This is the "Nuts" - Rob Bettles

On being offered the chance to try a new boilie during development I jumped at the chance and the anticipation was very exciting! Having picked up a couple of kilos of bait to try on my next adventure, the mandatory smell, crumble, lick and chew test began (not recommended on fishy boilies).

On first impressions, the round ball of carpy goodness looked very attractive and on opening the bag it smelt fantastic. It was definitely a nut based offering, but it seemed different to other boilies based around this mix that I had used. On breaking one in half it was evident that this was a complex mix of many nut products, with lots of texture and breakdown properties. The colour was a very neutral light brown, suggesting minimum amounts of colouring had been used. This allowed for maximum effort on the make up of the mix. It is a shelf life product but noticed instantly it breaks down like a freshly produced example.

For me, it’s not too hard or too soft and looks easily digestible. It is still solid enough to present at distance either with a catapult or throwing stick. The aroma itself, as mentioned, smells nutty and creamy but a lot more natural rather than a flavour enhancer or liquid. The flavour must come from the fresh mixed quality ingredients itself and is therefore exactly what it is meant to be.

So what is it meant to be? I was told the concept derived from a large number of fisheries not allowing nuts to be fished; I believe an alternative has been developed. Now when I say alternative it is a bit of an understatement. If I chopped this down to the right shapes, this could pass as a number of actual nuts. This bait is like real nuts all combined in a small, round, easy to present dinner bell!!

As a predominantly Boilie Angler, I do like to keep things very simple for a number of reasons. I fish mainly boilies as I find it a lot easier to transport and deliver. I don't need a spod rod or buckets of spod mix, all I need is a catapult, throwing stick and a bag of boilies, plus I don't fish at great distances. So how do I attract the fish into my swim?

I like to set a small trap and then a scattering of boilie around my rig (amount depends on fish response). I will happily fish boilies straight out of the bag with no extra enhances, liquids or flavours added!

However, the boilie on my rig, be it a full, half, egg timer, apple core or dumbell will always receive a soaking of Hinders Betalin gold. I have full confidence in the bait I use and will happily take one straight from the bag of offerings and shape it for a rig.

The only other edge I will use is a tiny Pva mesh or bag with some Little Gemz 2.3mm pellets followed by 4-5 chopped boilies or 3-4 whole boilies depending on how I am presenting the bait on the rig.

This is just enough to mask the hook for 2 reasons. Firstly, I am paranoid of the hook catching on the mainline on a cast and tangling. Secondly to stop any weed or debris catching the hook on the drop through the water.