Carp Boilies                                                         SITE MAP Cod Research              DIOBAS
 

We can finally announce that after 15 years research our new concept in baits is at last going into production.

       Update  : PROTEX 3A.

 Friday May 9th 2008                        New Details Added

Many companies claim to have found a revolutionary new flavouring or additive that fish just can't resist, it is after all a potentially profitable business so it's hardly surprising that these claims are made all the time. Unfortunately most of these so called innovations are more successful at catching customers than fish.

Because of our usual cynicism and dislike for brash marketing methods we have been reluctant to enter the bait market and have always restricted our research to developing and expanding our knowledge of fish behaviour and dietary requirements. As the years have passed however we have gradually developed and refined our approach with the help of I.S.H.A members, Supafish and a few very trusted anglers. The time has now come to make our baits generally available, at present on a personal order basis, before a full worldwide product launch in the early spring of next year.

PROTEX 3A is a totally new concept and unlike anything ever seen on the market before. Every aspect of this new bait is completely unique.

 A bold statement but true none the less.

The way PROTEX 3A is used and the reasoning behind its success is quite simply revolutionary.

We have received a large number of individual requests for Protex 3a but as yet, whilst the USA, Australia and most of the Far East is covered, we have not found a suitable manufacturer who can handle the European market.
Awarding sole rights, either by country or even continent, is obviously far better for both parties and with our workload so heavy at present due to the success of our Cod research program we need to avoid a situation where we have to deal with a large number of orders rather than a single distributor.
 
The bait itself has been developed over the course of around 15 years and was never intended as a commercial exercise. Understanding fish behaviour was a natural requirement of our research program and feeding habits were obviously of prime importance.
The information gathered from our unique relationship with ISHA and work in our own labs inevitably led to trials relating to baits as a secondary issue.
The trials themselves were conducted in an entirely different way with the most important factor being that we use underwater cameras and proximity sensors, rather than just throw a bait out to see if a fish picked it up which is all any other company has ever done, we can actually monitor every fish that comes within 12 feet of the bait.
As a result we gradually began to see a whole new aspect of fish behaviour that for many years completely baffled us but gradually the picture became clear as the data and observations began to make sense and produced a quite remarkable line of research. We experimented further on genuinely natural Carp in Kerr lake, North Carolina. These fish are incredibly difficult to catch and are not influenced by angling pressure simply because no one ever fishes for them, they were ideal candidates for the final trials.
To understand the principles behind Protex 3a you will have to forget everything you think you may know about not only Carp but fish in general as this new approach does not rely on either flavour or appearance, in fact neither of these has anything to do with the feeding response at all.
 
Our research program into fish behaviour in general has cost well over £1.5 million so we are obviously reluctant to share more information than we have to but we'll try and give you an idea of how the system works without getting too detailed.
To understand the basics you must forget all the usual methods used by bait companies and completely ignore taste, colour, shape etc as none of these have anything to do with why a fish feeds. We realise that statement will sound odd but bear with us. Try to look at the fish as a simple organism that survives without preferences, likes or dislikes and feeds not for pleasure but purely because it needs nutrients to survive. There are of course Carp fisheries where they have become boilie buckets and their behaviour has adapted to respond to anglers influence but even these shadows of true carp respond to our baits simply because they have to, Protex 3a is a trigger, not a bait in the strictest terms.
As an organism the fish itself is continually monitored by parts of the brain that examine all aspects of its condition, vitamin requirements, energy levels etc etc. When the brain detects a deficiency or nutritional requirement it switches on the appropriate receptor and the fish responds.
Remarkably these receptors are on the outside of the fish, not inside the mouth.
To make this easier to understand try to imagine the outside of the fish covered in microscopic holes of varying shapes, for example squares, triangles, rectangles etc etc. Each of these relates to a particular nutrient, amino acid and so on. These 'doors' are usually closed but once the brain detects that a particular requirement of the body is in need of replenishing it opens the corresponding receptor and the fish swims off in search of the nutrient. This is an entirely reactive response rather than rational thought. As the fish swims along the outside of its skin is bombarded with a whole range of particles which it is entirely oblivious to. Almost all the shapes relating to naturally occurring food bounce off the closed receptors as they are not required at that specific time until particles of the right shape go through the open door and the fish responds by instinctively following the trail to the source. This is one of the reasons why a bait will work brilliantly one day but completely fails the next because the comparative trigger has been turned off. In fact we have watched fish on many occasions completely ignore something they would have eaten the day before and swim right over it as though it wasn't there. Sometimes a fish will investigate a bait, nudge it etc but eventually ignore it purely because the trigger contained within it is insufficiently strong to stimulate a clear response usually because there are just too many other 'shapes' confusing the issue. This has nothing to do with taste.
The next problem for us was to identify the triggers or shapes that act as receptors on the outside of the fish and discover what nutrient they related to, not an easy task.
Slowly we began to compile a list of common triggers, of the thousands we think exist, all of which we formulated chemically. Each had to be identified individually as there would be no point whatsoever in producing a feed that contained all the nutrients in one go as the particle trail left in the water would not be specific enough, too muddled if you like to effectively get a strong instinctive response from the fish.
The next problem, that has taken many more years to solve, was to try and guess what trigger was the most likely one to be switched on at any given time in a specific environment as all lakes vary from day to day, sometimes even changing hour by hour. Every lake is like its own individual planet and will have its own naturally occurring deficiencies, tendencies and so on. To say this was a complicated task is somewhat of an understatement ! Put the wrong trigger in at any given moment and it simply will not work. On top of this is the fact that each fish is an individual entity in its own right and often subject to genetic imbalances.
It is a very complicated subject which in one way is why we are prepared to go public as it were because we know that no other company could possibly reproduce the research we have carried out for many years, it would take any competitors a great deal of time, effort and money to produce a comparative bait, in fact we could never have done it ourselves if it hadn't been an integral part of other related research programs. We have also of course spent a lot of time and effort protecting the bait by incorporating literally hundreds of 'fake' chemical triggers within the formula that have no effect on the fish at all so anyone analyzing the contents of the product will get absolutely nowhere when trying to identify the active ingredients.
 
Finally, we needed to incorporate something that would help the angler identify the most likely trigger at any given time or location without having to have an advanced research based degree in marine biology ! This took even more time. What we have ended up with is a harmless liquid that is included in the bait kit, similar in looks to say a pH tester. The colour response when dipped in the lake will relate to a colour code on the bait itself and each box contains six colours. The corresponding bait is then selected ( this is not in boilie form incidentally ) and fished as a single entity with no free offerings. The bait itself will remain effective for around 6hrs depending on conditions. There is no point in it lasting any longer as if it hasn't been taken during that period, either the angler has chosen the wrong trigger or the fish just aren't feeding.
There are approximately 25 baits of each colour in the box together with sufficient test liquid and colour chart. The system will retail at £19.50 sterling, which when you consider that nothing goes to waste in terms of free offerings is well within current parameters, and will be available trade at £13.50, negotiable on quantity, allowing for a good profit for the retailer. The system is species specific in that it will only work on Carp. Research into other species is ongoing.
 
That's a very basic but we hope sufficient outline of the system itself. As you can see, it really is a revolutionary and very advanced bait system that is many years ahead of current research and thinking.

Thank you for your interest.
If you wish to take the matter further you will need to contact our Managing Director, Steve Marriot, initially via email to admin@diobas.com and write 'Managing Directors Office' in the subject line.