Benefits of homemade bait
The difficulties of catching carp or common carp are associated with the fact that this fish is constantly moving in search of food and to a place of shelter. Therefore, only active fishing is suitable for it. In this case, you will have to feed not only the main place where hunting is carried out, but also several additional areas.
Important! Carp is distinguished by increased sensitivity and caution. Therefore, when fishing for it, be sure to maintain extreme silence.
You can buy bait or prepare it yourself. Each fisherman chooses which bait to use based on his preferences, beliefs, experience and capabilities. Among the purchased ones, we can recommend Dunaev Premium Carp Carp, Traper Big Carp, SENSAS 3000 Carp Extra Grosse.
- Homemade bait has a number of advantages, including:
- low cost - almost all components can be found in any kitchen;
- the ability to refine and supplement components in the field, depending on the tastes that the fish prefers;
- you can take into account the tastes of carp in a particular body of water;
- the uniqueness of the product, which increases the chances of attracting fish.
Homemade and store-bought bait, we make the right choice once and for all
Any bait must solve two problems:
- Attract fish to shore.
- Keep her there.
It is also important to remember that the fish should only be lured, not fed.
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Modern bait mixtures are produced by ichthyologists in collaboration with professional fishermen.
This bait has a complex composition and is usually quite balanced. The main ingredients are:
- powdered milk;
- wheat and fish flour;
- Brewer's yeast;
- corn gluten;
- hemp;
- soybean, sunflower, hemp oil;
- vitamins;
Carp is a voracious fish, but may refuse to eat poorly made mixtures. Therefore, if your choice is store-bought bait, use only well-proven feed. You should not buy cheap analogues. This is the disadvantage of store-bought mixtures - their high price, especially if we mean fish such as carp. Specific foods will be discussed in the comments, but here we will not advertise specific brands and brands, let the fishermen do this, from whom you can ask other nuances of selection.
Home
A mixture made at home will, of course, cost you less. But it should be remembered that not every fisherman will be able to make high-quality bait at home. And then, it can only correspond to store-bought bait of average quality.
Nevertheless, we have recipes for well-proven baits on the Volga reservoir and tributary rivers.
Main ingredients for bait
Carp is considered an omnivorous fish. Therefore, you can prepare complementary foods for him, consisting of various components. The main thing is that they should be washed away well with water and form a cloudy spot. It is advisable to season them with ingredients that enhance the smell and taste. These substances help spread the smell over long distances—several tens of meters—and attract more fish.
Find out how to pickle carp caviar.
The best ingredients for feeding carp include:
- breadcrumbs;
- porridge;
- wheat bran;
- worms;
- bloodworm;
- maggots;
- peas;
- cheese.
How to choose bait for carp
It is worth noting that when going on a carp hunt, it is advisable to have a variety of baits. Priority in fishing is given to the use of baits of animal origin, regardless of the fishing season.
Important! Fishing begins with the supply of animal baits, namely a worm or maggot.
Only after the angler is convinced that there is no result, should he resort to experiments with the selection of promising plant-based baits. In cold water in the spring, as well as the best bait for carp in the fall, animal options will be the best bait without compromise. In the summer, especially in persistent heat, often capricious fish switch to vegetarianism, preferring a plant-based diet, and therefore showing better bite on plant-based baits.
What smell does carp like?
The attractiveness of the bait is increased by attractants (taste and smell enhancers) and flavoring agents (smell enhancers). Carp are attracted by different scents in different seasons. In summer - he loves honey, vanilla, chocolate, anise, caramel notes. At other times, the most attractive aromas for carp are: garlic, hemp, dill, fruit.
Important! When using attractants and flavors, you should strictly adhere to the instructions for use. You should not put too much of such additives in the food, as this can, on the contrary, scare away the fish.
Flavors, like bait, can be made with your own hands. To do this, prepare an alcohol extract. For example, pour a small amount of chopped dill into 100–150 ml of alcohol and leave the liquid in a dark place for 21 days. Then drain the alcohol and add glycerin and water (2 parts each from the volume of drained alcohol). Animal flavorings can be prepared in the same way.
The attractant is prepared as follows:
- Juice from canned corn or oil from canned sprat is added to vegetable oil.
- Drop fruit essence, garlic juice, almond oil into vegetable oil, stir in curry and vanilla.
- Add cocoa powder, grated chocolate, chopped grass, and vanilla to sugar syrup (dissolve 3 parts sugar in two parts water). Boil for 10–15 minutes and cool.
Flavors and Smell Enhancers for Carp | 2 Types of Flavors
Carp has a good sense of smell, so its attention can be attracted with the help of Flavors.
Today they use 2 Types of Flavors:
Liquid, which dissolve almost instantly in the feed mixture;
Dry, which is a powder that is added to the feed mixture during its preparation.
If the bait for Carp is created with your own hands, then this procedure is performed directly at home. When a store-bought mixture is used, it is added to the composition on the shore of the reservoir.
It is recommended to use 100 gr. flavorings per 1 kg of bait.
Smell and Appetite enhancers can be easily purchased in specialized fishing stores. Their range is quite large. Store-bought flavorings can be replaced with garlic, vanilla or honey.
In this case, it is necessary to use only one scent in moderation so as not to scare away the carp.
Currently, among all existing Flavors, we can highlight Additives that are used in the Summer. These include, in addition to the above, the following:
Anise;
Essential oils;
Berry and fruit additives.
In winter, only Worms, Maggots and Bloodworms are added.
It is not recommended to use other flavorings to attract carp in cold water. They can scare away fish, since the concentrated aroma practically does not dissolve in cold water.
DIY bait for carp
The composition of the bait for the type of fish being described will be different. It depends on the reservoir and the fishing season. In the summer, they resort to using ground grain and cereals with the addition of feed for animals and birds, as well as sunflower cake or halva. There is no need to introduce proteins at this time . Spring and autumn bait should include food of animal origin (worms, maggots, bloodworms). The bait can be prepared by simply mixing several of the listed components, or use one of the recipes described below.
Did you know? Sensing the approach of danger, the leader of a school of common carp signals it to other fish with warning sounds - a series of characteristic cracks.
Salapinka
Salapinka or Salapin porridge is a simple and affordable bait, loved by fishermen.
For it you will need to stock up on the following ingredients:
- pearl barley (1 part);
- millet cereals (2);
- corn grits (2);
- barley groats (2);
- water (9);
- vanillin or vanilla sugar (1 packet);
- unrefined vegetable oil (1 tbsp.).
The porridge is prepared as follows:
- Pour water into an aluminum pan.
- Boil.
- Add pearl barley.
- Cook until done.
- Enter millet.
- Once it is ready, turn off the stove.
- Add vanilla and oil.
- Close the lid to infuse.
- After some time, make sure that there is no water in the porridge and that it has the right consistency.
Sweet summer bait
In summer, it is advisable to add sweet elements to the bait. This will enhance its effectiveness.
Summer bait
In the summer, when the days are hot, the water in the reservoirs heats up, and the so-called “blooming” occurs; a large amount of bait can have an adverse effect, since the food spoils, a sour smell appears, which the fish do not like.
Take oatmeal, wheat flour, crackers, and cake (sunflower or flaxseed) as the basis for summer bait. Crackers serve as an adsorbent; they disintegrate well in water and lure fish. The approximate proportion of crackers per total amount of mass is 1/2. It doesn’t matter whether the crackers are made at home or bought in a store.
To add stickiness to the mass, oatmeal is suitable; flour is less suitable. The proportion of oatmeal is approximately 1/4. It is recommended to take more or less oatmeal in the presence or absence of a current in the reservoir. The weaker the current, the less oatmeal is needed and, accordingly, vice versa. Oatmeal also has good viscosity.
The next ingredient is a product containing oil, such as seeds. The product containing oil is taken in approximately 1/7 of the total weight of the bait. Its task is to carry and keep small particles of food afloat. Next we take the bran. According to their properties, they are less susceptible to getting wet, so they blur over a larger radius.
Before the fishing process, add steamed cake to the mass. Products for cooking can be purchased at any fishing department or grocery department.
What kind of bait can you use to catch carp?
Plants and animals can serve as bait for the described fish species.
The best herbal baits are:
- canned corn;
- cereal dough with vanilla or cinnamon flavor;
- potato;
- elodea;
- reed;
- cattail;
- raspberries;
- cherry.
In winter, it is good to catch carp using dung worms, maggots, bloodworms, chafers, crayfish meat, and shell pulp.
You can also use artificial bait:
- silicone fish;
- vibrotails;
- wobbler in the form of insects and fry;
- imitation of corn grains, dung worms, impregnated with taste and smell enhancers.
Recipes
There is no universal recipe for bait for carp, or any other fish. By combining mixtures of the above ingredients, you can easily create a completely working bait.
It is completely incomprehensible to give advice where the recipe for bait is indicated in some proportions. When composing, you need to ensure that the mechanical composition of the mixture is optimal for the reservoir, and that the smell is attractive, in your opinion, to fish. And the fish will not calculate how many crackers you put in relation to the corn.
Salapinka
The popular bream porridge is quite suitable for catching carp in the current. It is cooked from a mixture of pearl barley and millet, after which it is loosened with barley, wheat or corn grits.
Paste for the “method”
Mix halva with semolina until you obtain a viscous but plastic mixture. Then lightly boil it in a water bath.
Sweet summer
This light mixture works well in summer in still water. To create it, take ground crackers, crushed cereal and powdered milk. After stirring the mixture, cover it with water and add corn from the jar, lightly mashing the grains. Of course, in this case you should fish with the same corn.
Carp will definitely be tempted by bait with corn grains.
Autumn version
Take soil from the banks of the pond and cut earthworms into it. Make balls or put the mixture in a feeder. You will be guaranteed a good bite.
Effective baiting of the place
If fishing is planned for 2-3 days, then you need to feed the fish in small portions and add more throughout the day. This will keep the carp interested. The fish will remain in the feeding area until it has eaten everything completely or is spooked by something.
Find out how to catch carp with boilies.
When fishing for one day, you should pour out a large portion at once so that it spreads like a spot on the water , and then add more bait as needed. It is better to introduce food 4-6 hours before casting the fishing rod. When using flavorings and attractants, so that the taste and smell do not become boring to the fish, they should be changed periodically.
So, before you go fishing for carp with a fishing rod, you should familiarize yourself with the features and recommendations for catching it, and also stock up on the right bait. You can purchase ready-made complementary foods in a specialized store or make it yourself.
Types and tasks of bait
When planning to make bait, you should understand what the entire mixture and its individual components will be intended for. Based on the fishing conditions and the selected gear, the prepared composition may differ radically.
1. Privada is used for systematic feeding of a certain point in order to develop the instinct of feeding in the fish at certain hours. This mixture is prepared from low-value food products: cereal waste, grain screenings and other ingredients. When steamed with hot water, such components are well collected by aquatic pig, as both carp and its domesticated relative, carp, are often called.
2. The usual bait mixture used in direct fishing for carp is usually recommended to be prepared as a two-component mixture, consisting of a small dust fraction to attract fish, and large particles to keep the school on the feeding table.
Attention! For large particles, it is recommended to use the attachment or bait that is intended to be used for catching carp.
3. The third type of complementary food is pasty, used in fishing with “method” type feeders or folk nipples. In this case, a kind of dough is kneaded, which the carp savor, sucking directly from the feeder.
4. To cut off small fish from the baited place, the same crucian carp for example, prepare bait for carp with your own hands, entirely consisting of large particles: cut boilies, pellets, whole grains of corn or peas.
PVA sticks are often used to deliver bait boilies to the fishing point.
Features of fishing for carp in autumn
Any fisherman will tell you that fighting the carp’s wild relative, the carp, is not an easy task. First of all, this fish is not a meek fish. The carp will rush to freedom with a force exceeding its weight. Secondly, there is always a risk that the fish will literally saw through the line. The carp has serrations on its dorsal fin. It is they who pose a real threat to gear. This weighty fish can even “cut” nylon fishing nets. So when fishing, the fisherman is required to show maximum skill. In general, fishing for carp in the fall is very interesting and no less sporting than fishing for the same pike with a spinning rod. This species does not fall asleep, but is active in September; it is hooked in October and November, right up to serious frosts.