What Bait To Use For Carp
Carp is one of the best species of fish to try and catch. Because of their size and weight, many fishermen will prefer to try and use bait that will specifically draw out this type of fish.
Sitting at the bottom of their environments, these bottom-feeders try not to expend too much energy by eating types of worms and plant life residing in the body of water that they live in.
What’s The Best Bait To Use For Catching Carp?
Follow our guide to find out the best tips and tricks and catch your carp today!
Where To Find Carp
It’s useful to have the right bait to catch carp, however, you need to know where to find them first!
Carp tend to stay around slow-moving bodies of freshwater where they like to dwell at the bottom of their environment.
Despite being at the bottom of the water, this doesn’t mean that they are at the bottom of their food chain.
Although they don’t tend to eat other fish, carp are so big that they’re rarely preyed upon in their surroundings.
The types of water forms that you can find carp in are lakes, large ponds, rivers, and canals. However, it’s important to note that a lot of carp have been domesticated due to them being typically native to Asia and Europe, rather than the US.
Carp were originally introduced into American waters to help control the levels of weed and plant life in the environment.
What Baits To Use For Carp
When catching carp, it can always help to throw a bit of ground bait into the water first. This will give the carp at the bottom of the water an indication that there is food available, leading to them being enticed out of their hiding places.
Carp have been known to eat insects and flies off the top of the water, so they do move from the bottom of the water from time to time.
It’s always important to check the rules of the fishery or water that you’re about to use because a lot of places will ban the use of ground bait to help maintain high water quality.
This is the same with boilies attached to hare rigs. This type of bait is extremely useful for trying to catch carp. Boilies are essentially a type of dough ball that is attached to the fishing line through a hair rig.
A hair rig is a piece of line, which the boilie is connected to, where the fish will bite looking for the bait. Boilies can come in all sorts of flavors from anything like mackerel to cat food.
So you’re introducing carp to flavors they have never tried before, that fishermen may not know works! Like with ground bait, the use of boilies is prohibited in some areas, so it’s best to double-check the rules before using them.
Dog biscuits are a weird one, but they work! You’d think that dog biscuits would be better bait for dogfish, (get it?!), but they are perfect for catching carp.
Partnering dog biscuits with a controller float can allow you to cast a good distance whilst leaving your hook length free for fish to target.
Grass carp may be the exception, but it seems most carp enjoy this type of food. Just make sure you get your dog’s permission before stealing their treats!
Another everyday food that you can use as bait for catching carp is sweetcorn. With carp fishing becoming more and more popular every year, it’s useful to find baits that aren’t too pricey.
One small can of sweetcorn can provide you with enough bait to last a whole fishing session! Because of its nutritional value, corn seems to be a favorite amongst carp and other bottom-feeding fish all over the globe.
Yet another form of everyday food that can be found in a fisherman’s arsenal is bread. By using bread you’re giving yourself a good option that can be found in every grocery and convenience store up and down the country.
Because of its consistency, it can be easy to roll up bread into balls and attach them to hooks or throw them into the water as ground bait.
This can be effective to test if there are any carp in the area that you’re looking to fish.
Because of the carp’s diet of small insects and forms of aquatic worms, maggots can be a great option to use when looking to snag one of these fish. Maggots can come in bright colors and offer something different from the other options on this list. They move!
By moving, these can entice the carp out of their space to come and attack the hook. Although you may feel like maggots are a bit outdated in terms of fishing bait, sometimes you can’t beat a classic!
Spam is another classic option that modern fishermen still like to choose when trying to catch carp. Also referred to as luncheon meat, spam contains all of the scents and flavors that will attract carp from their space at the bottom of their home.
Because of all of the oils contained in this canned meat, carp will be able to spot spam from across their body of water.
However, spam can be difficult to get on the hook because it has a moist and soft consistency so inexperienced fishermen may want to opt for something a bit more sturdy.
Final Thoughts
When it comes to fishing for carp, they can be pesky creatures who often hide at the bottom of the water.
By using certain baits and ground baits you can ensure that they’re active enough to at least give you some hope.
As many fishing experts will tell you, there’s nothing more frustrating than taking the time out of your day to go fishing and getting no bites.
With regards to finding a lot of these baits, you can find a few of them in grocery stores across the country, however, baits like maggots and boilies can be found at bait and tackle stores.
Why not try a few of these out next time you go fishing for carp? Who knows, you might get a few bites!
