Marukyu is still a fairly new name on the UK bait market. The baits are clearly very good but, never one to follow fads, I must admit to being fairly sceptical about them at first.
I mean, I have always been of the opinion that as long as the bait we use is fresh and good quality and the fish are in front of you, then you will catch them!
My opinion has changed somewhat of late, however, after going on several features with Jamie Masson, and also noticing the continuing list of results that Andy Kinder has been getting. With both of these top anglers using Marukyu products I felt I really needed to take a closer look.
If one product from Marukyu has really taken off then it has to be the krill baits. Now, for anyone who hasn’t seen or heard of krill before it is a type of sea crustacean that is incredibly high in protein and other goodness, that carp in particular find irresistible. Marukyu was quick to realise just how effective krill was for fishing baits and developed two products that make the most of this awesome fish catcher!
The first product in the range, and one that has become hugely popular, is SFA 400. This is a very fine pink powder – the pink colour is derived from the krill’s natural coloration – that comes in 400g bags. Although this is not a huge amount, it is very potent stuff and you don’t need much on whatever bait you wish to flavour. The powder has a very strong smell but because it is a natural ingredient you can’t really overdo it on your bait, as you can with some artificial additives.
But what can you use SFA 400 on? Well, some of you may have heard of the krilled-maggot method that has literally taken The Glebe fishery apart. Anglers are killing several pints of maggots, dusting them with the krill powder and then freezing them. This draws the flavour into the maggots and they have become one of the best carp catchers around. Krill-coated meat has also been a winner and to do this you simply need to dust some powder straight on to your meat.
The krill powder is also something that I hold close to my heart because I recently won the Kamasan British Open while using it. On that day I used micros around the Method, but instead of using Horlicks to bind my pellets I dusted my pellets with krill powder and EFG 100 to make a very sticky but very attractive mix. It worked an absolute treat and I can vouch for the effectiveness of the SFA 400 krill powder.
The other product in the krill range is the SFA 410. This is a concentrated krill extract in liquid form – very strong smelling and very attractive to the fish! This bait has many uses but ideally it should be added to the water that you mix groundbait or paste with. It is also great for soaking corn in and works well when added to a pellet pump for preparing expander pellets.
So the effectiveness of these baits is no longer in doubt! They have been catching loads of fish and are becoming increasingly popular now that anglers are realising their effectiveness. The one downside to the products is their price, however the quality of the ingredients used necessitates the high price tag!
Despite my initial reservations about Marukyu and its products, I am now totally sold on the ones that I have used! And I urge you to give these two krill products a go because you won’t be disappointed!
| RRP: SFA 400 £6.99; SFA 410 £9.99 Website: www.marukyu.co.uk |
