If you can lock in near-6% income on a bond portfolio, why expose yourself to the risk of a nasty stock market sell-off ? A growing number of ordinary UK investors are concluding just that, with Hargreaves Lansdown reporting a 38% year-on-year rise in the number of users holding individual gilts – UK government bonds.The great government bond yield blow-out has been most prominent in long-duration instruments such as the 30-year gilt, which now yields 5.94%. But don't let that lure you in.