Less common baits

[mikench]

In France wheat is a popular hookbait and sold ready prepared in my local Decathlon. In similar vein lupin beans are popular and I have half a large jar still to be used. Clive on here probably has tried both and certainly has achieved success with wheat. I have used it as a hookbait but I suspect it could be presented in pva bags and perhaps Clive will say how he caught barbel with it. I have tried maple peas and chick peas both of which can be popular on some days but not on others. I haven’t caught on lupin beans yet. Curried chick peas are a favourite on a particular venue with 16 carp succumbing to temptation one day. I have also tried various berries, wood louse and butternut squash but without success.

what other odd baits do you regularly try and with what degree of success? Also, and this question applies to any bait, how long do you persevere without a bite.?

 

[Old fisher]

In France wheat is a popular hookbait and sold ready prepared in my local Decathlon. In similar vein lupin beans are popular and I have half a large jar still to be used. Clive on here probably has tried both and certainly has achieved success with wheat. I have used it as a hookbait but I suspect it could be presented in pva bags and perhaps Clive will say how he caught barbel with it. I have tried maple peas and chick peas both of which can be popular on some days but not on others. I haven’t caught on lupin beans yet. Curried chick peas are a favourite on a particular venue with 16 carp succumbing to temptation one day. I have also tried various berries, wood louse and butternut squash but without success.

what other odd baits do you regularly try and with what degree of success? Also, and this question applies to any bait, how long do you persevere without a bite.?

Hi mikench I can't say it's a bait I Use regularly now but wintertime I like feeding the garden birds and sometimes I buy live mealworms. When using them for fishing I have found putting 3 or 4 on a fine wire hook accounts for quite a few roach and perch

 

[Peter Jacobs]

Elderberries and tares are not so much used these days but still great baits for both roach and dace.

 

[Notts Michael.]

I have thrown ripe blackberries into a very a clear brook in autumn in the past and small chub appeared seemingly from nowhere and wolfed them down. haven't tried them as a hookbait though.
Also, have caught a few carp(and a bream) using pre soaked sultanas, they swell up a bit and become juicier after a being in water overnight.
Macaroni caught a few carp too, simmered for a bit in milk to soften it, as described in an old book called Angling Ways I picked up in a charity shop.
Chickpeas worked ok for carp too, I think basically they will 'mouth' anything to see if they deem it edible!

 

[Old fisher]

When in my twenties I also went sea fishing in my own boat. I've had small ragworm left over and I have caught bream and perch on small sections.
I don't know what the fish in the lakes thought they were but both myself and my cousin caught on them. We never had enough left over to give it a regular test.

 

[@Clive]

Wheat is sold semi prepared for human consumption being dehulled and pre-cooked. The grains are larger than the wheat sold for animal feed and more consistent in size and shape. 5 minutes in boilng water then drained and purged with cold water is all it takes. It is branded Eble or Ebly dependent on the shop.

Lidl and Aldi sell small jars of prepared lupins and you can get most useful pulses in supermarkets in dried form. The animal food aisle has maize, whole and milled in handy 5kg bags and Frolicks dog biscuits that are the universal carp bait round here.

In my experience maize and sweetcorn are essential if you are fishing in France. Milled maize soaked in boiled water with some tinned hemp and a few assorted pellets are my to go loose feed. I even make into cake to be able to feed i large lumps that dissolve once wet.

Frolicks dog biscuits ae a brilliant cheap bait for chub, barbel and carp. Just break a small piece out of the ring and mount on a latex band.

Worms still work well after all these years and if you can find wasp grubs and cake they still work too. I the compost bin I find cockchafer grubs and these are brilliant chub baits. Roach like them too.

You have to be very careful when hooking them as they are delicate like wasp grubs. You can't bury the hook.

Also, whelks and garden snails are good when carp are pushing through the marginal weed hunting water snails.

And luncheon meat can be found over here at reasonable prices.

 

[peterjg]

My favourite bait is bread but other baits regularly used for roach:
Wheat, sometimes (even in winter) can be a great bait but can be very hit and miss - don't know why?
Macaroni, very versatile
Gungo peas, similar when cooked to baked beans
Homemade pellets
Hemp, great on the Thames but useless on the Kennet - don't know why?
Homemade groundbait
Pellets
Mini boilies
Dendras

Favourite carp baits:
Tiger nuts
Homemade boilies
Garlic sausage

 

[sam vimes]

I know that wheat has been used as a bait for donkey's years. However, I started using it as a cheap feed/pre-baiting alternative to more costly particles. Essentially, hemp got far too expensive to use in large quantities and the quality fell off a cliff. The fact that wheat is far easier to prepare also helps. Being able to get as much as I'll ever need for free (or for very little) doesn't hurt.

 

[@Clive]

The quality of hemp supplied by angling shops has deteriorated to the point that it wasn't worth buying. I now get it in tins as the quality is consistent. However, in summer when baiting is heavier I bulk it up using lentils and wheat to save on cost. Lentils are now getting expensive too. Damned vegans!

 

[markcw]

On the north west canal circuit in the late 80's pearl barley in with liquidised bread as feed was a go to , Also on a couple of commercials .
Macaroni cheese straight from the tin was a killer bait on Dunham fisheries a few years ago , if you had none you would struggle .Now it seems you struggle with any bait on there .
Live mealworms were another change of bait .

 

[barbelboi]

There are quite a few that I use regularly some being - woodlice for roach, I believe they resemble the small black snails found in silkweed that aroach seem to love. Also, of course, the silkweed itself for many species. Also Anything found on the bankside/in the water usually works.

I used to use Frolic some years ago for Carp also Clive, the added bonus is that you can stick a cork ball in the hole to get neautral buoyancy........

 

[Lord Paul of Sheffield]

In the past I've used slugs when Ive found them on the babk, the dark black ones seem to work for chub

 

[@Clive]

There are anglers who fish the Seine in Paris for large catfish who slide 5 or 6 Frolicks on a balsa dowel for just that purpose Jerry. I made my own smaller dowels out of wine corks as the initial idea of rig foam caused the biscuits to crack open. For barbel though it doesn't matter as much imo.

 

[nottskev]

I've not often found that a special or magic bait makes a big difference, although others may find differently. Usually it's feeding/presenting conventional baits in the right way that swings it. One that's dropped out of fashion but still works well on some waters is a paste made from powdered pellets (or whatever) mixed with egg, stiff enough to stay on small hooks and fished in small blobs. Gourmets can add things like Anchovy Paste. I have a small grinder from Lidl that lets you turn any hard baits into a paste ingredient. The same paste can be wrapped round a pellet or boilie to advertise it.

 

[theartist]

I use bread to catch Bass when the mullet aren't around, not a rare bait but it still seems weird to see bass slurp it off the surface, only works in certain docks/estauries but the locals always tell you of stories of bass eating chips, pies, cheese even chocolate, you name it.

 

[barbelboi]

In the past I've used slugs when Ive found them on the babk, the dark black ones seem to work for chub

If you put a drop of anaseed in a bait box on the river bank it will attract enough slugs to keep you going all day........................

Another bait that can be very effective for grayling are pomegranate seeds - they resemble salmon eggs...................

 

[rayner]

I am not a fan of alternative baits by alternative I mean any baits I never use. I have tried most with limited success. My thing at the moment is mainline power baits like the big jars of hemp 14 quid or the mixed particle baits with similar costs. usually, boil my own for the hook.
My bait bill is higher than it used to be but the price for ready-to-use baits has to be paid unless I put the work in. I am not prepared to do it.
Pellet is my favourite bait for both hook and feed. Easy to use other baits are not needed for me why change what works.

 

[Ray Roberts]

I’ve tried urid beans and black turtle beans when I couldn’t get hold of any tares and caught on them both. Overall I prefer tares if they are prepared just right.


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[barbelboi]

Roach can become very preoccupied with elderberries from an overhanging elderberry bush and ignore any other bait that is presented within the proximity. We had this happen for a few seasons on the Kennett – the good part was that the bush kept feeding the swim for us………….

I posted about this in more detail some years ago..............

 

[@Clive]

Had two barbel on cock chafer grubs today. Plus another bite on the third one that got off.