Artificial Bait

Hi guys
I have been given some artificial casters and worms. Never used artificial baits before. Are they worth using or just a gimmick. Thanks steve

I haven't found an imitation bait yet that's as good as the real thing, having said that though they can come in handy if there'e lots of small stuff,crayfish or crabs stripping your bait

Artificials definitely have their uses and aren't just a gimmick.

Artificial baits do work at times IE using fake maggots when trotting to stop minnow and bleak etc from nipping the maggots off of the hook,

But what I will say is that artificials are next to useless if you don't use any form of feed bait aswell,

Definitely not for me as I'd much sooner use proper quality bait which I'd find is hard to beat but it's each to their own

thames mudlarker said:

But what I will say is that artificials are next to useless if you don't use any form of feed bait aswell

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I think that might be true sometimes but there are other times when artificial will out fish other offerings, I saw a mate catch a 30+ carp on a couple of bits of artificial corn, sometimes imo freebies can start alarm bells ringing on heavily pressured waters just as little piles of bait from bait boats can.

I have a load of artificial worms that I had from china, they do look pretty lifelike I was going to use them last time I fished with binka but I was afraid he would chop them all up so they stayed in the bag

After a great many years of using them all I can say is that those that believe they don't work have possibly used them in the wrong setup/conditions...........artificial baits do work and (for pure simplicity) I wish I had a tenner for every winter carp I've caught on an unflavoured 8mm cork ball zig rigged at about a foot off the deck in the right place (great roving method) and I've had many specimen fish of various species on fake hemp/caster/maggot/corn to name a few plus doppleganger (do they still make it?). When I was a member of RMC/CEMEX our previous editor used to catch 4lb+ crucians on a single piece of unflavoured artificial corn at night on a scaled down bolt rig at Yateley (not the way I would wish to fish for them but proves a point)................

thames mudlarker said:

But what I will say is that artificials are next to useless if you don't use any form of feed bait aswell,,,,

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I tend to agree with this.
Are we talking about grubs? It depends entirely on the presentation and how life-like they are. Some obviously work better on their own than others, I find a sinking bait on the drop and a twitch on the rod works better. Confidence is an important consideration (for both you and the fish) so if in doubt use some live ones as feed which tends to pull the fish in. If fishing for solitary fish you would have to have lots of confidence your artificial bait is every bit as good as the real thing. Some plastics absorb flavours too which would be preferable in murky water imho

My attitude to plastic baits has changed in recent years. I mean I don't even think twice about using plastic and rubber lures for predator fish - drop shot or wobble... preferring a dead bait if fishing static. :thumbs: