for carp fishing
Pigeon Conditioner can be used as it is for fishing but it benefits from a process I refer to as ‘layering’. Layering your pigeon conditioner involves adding a mixture of different sized baits to your pigeon mix. The pigeon conditioner becomes the base layer of a spod mix, it’s a mix of seeds that will keep carp, tench and bream grubbing about in the swim and the extra baits you add become the baits you fish with on the hook. In this article I’ve added maple peas to my pigeon conditioner spod mix but you can add anything else you want, favourites of mine include sweetcorn, tiger nuts (chopped and whole), maize, chick peas, trout pellets and boilies (whole and chopped). With a good mix of baits in the spod mix you also have more options for which bait you’ll fish on the hook. By adding some of these baits you don’t leave the carp to get pre-occupied with just the seeds and this method of layering your pigeon conditioner spod mix brings you more runs.
One big advantage of using Pigeon Conditioner as the base of your spod mix instead of hemp is that it keeps the cost of you bait down. Currently hemp is around £45 for a 20k sack whilst a 20k sack of pigeon conditioner comes in at around £18, a considerable saving over using hemp. Not only is pigeon conditioner less than half the price of hemp, it’s easier to prepare which is ideal if you have limited time due to work and family commitments. Pigeon conditioner runs hemp a pretty close second in the fishing stakes too, it’s an exceptionally good fish attractor and well worth a look if you’ve never tried it before.
Nice mid double common caught on a maple pea over pigeon conditioner
I hope I’ve given you some food for thought regarding the use of Pigeon Conditioner for carp fishing, it’s an outstanding particle bait mix that’s largely gone under the radar so it’s well worth using.
Please check out my YouTube Channel and subscribe and also Follow my Instagram Page, when I’m not making fishing videos I post some of my catches to my Instagram so it’s a good way to keep in touch with what’s happening on the North West Carp and Anglers Diary fishing blogs.
Until next time
tight lines and take care.
Mark.
