Chemical attraction and carpfishing: when nature sets the rules
A high-density informational chemical matrix
Melanin (eumelanin): indolic polymer derived from tyrosine → (C8H6N2O4)n
Within a complex colloidal suspension, nanometric granules of melanin are distributed, stabilized by a mucopolysaccharide matrix rich in glycosaminoglycans. The system is not static, but dynamic: a polydispersed dispersion in which the solid phase constantly interacts with a highly reactive organic component.
Free amino acids: C2H7NO3 (glycine), C3H7NO2 (alanine), C4H7NO4 (aspartic acid), C5H9NO4 (glutamic acid)
In solution, a significant concentration of free amino acids can be detected, including glutamic and aspartic acid, known for their direct role in stimulating taste receptors in aquatic vertebrates. Alongside these are low molecular weight nitrogen compounds, capable of rapidly diffusing and interacting with sensory systems.
Catecholamines and precursors: dopamine (C8H11NO2), L-DOPA (C9H11NO4)
The presence of catecholamines and their precursors introduces an even more interesting biochemical component, linked to highly conserved metabolic pathways. Molecules that, by their very nature, are not neutral but carriers of strong, recognizable signals, difficult to ignore.
All of this is immersed in a viscoelastic matrix that regulates its release, prolongs its persistence and amplifies its effectiveness in the aquatic environment.
If this composition is observed without preconceptions, without labels, without knowing where it comes from, one thing becomes clear: we are not dealing with a random substance, but with a chemical system designed to communicate, to spread, to be perceived.
An attractor.
Not just any, but one designed with a precision that no laboratory will ever fully replicate.
The best technician possible.
Nature!
Only at this point is it worth saying it clearly: the formulas you have just read describe cephalopod ink.
And this is where the paradox begins.
Because many still believe that this liquid has a repellent function. That it serves to push away, to create distance. In reality, the exact opposite happens.
When a cuttlefish releases ink, it does not simply hide. It does not just create a visual barrier. It does something much more refined.
It saturates the environment.
It introduces into the water a sudden quantity of intense, complex, extremely recognizable chemical stimuli. A sensory signal so strong that it completely captures the predator’s attention. It does not repel it, it holds it.
It forces it, in a way, to enter that chemical world.
A world made of molecules that speak directly to taste and olfactory receptors, triggering deep instinctive responses, difficult to ignore. For a few seconds, sometimes more, the predator stops chasing and starts perceiving.
And it is exactly in that moment that the cephalopod disappears.
Not because it is not seen.
But because the one that should chase it is elsewhere, immersed in a sensory paradise it cannot immediately leave.
And if you move this concept from the sea to freshwater, from predatory behavior to feeding behavior, you begin to glimpse something that goes far beyond simple biological curiosity.
From theory to reality: how it all started
My encounter with this ingredient was not planned. It did not come from a fishing strategy, nor from targeted research. It was, as often happens with interesting things, a combination of completely external factors.
The first comes from work. At that time I was developing a line of professional fish mixes that had taken a very precise direction. It started with the Red Fish Mix, a classic spicy fish mix with Robin Red, solid, effective, recognizable. Then came the Green Fish Mix, and that’s when things changed.
We’re talking about an extremely advanced mix: microalgae, predigested fish, GLM. A true HNV, built with a complete nutritional logic. The result was a massive success. Continuous demand, enthusiastic feedback, anglers wanting it everywhere.
And here comes the problem.
I found myself in a vortex of increasingly demanding requests, with a product that had already expressed the maximum possible in terms of ingredients and formulation. I had played all my best cards. Or so it seemed.
The second factor is much simpler, but just as decisive.
I am from Veneto. And for us, squid ink pasta is not a culinary curiosity, it’s normal. It’s culture. It’s something you’ve always had in front of you, without ever really analyzing it.
The raw material, moreover, is abundant in the lagoon.
From here the idea was born: a black fish mix.
In 2004, nothing like this existed on the market. No black boilies. Zero. And that alone was enough for me to stop and think seriously about it.
I had already understood that a low-visual bait could represent a real advantage in targeting big carp, especially in open waters and on fish that had already seen everything. Black, in that context, was not just a color. It was completely unexplored territory.
And when you have something unexplored, you have an advantage.
Ink comes into play
In searching for ingredients, I did what I always did: I used the professional channels available to me.
Our supplier of spices and technological products also worked with powdered cuttlefish ink. It was not a product designed for carpfishing, of course, but for human food.
I managed to get an initial sample: 10 kg.
Exactly what I needed to produce the first 100 kg of mix to distribute to testers.
I won’t go into the development of the professional mix because everything is already written in my book Boilies,the Art and Science of Carp Bait
Here I want to take a different step.
I want to simplify, but not trivialize.
The goal is to build something **advanced, technical, but truly replicable**, without the need for complex industrial ingredients.
The discovery of Shiokara
When I develop a product, I never limit myself to practice. I look for all possible scientific research, even in seemingly distant fields.
That’s how I came across Shiokara.
This is a traditional Japanese food, obtained from the fermentation of squid intestines. An extreme product in some ways. Very strong smell, extremely high salinity, impressive enzymatic and microbiological load.
From a biochemical point of view, it is a concentrate of:
- * free amino acids
- * low molecular weight peptides
- * soluble nitrogen compounds
- * products of enzymatic protein degradation
In other words: pure stimuli.
What happens during fermentation is an intense proteolysis, mediated by endogenous enzymes and microorganisms, transforming a complex raw material into an extremely available and perceptible mixture.
Exactly what we look for in an attractor.
I even found a Korean company producing predigested and fermented squid intestines and liver. The product was perfect. The problem was the cost.
Importing it into Europe sustainably was impossible.
When you can’t find the solution, you build it
At that point there was only one way: make it myself.
The idea was simple in theory, less so in practice.
To build a liquid food starting from:
- * fish intestines
- * cuttlefish entrails
- * ink sacs
Raw material that, in my case, was basically free.
I arranged things with the fishmonger. During the periods when cuttlefish are abundant in Veneto, I asked him to keep aside everything that would normally be discarded: fish guts and cuttlefish entrails with ink sacs.
When I reached about ten kilos, I was ready.
The process was this:
- * blend everything
- * add exactly 20% salt by total weight
- * add 5 grams of bromelain (2500 GDU) per kg of product
- * let it predigest at 35°C for 48 hours
Bromelain, for those who don’t know it, is a proteolytic enzyme extracted from pineapple. Its role is fundamental: it breaks proteins into peptides and amino acids, drastically increasing nutritional availability and diffusion in water.
After the predigestion phase, the compound matured for at least one month at room temperature, stirred daily.
In some batches, I also added 50 ml of vinegar per kg to lower the pH and further promote proteolysis.
The result?
About 15 liters of extremely active liquid food, at almost zero cost.
The self-made version: simple, but not basic
Now we get to the practical part.
The mix I propose is built on a formula that those who have read my books know well: the **4-3-2-1**.
Four ingredients, scaled down.
- * 40% re-milled durum wheat semolina
- * 30% toasted full-fat soybean flour
- * 20% skimmed milk powder
- * 10% predigested fishmeal
An extremely balanced base, working both nutritionally and structurally.
The liquid part is what makes the difference.
The boilie is made with:
- 200 ml of liquid food in purity
- fresh eggs as needed to bind the mix
No other additives are necessary. No forced chemistry.
If you want to push it further, you can add:
- * a few drops of butyric acid
- * a fish flavor with basic pH, medium dosage
But it is not essential. The core of the system is already there.
And if you go back to the beginning of the article, to that chemical matrix we analyzed without naming it, you will probably start reading it differently.
Not as a biological curiosity.
But as one of the most powerful opportunities we have to create truly effective baits.
For those who want to go further
What you’ve read here is intentionally an essential version. It works, it’s replicable, and above all it puts you in a position to think differently about what a bait really is.
But if you want to go a step further, if you want to truly understand the logic behind professional fish mixes — those that for more than ten years were among the most used and sold in Italy — then the discussion changes.
There, it’s no longer just about ingredients, but about balance, function, and interaction between raw materials.
All of this I have written in my book Boilies,the Art and Science of Carp Bait
If you really want to understand what lies behind certain choices, formulations and results, that’s where you need to start.
Because in the end, the difference is not made by the ingredient.
It’s made by how you use it.