Carp Baits

As you know carp will eat almost any thing you put in front of them,

just locating them is the hard part.

The list below are baits you can use to catch Carp.

Meat Baits

o Luncheon Meat

o Pepperami

o Maggots                        

o Meat balls

o Cat food

o Worms

Particle Baits

o Tiger Nuts

o Big Trout Pellets

o Boilies

o Sweet corn

Floater Baits

o Bread

o Chum Mixers

o Cork Balls

o Pop Ups (Boilies, Plastic Sweet Corn)

 Boilies

Probably more carp anglers use boilies as carp bait than any other bait. As a carp bait they are easy to use, easy to store and have proven results when fishing for carp.
So what types of boilies are there? Well apart from different sizes, the main types are shelf life, frozen and home mades. Shelf life are available in most tackle shops and via mail order. They will keep for months in their original packaging and even once opened will last a fair while if kept cool and dry. They will however become very hard if allowed to dry out and are subjected to the sun for too long. If they get damp, they may well go mouldy. Once I have opened a packet, I usually try to use them during the session or freeze them once I get home. They will also tend to lose some flavour once opened and I like to try to use a new batch each session. I also own a fairly large koi pond, and so I don't find too many get wasted.

Frozen boilies are becoming a lot more commonplace recently. Again, I would tend to use them up during a session and not re-freeze them for the same reasons.

Home made boilies really warrants its own article, and so I won't go into much detail here. Suffice to say that it is an art form of its own. Many anglers wouldn't consider using any boilies that they had not made themselves. They will of course always be fresher and you can make them to your exact requirements to suit the water conditions and feeding habits of the carp you are fishing for.

Pellets

Pellets are available in the shops in a huge variety of forms, and as well as the old favourite trout pellets, a lot of specially made carp pellets are now becoming popular. The good thing about trout pellets is that they have a high oil content and do pull the carp in. They can either be attached to a hair if they are large enough, or for the smaller types, try making them into a paste by adding hot water for about half an hour, not too much or they will just dissolve. If they wont stay on the hook, an egg added to the mix will do the job.

Pastes can be shop bought or home made. Recipes for home mades will be featured in future articles. Shop bought pastes again come in a huge variety of flavours and I recommend experimenting.

Particles

Particles cover a massive spectrum of baits. One of the most popular is hemp. Its rich oily content when cooked attracts the carp, and its small particle size gets them grubbing around on the lake bed and churning it up looking for more. If your bait is amongst it, there is every chance that they will find it. It is of course too small to put on a hook, and is normally used as an attractor with a larger pellet on the hook. Hemp pellets are available and this can be a deadly combination. Other particles include just about any seed, and of course the pulses such as beans, peas and chick peas, sweet corn, the old favourite, seeds, and nuts make great carp baits. Most nuts and seeds will need to be cooked before use, and it essential to get this right. If you are not sure, seek advice from your bait dealer or fishery owner. Many waters ban certain particles and I recommend checking this before preparing your bait.

Natural carp baits

Natural carp baits include maggots, casters, worms, insects and anything that occurs naturally in the water or out of it. It also includes one of my personal favourites, cockles, which can be attached directly to a hook or thread one or more onto a hair rig. Also try shrimps and prawns and other sea foods and freshwater mussels are a favourite of carp where they occur naturally.

Floating carp baits

Lastly then, floaters. If it floats and carp will eat it, then try it. Chum mixer, any other dog or cat biscuits, (soaked first to enable hooking), floating crust/ bread . Also experiment with flavours. For dog mixers, place a bit of flavourings in a polythene bag with the biscuits, inflate and then tie the top. Shake to mix them well and then store ready for use.