Here they are .. . . . . . . . by rights these should have had a review in the Angling Times this week if memory serves me correctly, hailing from Sonu Baits who are a new company that is producing the exclusively on behalf of the Preston Innovations/Korum team - they're called Skinz, and are a completely new concept in hookbaits for 2006.
So, just WHAT are they then?
Is it a pellet? Is it a Paste? Is it an Expander? Hard, Soft or what?
Hmmmm therein lies the tricky bit ! It is ....... all of the above! Hmmmmmm what are you on about i hear you ask . . . . . . . .
Well, it starts off in life as a rock hard pellet, erm shaped thing.... and you can get it in either 4mm, 8mm or 12mm, thereby giving you something for everyone whether you're into the match scene, pleasure fishing, carp fishing or barbel/river/chub fishing.
There is a groundbait pellet to come too, which is awesome to watch breaking down in a glass of water, i've seen them and they're unbelievable!! But, this is a review of the hookbait pellets as tried and tested by me last wednesday!
So, what do you do with them ????
Dead simple, chuck a handfull in a pot of water/bait box and leave them to it for half an hour or so, the smaller (4mm) 'hookers', take on water more quickly and are easily 'done' in about half an hour, the larger 8mm and 12mm probably need about 45 mins to an hour and half to be 'perfect'.
They don't really 'swell' like expander pellets so its pretty much what you see is what you get size wise from taking them out of the packet to putting them on the hook.
The picture below shows some in their 'hard' and 'soaked' forms ..........
The BIG thing with these over ANYTHING you're going to see is when you squeeze one....... they're like a squishy elasticated outer with a soft paste inner ! You can hook them direct on the bend of the hook, hair rig them, D rig them, in fact do whatever you want with them !
They will ACTUALLY CAST on a waggler, unlike expanders that have a tendency to fly off, in fact you can cast them on a waggler, a bomb or anything, and i'll testify to that 'cos i did !
They do not come off easily let me tell ya! I had some vicious takes on wednesday and even after striking it was still on ! The interesting bit is, when you split one in half and see the inner 'paste' thats inside ....... all encapsulated inside the stretchy, rubbery outter, it oozes out like porridge when you squash it, and , i have been assured - contains a plethora of fishmeals, betaine and attractors to keep that swim bubbling!
The picture below shows one i splattered in the name of a photo, althought its not quite as in focus as i would have liked but time is short !
So you ask, what else can i do with them???
In short, anything you want ! Your imagination will be the only limit you can have with these little beauty's ........ the match lads will love 'em, especially those chuckin ' wagglers and feeders on commercials, the carp, chub and barbel lads will love them as an alternative to halibuts/ellips etc that are getting battered everywhere, and the idea's are already running wild in my head for the comin 'barbel' season !
Here's something i thought of already ..... pack a load of them (the groundbait version) in a feeder DRY for extra slow, extra long release and attraction, OR get some hookers, part soak them so they soften, then leave them for days on end in a flavoured 'glug' to fully expand and draw all the 'glug' in.......
They freeze well and defrost well, so no waste....... they remain in their hookbait state for a good couple of days if untouched, but are fully biodegradable should they stay untouched, but i can't see that happening!
You can actually squash them and mould them into a paste if ya like...... but you wouldn't .... probably ...... you could shove them in a pellet pump and pump them through to speed them up, or, you could pump a load of attractor through them .... see, the limits are endless, just give it a bit of thought !
I fished last wednesday with them, had a float rod and a bomb rod out, bagged up on a load of 'bits' fishing maggot on the float while i prep'd a swim for the bomb rod .....
i gave up on the float rod within half an hour of putting the bomb rod out as i couldn't handle the takes coming to the bomb rod on the Skinz ! The bream were having a go, as were the roach, and after getting smashed up on 6lb line the carp started to take an interest !
Final result was a scorching take and a carp just touching the 10lb mark sliding over the front of my landing net !
Tried, tested, and well impressed ! Due to hit the shop soon, we should have delivery around the first week in June so come along and check 'em out ! I know there'll be a few bags that won't see the shops shelves this year ........
check out the Skinz on the website here ......Click here for SKINZ
Tight lines . . . . . . . . Dave
