Robin Red is a carp bait additive that has had an incredible effect on carp catches for decades, but its recipe and how it works is surrounded by controversy and relatively few carp anglers use it to its full potential. Discover some clues about it and its very effective use here…

Although Robin Red is the original formula from Haiths in the UK, it is also sold through so many fishing bait companies around the world it is quite staggering and sometimes copies are made (but then how do you make a copy when the actual formula has never been released?) Among Haiths famous products applied to or designed for carp fishing as opposed to just bird raising are these: Robin Red, Red Factor, Prosecto Insectivorous, Nectarblend, Red Band, Carpticle Mix, Super Red, Hempseed, Soft bill, and Multi Mix. Anglers have been involved in the designing of some of these products to help fellow anglers really get the best from them as baits and in baits with good mutually beneficial reasons; Rod Hutchinson is one such leading light.

Anyone in the bait business will be familiar with Robin Red as has a track record that stands out a mile but of course the other products mentioned are in many ways superb in their own right and all have taken their place in the hall of carp fame today. There are other bird food products that this company and other companies sell which are also very well proven and Hinders is another company to investigate products from. In fact, many carp bait companies have refined and adapted and even blended formulations and recipes of extremely successful and new bird food products with huge success proven by their customers catches and Ccmoore is a shining example with 12 generations of animal feed and nutrition experience behind them.

The popularity of Robin Red is so great that Im sure that at times in the case of making your own homemade boilies, that if you do not use Robin Red in your bait, it will likely as not be the only carp bait in the water that does not include it! Not using Robin Red can actually be a good thing as carp are so familiar with it on busy very hard-fished carp waters that it could well act as an indicator of potential danger! You might find out a bit more about it and choose to use a component of it instead, or use it in very low levels, this works well winter summer or fall…

Uses and methods of application of robin Red are many, and it can be added to boilie and pellets base mixes, ground baits of all forms (and clouds water and dyes your dyes fingers red! Try dampening Robin Red with PVA-friendly liquids such as the excellent Ccmoore Red Venom, (which is absolutely ideal for the job,) and contains certain very concentrated levels of similar Robin Red bioactive components! Robin Red used in solution (with water added) produces a good bait soak for boilies, pellets and as liquid boosts for ground baits and maggots etc; although this watered-down version is not as intensely stimulating as Red Venom which as a concentrated product is most excellent for summer conditions and winter especially.

The ingredients and components in robin Red have been speculated on for decades and a few of these have been identified but apparently no-one has actually copied the original accurately, although most copies will still stain your hands red and turn fish red too! One fact about Robin Red which has been confirmed is that it does not contain the antioxidant pigment Carophyll Red, but what about cantaxanthin perhaps? Whatever Robin Red contains, it sure works!

Why not save yourself a fortune in bait costs and try making your own homemade baits for the first time using a mix of semolina, soya flour with added robin red? Try boosting your pellets by just adding water and adding neat robin red and mixing thoroughly; this will cloud the water very red too, (wash your red hands after use!) One easy to use product incorporating Robin Red is Haiths super Red which can be used neat in PVA products and contains the following:

Robin Red, crushed tiger nuts, crushed Carpticle, peanut granules, crushed hemp seed, Red Factor, teasel seed, and aniseed oil. You can apply this as a paste bait, method mix or ground bait and many bait companies have their own unique versions so do investigate them and get catching big-time, (for more big carp secrets read on…)

By Tim Richardson.