Fishing Baits

What will they eat?

The basic rule #1: Find a fish. Put something the fish will eat on a hook. Place it in front of the fish. Don't scare it.

Ground bait does three things:

By giving them a free taste it persuades any fish that find it that the bait is naturally present in the water - tells them it's 'safe'.
Invites any passing fish to stick around a while.
Feeds the fish.

The first two are good, the last is a problem. Too much groundbait and they're full up...

Loosefeeding: The simplest form of groundbaiting — or is it? Loosefeeding maggots for coarse fish and some observations on maggot behaviour.
Groundbaiting with mud: One of the best attractors and it's free.
Groundbaiting with bread: Making your own groundbait.
The Winter Shuffle: Should this be here or in the 'Methods' section? The shuffle is a great way to attract fish as winter wears into spring.
Scroff on the beach: Why do so few sea anglers use groundbait?
Take a bucket for a walk: It can be hard to find fish in a swollen winter river, a preliminary walk with a bucket of groundbait can pay off.

Floating Crust on Still Water: A simple, cheap and remarkably effective bait for many species. Particularly good for carp and rudd.
Bread: It's not just the crust that's useful — and even the crust doesn't have to float.
Worms: How to collect and keep good quality earthworms.
Emergency Worms: If you find yourself on the bank without a worm when you need one this is what you do.
Peeler Crab: How I use crabs when bassing.
Catching prawns: Prawns are a first class bait where fish are used to finding them.
Coloured Baits: What is the point of coloured maggots?.
Green Crust: How to use floating crust and yet avoid the ducks.

Unless stated otherwise: Everything in this site refers to fishing in the British Isles and similar northern European waters.