Traditional baits

associatedmatt · May 4, 2017

There is a lake I'm fishing and u have tried pellets and wafters as Hookbait least 5 times now and not even a nibble but then use smaller pellets as loose feed like 6mm and smaller and they feed on them . Same with corn yellow doesn't work but red corn does .

Do you think the fish have wised up to larger pellets and corn due to the years of match anglers on the lake ?

I'm thinking going more back to traditional baits . Dead reds and casters work and so does red corn .

Was thinking to try meat and loose feed hemp and small chunks of meat the larger Hookbait ?

Any other good traditional bait / methods to try ?

Going for carp and tench close in .

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binka · May 4, 2017

Worm over chopped worm.

Closely followed by worm, worm and more worm

peterjg · May 4, 2017

Matt: try flake or crust on a size 8 or 6 hook or try wheat on a size 14, it's a great bait but you have to be patient with it at first.

associatedmatt · May 4, 2017

Max hook size of a 12 on the lake even though bigger carp in there . Would I loose feed some mashed bread ?

Binka I'm my limited experience of using worm I always seem to caught snottys or perch on it . There a fair amount of snottys in the lake but not caught any yet and rather not attract them . But il give it a go .

Any supermarket baits / seeds / beans or the like could try ?

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David Rogers 3 · May 4, 2017

associatedmatt said:
Max hook size of a 12 on the lake even though bigger carp in there . Would I loose feed some mashed bread ?

I'd use liquidised rather than mashed bread, as a little goes a long way and it's less likely to fill the fish too quickly. I'd be careful if there are a lot of ducks, coots, moorhens, etc. on the water though, as they'll soon home in on it and make life very difficult for you.

It helps if you cut off the crusts before putting the bread through the blender (although it's more fiddly and time-consuming), as it's the floating bits that really "pull the birds".

If they're not a problem though, I always leave the crusts on, as it means you get a nice rising column of bread particles from the bottom to the surface, which definitely attracts the fish.

associatedmatt · May 4, 2017

There is a few ducks and swans but not too many , I guess if liquidise night before and keep airtight it will remain moist so it sinks ?

I'm only fishing the margins so don't have to punch a cast out .

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no-one in particular · May 4, 2017

associatedmatt said:
Max hook size of a 12 on the lake even though bigger carp in there . Would I loose feed some mashed bread ?

Binka I'm my limited experience of using worm I always seem to caught snottys or perch on it . There a fair amount of snottys in the lake but not caught any yet and rather not attract them . But il give it a go .

Any supermarket baits / seeds / beans or the like could try ?

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I have tried numerous supermarket bits and bobs. One I did well with was those little pots of paste, usually only 50p. Mix them with flour into a stiff paste or smeared on bread, The salmon and shrimp pastes worked best especially the salmon one. Has a nice oil on top when you open the jar. Carp loved it and tench especially on the commercials, not so good on rivers as it attracted loads of eels.. Just put a large blob of the paste on the hook.
Bread pudding worked well, available in most supermarkets or any cake shop,probably the fruit and spices in it, Cut a square and sink your hook in it, sometimes use a bit of grass to keep the hook in place if its a bit soft.
tried baked beans, not good, came off the hook too easily and did not note much fish interest.
Fruit can work, little bits of apple surprisingly, bits of strawberry as well, don't have to mess around with it and if the fish don't take, eat it yourself.
Supermarket cheese, maybe not on a lake but good for barbel and chub. I found a chilli cheese once that proved deadly for Chub.
Sweetcorn steeped in jam, marmite, peanut butter, garlic powder, aniseed flavoring/food colouring--supermarkets give no end of baits to experiment with, have a good look round and imagine, usually cheap and cheerful but on hard fished waters something different often works..

peter crabtree · May 4, 2017

associatedmatt said:
There is a lake I'm fishing and u have tried pellets and wafters as Hookbait least 5 times now and not even a nibble but then use smaller pellets as loose feed like 6mm and smaller and they feed on them . Same with corn yellow doesn't work but red corn does .

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You seem to have answered your own question Matt?
Why not use 6m pellet or red corn on the hook?

associatedmatt · May 4, 2017

Yes I know I Sussed they don't seem to go for yellow corn or pellets , il have to get some smaller pellets and try , il try and find some small hooker style pellets and see if they will work .

What about chick peas ?

I'm just intreasted trying some other baits to see if anything winkles out the better fish . It's the cost of all the pellets and boilies etc seem not to be cheap . Trying to cut down bait bill . It's groundbait where the money is

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no-one in particular · May 4, 2017

associatedmatt said:
Yes I know I Sussed they don't seem to go for yellow corn or pellets , il have to get some smaller pellets and try , il try and find some small hooker style pellets and see if they will work .

What about chick peas ?

I'm just intreasted trying some other baits to see if anything winkles out the better fish . It's the cost of all the pellets and boilies etc seem not to be cheap . Trying to cut down bait bill . It's groundbait where the money is

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That's one of the things about my post on supermarket baits -none of them are expensive. I have often procured enough bait for a full days fishing for two or three quid; and more importantly caught good fish; sometimes more than the expensive baits/groundbait; especially on hard fished waters.. For groundbait just a few samples of those cheap options was enough.

David Rogers 3 · May 4, 2017

associatedmatt said:
There is a few ducks and swans but not too many , I guess if liquidise night before and keep airtight it will remain moist so it sinks ?

Yes, just give a small handful a light squeeze and it'll break up into an enticing cloud. Squeeze it too hard and it'll float for a bit before sinking, which might be more likely to attract the ducks.

Any left over can be frozen for later use, although I find it's never quite as good after it's been defrosted.

I use either Warburton's Toastie or Hovis Soft White, but that's because I find they're both nicely tacky and a pinch of crust or flake stays on the hook well. Any sliced white will do for the liquidised feed.

greenie62 · May 4, 2017

associatedmatt said:
Yes I know I Sussed they don't seem to go for yellow corn or pellets , il have to get some smaller pellets and try , il try and find some small hooker style pellets and see if they will work ....

Pre-prepared Hooker pellets are very expensive - for the paltry amount the tub contains!

Try Garden Peas - a frozen packet costs little - you only need a handful in your bait tub - they'll defrost on the way to the water. Hook them or hair-rig. They work well (as posted last year) particularly when the roach, tench and Cru's are 'off' sweetcorn.

Add some water to the tub - you'll find some are floaters - some sinkers - you can use a pellet pump to 'unfloat' them. Mixing them on a hair can get a 'balanced' effect to keep them out of the silt.

Tight Lines!

---------- Post added at 10:27 ---------- Previous post was at 10:22 ----------

David Rogers 3 said:
... use either Warburton's Toastie or....

Thus saving people from having to eat it!

(It's from Bolton after all - nobody from the Wigan area would dream of eating the stuff!

)

flightliner · May 4, 2017

Try cooked maple peas for the tench, a very effective alternative.I used them regularly on a notts pit with good results, one afternoon I had two pb's in succession, good ones at the time in notts.
Cheap too. Use them as a particle carpet with some other hookbait amongst them if you want an alternative approach.

Alan Tyler · May 4, 2017

Chick peas are very good, but for me it's bread as a standard opening tactic. I hate catching baby perch., which puts me off maggots and worms.
Wheat's good, too, and hemp of course - "Traditional" since Belgians brought it to Richmond-on-Thames in WW1.

rayner · May 4, 2017

I reckon your feeding may be the problem, at the start of your session feed just a couple of pellets or corn. In fact any bait you chose.
If you fill in your swim with a load of bait fish will back off.
Fish aren't clever but they can spot danger, they will back off a load of bait. They have seen piles of bait and been caught over it so are wary.
Try using corn by just feeding a couple of grains a time.
Pellet works well where I fish but not if you over do it with the first feed.
Feed sparingly and see how the fish react, fish two or three lines and rotate them.

David Rogers 3 · May 4, 2017

greenie62 said:
Thus saving people from having to eat it!
(It's from Bolton after all - nobody from the Wigan area would dream of eating the stuff! )

Blimey, no - I wouldn't ever think of actually eating the stuff myself!

associatedmatt · May 4, 2017

Thanks all for your input some great ideas , like the idea of the peas !

Rayner I don't pile the bait in at all , the lake responds really well to carp in the margins and they hide at end of the lake where you can't fish until they come out on patrol . Normally a small mesh bag with pellets or some lightly damp micros/ groundbait . Tried with and then a few peices of corn tossed into the area and then add a few more small pellets or corn every 30 minuites or so to not over do it .

Tried other side margin with just corn and nothing then switched to pink fake corn and 3 carp above 10lb

Then I changed to pellet on hair nothing then went back to pink corn and another 2 carp

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rayner · May 5, 2017

Well obviously if the fish spend the day in the no fish zone they will be impossible to catch.
Personally I would expect some fish to be looking for food throughout the day.
I would scale down or fish up in the water, you're definitely doing something not right.

john step · May 5, 2017

Bear in mind the waters are still cold. Fish appetites will be suppressed.
Put too much feed in and you will kill the swim.

Early in the year I like to stick to dead reds, chop worm, and a small piece of breadflake.

I saw recently a guy filling his swim in with what looked like large pellets as though it was the height of summer and the fish would be gobbling everything up.

They weren't and he didn't catch not surprisingly. Judging by the gear he had and his age I would guess he had been fishing for some years(?).

Just makes you wonder what planet he was used to fishing on.

rayner · May 5, 2017

john step said:
Bear in mind the waters are still cold. Fish appetites will be suppressed.
Put too much feed in and you will kill the swim.

Early in the year I like to stick to dead reds, chop worm, and a small piece of breadflake.

I saw recently a guy filling his swim in with what looked like large pellets as though it was the height of summer and the fish would be gobbling everything up.

They weren't and he didn't catch not surprisingly. Judging by the gear he had and his age I would guess he had been fishing for some years(?).

Just makes you wonder what planet he was used to fishing on.

That's definitely true John I saw the exact same thing this week.
It's surprising how many anglers do it year in year out and then blame the fishery.

Traditional baits

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