This bait has been evolving now for a very long time, originally I was introduced to what my mate called 'the brown bait' back in 2008..  since then iv used it in various versions and then went on to formulate my own version from scratch.  

The great thing about a cork ball hook bait is that you can cram so much into them without worrying about the buoyancy, which is why these will never be available as a conventional pop up, they would be a poor imitation and I'm not even going to bother trying it..whilst you have to keep an eye on your solubles, you arnt limited on your inclusion rates of the best quality ingredients..  some real classics come together in this bait, lt94, sardine and anchovy and salmon are the 3 bulk fishmeals, full fat GLM, beef liver powder,Yeast, and Keramine HD elevate the baits attraction. obviously to create a functional cork ball I sieve out the CLO, alongside rennet and acid casein and sodium caseinate and a few hardeners and binders to give you a reliable cork ball pop up.. its dark colour comes from a blend of robin red and spirulina. (the robin red Pilgrims are identical except I ditch the spirulina and up the levels of robin red)

now the liquid content.

a garlic concentrate and a garlic oil, the most foul crab flavours available since the 90's (as bold as my claims get) and a blend of 5 liquids comprising of hydros and ferments. 

once dry I apply both the garlic liquids to the bait and really get it into the bait, before I then create a paste out of the liquids used in the bait mixed with the glm, liver, keramine and MSG, alongside one of my favourite ingredients I can't use in the corkballs however I do use in the Normal pilgrim hard hookers and bait. It's an ingredient called Actifish  it's a predigested fishmeal that is 100% soluble. expensive but worth it! this creates a highly attractive jam packed paste coating on the baits.  full of amino acids, solubles that are released into the water as soon as it hits the water.  the other added bonus and something that was intentional was that they are different to most of the others bits and bobs out there. I also find them a huge edge when birds are a problem, the dark colour just makes them quite subtle. also a great edge if the lake you're fishing has been done to death on bright ones.