Sticky’s Active range of boilies that started with The Krill Active and was more recently added to with Manilla Active suit my angling down to the ground. Each bait is packed with extra attraction thanks to the encompassing paste layer around every single boilie. Made using a combination of super soluble liquids and highly nutritious powdered ingredients, this paste layer is designed to breakdown on the lakebed to create a halo of small food particles around each boilie. This attribute is perfect for boilie anglers, as it adds another dimension to an otherwise static bed of round balls. When it comes to my own personal fishing, I rarely use boilies on their own or as they are as I am a massive fan of small food items and as such, I tailor the Active range to suit my needs.

In years prior to the luxury of Manilla Active, I used standard Manilla, with the addition of the matching Cloudy Liquid poured into the water. This added a little extra pulling power to the mulch, as rather than washing all the attraction out of the baits, the Cloudy Liquid introduced a little more, while keeping the soft texture. Since the advent of Manilla Active, I have dropped the Cloudy Manilla Liquid from my mix, as when the Active baits are submersed in just enough water to cover them, they produce more attraction than standard baits on their own! The paste layers breakdown and form a super thick, sloppy liquid, which combines with the mulched-up boilies to form a perfect mix of fine particles.

My favoured bait for the majority of the year is Manilla, which is why I have now worked the Manilla Active into my fishing. It was a no brainer really, it’s Manilla, but taken to whole new level! Chopped and crumbed baits are a huge advantage on most lakes, as the carpet they create is unbeatable, however, in deep water it is very difficult to get the light, fluffy powder down to the deck. To combat this, I came up with what I call, Manilla Mulch. It’s very simple, and entails soaking your chosen bait in water for 24 hours prior to your session. Once soaked, the baits will be so soft that they can be scrunched in your hands to form a fine, but heavy crumb. This method ensures every last piece ends up on the lakebed where you will be fishing.

To add a bit of diversity to the mix, I always add some hemp and sweetcorn, which takes the total ingredients of the mix to just three. It is so simple, yet so effective! No carp can resist the crunch and taste of hemp, plus the little black flecks in the contrasting mix of Manilla mulch looks an awful lot like water snails, which can only be a benefit. Sweetcorn again needs no introduction, the yellow flecks are very subtle when used over the light-coloured Manilla, giving me a diverse array of hookbait options.

In terms of hookbaits, the Active range benefits from its own dedicated hookbaits in the form of wafters and Tuff Ones, which both come with paste wraps. I tend to use baits with buoyancy to them most of the time and find myself using the wafters more often than Tuff Ones. Manilla Active wafters are perfect as a match the hatch hookbait, whereas the Tuff Ones, I normal make a little snowman out of. If I think the fish aren’t feeding too heavily over the bait, then I switch to something a lot more visual, such as a Peach & Pepper pop-up. These often buy bites on very tricky days where they aren’t fully on the feed.

Ever since I moved away from standard baits to Active baits, I have noticed an increase in catch rate and considering the mix needs one less ingredient, this is a major bonus. Furthermore, I think the mix benefits from the much thicker liquid the coating creates, helping my bait get to the lakebed so much faster than before. This helps to keep my spot super small, with a concentrated pile of bait to create an aggressive feeding response when the carp turn up, which is exactly what I put my success down to.