Your favourite cold weather bait?

[binka]

Ok this is a seasonal one and there will be lots of variables depending on venue, target species etc.

What's your favourite cold weather bait be it bloodworm on the canal to sand eel off the end of the pier?

I think i'll kick off with breadflake in really cold, bright weather as my favourite all rounder...

 

[nicepix]

Chub and barbel; Spam

Carp: Sweetcorn

Roach: Sweetcorn skin

 

[simon dunbar]

For Pike : deadbait Smelt
For chub / barbel /roach: always found maggots worked better than bigger baits in the winter months.

 

[chefster]

Pellet or maggot...sometimes pinkies,worm/caster,and occasionally bread..Gazza

 

[xenon]

cheesepaste-onr of the few baits I have total confidence in.

 

[terry m]

For Pike : deadbait Smelt
For chub / barbel /roach: always found maggots worked better than bigger baits in the winter months.

Smelt have been very effective this year.

 

[Bob Hornegold]

Gudgeon !!

 

[Tee-Cee]

Bread flake, crust, maggots (red) and meat heavily flavoured. Hemp also has it's place..........

Oh , and lobworms. IF I can find any !!

Must try sweetcorn skins this winter..........................maybe they take on a flavour as well..

 

[cg74]

Carp: pellets, boilies, maggots, sweetcorn
Chub: bread, fishmeal based paste, pellets, boilies, maggots, cheese paste, worms
Zander: gudgeon
Barbel: maggots, pellets, boilies, fishmeal based paste
Roach: bread, maggots, tares, sweetcorn
Grayling: maggots, sweetcorn

 

[nicepix]

Bread flake, crust, maggots (red) and meat heavily flavoured. Hemp also has it's place..........

Oh , and lobworms. IF I can find any !!

Must try sweetcorn skins this winter..........................maybe they take on a flavour as well..

Tony, If you can find an area of warmer soil such as where there is an underground spring or under trees you'll usually find a lot of molehills. Take a garden fork and slowly push the tines into the ground. Draw it out and repeat around the molehills. Quite often if it is not too cold the worms will shoot up to the surface and you can easily harvest them. It is a lot easier than the old method of stalking them in the dark.

Sweetcorn; if you drain a tin of sweetcorn, rinse it and then add flavour such as vanilla you can freeze it before use. That makes the skins really soft and ideal IMO for winter use. For summer I prefer whole grains that haven't been frozen. On hard fished waters you can also dye them using food dyes from supermarket baking aisles.

 

[laguna]

I'm waiting to try some fermented (diastatic, malted, sprouted) Maples with Ginger, I reckon the Aspergillus Oryzae should get those cyprinids going!
Its a bit like wine making... tempted to try before its ready but there's at least another 3 or 4 weeks left yet converting starch into sugar :w

 

[rubio]

I'm nearly ready to get on cheesepaste. It's got a little while converting all the protein into stench. Until then my sneakily hoarded bucket of hard dried old loaves will be soaked, strained and pressed ready for cold clear days.

 

[cg74]

Oh , and lobworms. IF I can find any !!

If the ground isn't frozen and you (or your better half) wash dishes by hand, just tip the bowl of soapy water over an area of about a square yard and ready yourself; they bolt like rabbits trying to evade a ferret.

Best areas to try are sheltered corners of lawns.

 

[Peter Jacobs]

For my local rivers then my winter baits of choice are, bread in its many forms and red worms and red maggots.