There’s many variables in fishing bait and often no absolutes. Many things you’ll encounter when fishing for will leave you with more questions that answers and leave you spending more time trying to learn more.
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Carp Fishing Bait
Over the years I’ve used most of the baits you can find in a tackle shop, and more besides. I have spent many hours mixing up many noxious-smelling products in my kitchen, many hours boiling up different types of particles and seeds, and many hours mixing obscure flavours in an attempt to find the ultimate carp bait.
Some of these baits have been highly successful, others have failed miserably. In fact, some of the baits I’ve made over the years have been more successful at actually repelling carp than attracting them!
Vitalin
Vitalin is a dog food made from maize meal, meat and bone meal (among other things).
I’ve put it in at No7 because I’ve caught many fish over the years using it, especially during the winter months. My most successful winter campaign ever was based around Vitalin.
HEMP
All the hype you see and read about this seed is true. Carp absolutely love hemp. In fact, they think it tastes fantastic. Even a very small handful of the stuff can keep fish digging in the lake bed, looking for food, for hours and hours. I’ve actually stopped carp in their tracks by throwing individual grains of hemp in front of them.
Fluoro Pop-Ups
The fact I’ve put fluoro pop-ups at No5 might surprise some people. However, I love these little beauties!
Fluorescent pop-ups definitely seem to attract carp. Used on their own or as part of a more complicated trap, I have caught many carp in the last three years on fluoro hook baits.
Regular Boilies
Boilies catch the vast majority of carp across England every year. There are hundreds of excellent boilie types available to buy from tackle shops and bait companies across the country.
Out of all the boilies on the market, my advice would be to choose a fishmeal-based bait in the spring, summer and autumn. Also, frozen readymades tend to be better because they’re of a higher quality than the shelf life baits you can find in shops, so I’d recommend them over anything else.
Pellets
Pellets have been around for a very long time. In fact, Dick Walker used to mash trout pellets up and use them as a paste in the 1950s, I think! If he’d dropped them in a PVA bag and whacked them into Redmire, he’d have caned the place – there would have been wet, hessian sacks hanging from every tree!
Tiger Nuts
Tiger nuts are brilliant baits. They give off a great smell and the fish love eating them.
I once did an experiment with some tanked carp and some tigers. I placed a handful of the nuts in an old sock, so the carp couldn’t see them, and suspended the sock in the surface of the water. The carp couldn’t see what was in the sock, neither could they get hold of the bait.
Bass Fishing Bait
Selecting and collecting bass lures is almost as enjoyable as fishing them. But which lures catch the most bass? We broke down the top 5 best bass lures based on their proven ability to catch bass, their versatility, and the opinions of many professional bass fishermen.
Plastic Worms
Undoubtedly, number one is the rubber worm. No other bass lure is as versatile or more attractive to bass than a soft plastic worm. This is because they are so lifelike, and when engulfed by bass they feel like natural food. There are endless designs and dimensions, so you can choose the best size, style, and color for the conditions you’re fishing.
Spinnerbaits
Spinnerbaits come in at number two because of their unique ability to attract bass while covering a lot of water at the same time. The fact that they are fairly weedless gives them a bump in the ranks as well.
Crankbaits
Crankbaits come in various sizes, shapes, weights, and running depths. The correct selection of specifications depends mainly on the depth of water you’re fishing. More so than with other bass lures, making the right crankbait choice plays an important role in determining fishing success.
Jigs
While bass jigs are highly effective all year round, being successful with them requires a higher skill level compared to most other lures. Jigs are not the easiest bait to fish but they produce too many trophy-sized bass to not be in the top five. In fact, jigs are very well known for being the best lure for catching big bass.
Topwater Lures
In bass fishing, little can compare to the enjoyment an angler gets when seeing a bass leap out of the water in an attempt to engulf their bait. Topwater lures are not only effective but extremely fun to use, which are two reasons they make the top five.
These lures are designed to ripple the water’s surface, causing popping and splashing sounds as the lure is retrieved. The purpose is to create the appearance of prey in distress in other words–, an easy meal.
The Only 6 Baits You Need to Catch (Almost) Any Fish
Although you may covet a tackle box stuffed with lures, these essential baits will fool (almost) every fish that swims. Clear out your tackle box and cast these super six baits.
Heddon Zara Spook
Although it’s a very small part of the design of this lure, the line-tie is very important. Positioned beneath the nose, a twitch on slack line makes it dart to the side, which has proved irresistible to any fish that will eat bait on the surface, from large and smallmouth bass to tarpon.
Acme Little Cleo
The cup of a spoon dictates its action to a large degree. A shallow-cupped spoon will have a slight wobble, while a deep one will wobble like crazy and have an erratic action.
Curly Tail Grub
Although it looks a little dull in hand, once that tail is pulled through the water, it comes to life, seeming to propel the lure forward. Size: To target panfish, use the tiny 1-inch version with a 1/32-ounce jighead. When jigging for cobia, opt for an 8-inch grub with an 8-ounce head.
Rapala Original Floating Minnow
The action of the Floating Minnow is created by how its lip is positioned in relation to the body of the lure. The bait is designed to imitate injured baitfish, and the lip is responsible for creating this action. Size: When fishing for small species, opt for the 1 ½-inch, 1/16-ounce bait, the most diminutive of the series. When hunting for big fish, throw the 7-inch, 1 1/16-ounce model.
Spro Hair Jig
There are a lot of hair options to choose from. Marabou, rabbit, and squirrel are all popular. Deer hair, however, is perhaps the most durable and widely available.
Mister Twister Sassy Shad
This bait is precisely the dimensions of threadfin shad…and menhaden. Match the hatch, baby. Fish-fooling Feature: The boot-shaped tail section of this lure is where the magic happens. The narrow piece of plastic that leads to the bulky, wide tail creates a very lifelike swimming action.
