Top 10 hookbaits/groundbaits

[Guest]

Ok, bit of time to kill so here we go..

1. Sweetcorn-caught more fish on this stuff than I care to remember. I've converted big time to the plastic version as well - best when not flavoured and makes a superb neutral bouyancy hookbait. Add molasses or corn steeped liquor to boost when using as groundbait ( what I believe you call chum? ).

2. Hemp seeds - carp go nuts for this stuff - said to resemble small water snails - crunchy and oily. Just soak for 24 hours, boil 30 minutes and drain. The more you put down as groundbait the better, although is best mixed with pellets and sweetcorn, using corn on the hook. If you use it on its own carp will often feed like maniacs on it but ignore your hookbait.

3. Boilies - bit obvious but still catching. I've started using smaller 10mm size ones, usualy either pineapple or Mainline Active Maple 8 as the places where I fish carp seem to have a sweet tooth.

4. Dog biscuits - top surface bait still- Ive started using the new plastic imitation biscuits available here from Enterprise but have yet to really test it due to a lack of surface feeding recently.

5. Bread - god bless it still catches whether in paste, flakes or surface fished crust. Excellent groundbait if liquidised and put in a pva bag.

6. Trout pellets - oily lovely groundbaits - best in small sizes I find though larger pellets can be hair rigged or put on a pellet ban off the hook.

7. Meat - luncheon meat still does the business, so too Pepperami although in some places this just won't work.

8. Maggots - again can be a bait that works some places but not others and also attracts other small fish too often. Best used dead as a groundbait, and once again I've had great success using Enterprise Tackles Rubber Grub imatation maggies - best used with a couple of live maggots since the rubber ones will prevent them coming off the hook. Responsible for two of my best fish this year.

9. Dynamite Baits Marine Pellet Groundbait / Swim Stim Koi Pellet Grounbait - top stuff for using on a method feeder - 50/50 mix with a few grains of hemp/sweetcorn added caught me just over 300lb of fish in one memorable day on this stuff.

10. Night crawlers - again a lifelong bait and often overlooked here for carp. Great winter bait if you chop up the worms into a feeder. also try cutting off the end of the tail on the hookbait to attract fish with the juices - this caught a mate of mine a 26lb carp ( although he wasn't fishing for carp at the time! ).

So there you have it - also an honourable mention here for tiger nuts ( prepared in the same way as hemp ) People here rave about this as a bait, however there isn't a single water that I fish on round here that allows their use ( if theyre not properly prepared they can kill a fish.)

Cheers
Steve

[Rick]

Hi Steve,
interesting.

How do you use your groundbait?

That's a relatively unused term in the USA.

I'd like to get more detail on this.

Thanks Steve.

[Guest]

Hi Rick
I've posted a new thread on this one - blimey when you come to write it all down you realise how much you take experience for granted- a really useful exercise to make you think about what you're doing.

I'll run a few threads on this one since to cover it all would take a week!

My basic philosophy at the moment is to feed as much groundbait as possible, be it mixes or particles. I recently watched two large carp feed over a tin of sweetcorn introduced into the margin - they virtualy ate the lot in just over a minute. They really are pigs!

Cheers mate
Steve

[Rick]

Thanks for those topics Steve

I can see we're in for a treat if you're just touching the surface