When ever someone mentions bait for carp everyones head spins and ten million million theory's and types of bait gets mentioned. I am going to keep it as basic as possible and discuss a few baits thats should be tried at some point or another. Venue plays a big roll because not every venue is the same as the next, different baits work for different waters basically.
The whole idea is to try and keep it as simple and plain as possible. When fishing static or specimen as we all know it by you need to make big amounts of feed and then of course you get your hook baits. Boilies is a huge industry in South Africa now and will be for many years to come. With float fishing you can use boilies but max size is 14mm and you do not need 50 different flavours, its kept as simple as possible because you move around alot to target the carp and you cannot make a big feeding area and sit there the whole day because then you may as well fish static and leave the floats at home.
Bellow is a few deadly baits for float fishing and a brief discussion on each. Keep in mind that as an angler you need to always draw the fish into your swim by means of pre feeding but with this method you only need a few handfuls and not 5kg!
Pre feed
There is so many kinds of bait that can be used for pre feeding, hemp, maples, tigers nuts and the list can go on. The idea is to keep the carp there long enough to find your hook bait and hopefully you get a take so what is the best pre feed for float fishing?
[shadow=darkred]Pellets![/shadow]
Currently in this country there are so few suppliers of proper pellets that it does make it difficult to use them and that is mainly because of price but they definately make the difference. When feeding pellets all you need is a couple of handfulls chucked out about 5m from the bank to 3 different areas that look carpy to you and then of course there is the best sign and that is hundreds of bubbles. Remember that if you see bubbles DO NOT FEED to that spot yet! You will chase the carp out the swim, rather just drop your float with hook baits to that area.
The advantage of pellets is that they swell in the water and release whatever
attractant they have and once the carp start feeding they break up totally into a powder and keep the carp busy for quite a while. This is one item that you must never leave home without.
The other baits that can be fed is pieces of bread but remember to squash it so that it sinks. Try and match your hook bait to what you are feeding. In the case of pellets you do get soft hooker pellets and that will be discussed under the bait section.
Hook Baits
There are hundreds of different kinds of hooks available on the market and most of them work but there is no better bait then the old piece of white or brown bread when float fishing.
Bread for some or other reason is mothers milk to carp and no matter where you are float fishing it would account for most of your catches. The size of bread you use as hook bait is entirely up to you. I fish with hair rigsand make the bread into a paste and wrap it around the hair and use a piece of tooth pick to secure the bread. Guaranteed hook up every time because the hook is exposed. Will discuss bait presentation in another thread.
Bellow is a list and pictures of other baits that work for float fishing.
Soft hook pellets
Corn. The best form of this bait is fresh off the cob, the attractant values are much higher then that of the bottled bought ones. Remember palin is better.
Bellow is a picture of 2 of the deadliest baits together, this is all you need to have a cracker of a day.
Boilies!
A white boilie or a boilie that has the same colouration as brown or white bread would be the best option because you know that bread works but the bread comes off very easily and you can go through a loaf in no time so the next best thing is use a hair rig and have your bait stay on 10 times longer. One boilie can catch you at 3 to 4 carp before it needs to be removed for a fresher one. My last session I made a white coconut boilie and it worked like a bomb!
I really hope this will help as far as baits go for float fishing. Like I said there are hundreds of different kninds of baits and feeds you can use but fishing in this country is more simpler then in Europe and of course the factor that always comes in is the availabilty and cost of these top baits.
Seriously guys, give the boilies a shot next time you go float fish!
The whole idea is to try and keep it as simple and plain as possible. When fishing static or specimen as we all know it by you need to make big amounts of feed and then of course you get your hook baits. Boilies is a huge industry in South Africa now and will be for many years to come. With float fishing you can use boilies but max size is 14mm and you do not need 50 different flavours, its kept as simple as possible because you move around alot to target the carp and you cannot make a big feeding area and sit there the whole day because then you may as well fish static and leave the floats at home.
Bellow is a few deadly baits for float fishing and a brief discussion on each. Keep in mind that as an angler you need to always draw the fish into your swim by means of pre feeding but with this method you only need a few handfuls and not 5kg!
Pre feed
There is so many kinds of bait that can be used for pre feeding, hemp, maples, tigers nuts and the list can go on. The idea is to keep the carp there long enough to find your hook bait and hopefully you get a take so what is the best pre feed for float fishing?
[shadow=darkred]Pellets![/shadow]
Currently in this country there are so few suppliers of proper pellets that it does make it difficult to use them and that is mainly because of price but they definately make the difference. When feeding pellets all you need is a couple of handfulls chucked out about 5m from the bank to 3 different areas that look carpy to you and then of course there is the best sign and that is hundreds of bubbles. Remember that if you see bubbles DO NOT FEED to that spot yet! You will chase the carp out the swim, rather just drop your float with hook baits to that area.
The advantage of pellets is that they swell in the water and release whatever
attractant they have and once the carp start feeding they break up totally into a powder and keep the carp busy for quite a while. This is one item that you must never leave home without.
The other baits that can be fed is pieces of bread but remember to squash it so that it sinks. Try and match your hook bait to what you are feeding. In the case of pellets you do get soft hooker pellets and that will be discussed under the bait section.
Hook Baits
There are hundreds of different kinds of hooks available on the market and most of them work but there is no better bait then the old piece of white or brown bread when float fishing.
Bread for some or other reason is mothers milk to carp and no matter where you are float fishing it would account for most of your catches. The size of bread you use as hook bait is entirely up to you. I fish with hair rigsand make the bread into a paste and wrap it around the hair and use a piece of tooth pick to secure the bread. Guaranteed hook up every time because the hook is exposed. Will discuss bait presentation in another thread.
Bellow is a list and pictures of other baits that work for float fishing.
Soft hook pellets
Corn. The best form of this bait is fresh off the cob, the attractant values are much higher then that of the bottled bought ones. Remember palin is better.
Bellow is a picture of 2 of the deadliest baits together, this is all you need to have a cracker of a day.
Boilies!
A white boilie or a boilie that has the same colouration as brown or white bread would be the best option because you know that bread works but the bread comes off very easily and you can go through a loaf in no time so the next best thing is use a hair rig and have your bait stay on 10 times longer. One boilie can catch you at 3 to 4 carp before it needs to be removed for a fresher one. My last session I made a white coconut boilie and it worked like a bomb!
I really hope this will help as far as baits go for float fishing. Like I said there are hundreds of different kninds of baits and feeds you can use but fishing in this country is more simpler then in Europe and of course the factor that always comes in is the availabilty and cost of these top baits.
Seriously guys, give the boilies a shot next time you go float fish!
