A guide to baiting for carp

Unless you’re planning on just fishing single hookbaits all of the time, one of the most important aspects to carp fishing is being able to put some bait accurately around your rig.

Exactly how you go about introducing your freebies will largely depend on the range at which you are fishing, as well as what type of bait it is.

If you are using boilies, then you have lots of different options when it comes to getting them around your rig, whereas with small particles baits those options are a lot more limited, due to the size and weight of the bait.

Given the variety of situations that we find ourselves in as carp anglers, fishing on different venues or even just moving swim, we are likely to use all of the different baiting up methods at some point – maybe with the exception of bait boats.

Here we take a look at all the different ways to put your bait out, and how to get the best from each, with the focus on the method of doing it, rather than how much you should be introducing.

By hand or baiting spoon

The easiest way to bait up is by hand when fishing in the margins or at a range close enough that you can accurately and consistently throw your bait there.

If you can see your rig on the bottom then that makes it even easier and more accurate, as you can actually see how the bait is landing around it and adjust your aim or baiting pattern accordingly in order to get the spread that you want.

This also works well when casting across to the far margins and where you are able to walk round and throw your bait in from that side of the lake.

If you can’t easily reach the spot by hand, such as where it is under overhanging bushes that you can’t accurately throw the bait through, then a baiting spoon on the end of a pole is a great option, as you can fill it up with bait, carefully push it across the surface until it is in position, and then tip it over to deposit all the bait on a tight spot, or slowly move it around whilst tilting it, in order to spread your freebies out more.

A baiting spoon – either on its own or attached to a short handle – can also be great for baiting up with particles at short ranges, and especially where you want to spread the bait around a fair bit. Using a spoon or scoop to throw it out creates a nice spread, although your range will be limited, and especially so with smaller particles like hemp, which won’t go far.

Catapult

Probably the easiest and most versatile method of baiting up is via a catapult, and it is also one of the ways that causes the least disturbance and allows you to top up your spots when needed, and with less risk of spooking any carp that might already be there.

Catapults are great for all sorts of ranges from under your feet up to around 80 yards or so, depending on the type of catapult used and which bait you are trying to fire out with it.

The level of accuracy will depend on the type of catapult pouch and the bait you put in it – the more bait and wider the pouch, the larger the spread of bait you will get – plus factors such as the wind.

Whatever types of baits you are trying to put out with a catapult, it is important to keep them separate and not to mix different sizes and weights of bait - such as different sized pellets for instance – as when you try to fire out a pouchful of the mixed bait, all of the individual components will go a different distance.

They can be used with almost any bait, from small baits such as maggots and particles, through to bigger baits like boilies, pellets, nuts, or floaters. The Korda range of Katapults includes three different models with different strength elastic, and an appropriate sized pouch, to allow you to put out pretty much any bait you choose to, and to do it accurately and consistently.

Throwing stick

If you are using boilies and want a decent spread of bait over the area that you are fishing, such as when fishing chod rigs for instance, then there is nothing better than a throwing stick, assuming that you’re fishing far enough out for one to be used.

Throwing sticks can be used with all different sizes and types of boilie, although if you are trying to use it at longer range then your boilies will need to be a fairly firm consistency with a harder skin, otherwise soft baits will just continually blow up in mid air.

With bigger, heavy, hard baits and a bit of practice, especially if using something like the Korda Eazi Stick, then a two-handed technique will get you extra distance and is favoured by Danny Fairbrass. With the right technique and favourable wind direction and strength, you can use a throwing stick to put boilies a very long way.

Technique really plays a big part here when it comes to accuracy and consistently hitting a similar area time and time again, as it is very easy to inadvertently twist your wrist whilst using the stick and to put unwanted spin on the baits as they leave the stick, which, much like a hooked or sliced golf shot, will have them dramatically curving off  and going anything but straight.

The Eazi Stick is a very good way of putting out lots of boilies quickly, and with minimal disturbance, and as long as you aren’t fishing a really long way out, then you can put several boilies in the throwing stick at the same time, and they will all land where you want them.

This method of baiting up is less popular than it used to be years ago, but is by no means any less effective, and on some waters where everybody else spods, it can be deadly as it gives a spread of bait which the carp aren’t used to seeing and have no reason to be wary of.

If you’re intending to put out any amount of boilies with a throwing stick, then you will benefit from a Compac Boilie Caddy, which goes around your waist and can hold a couple of kilos of boilies, making it very easy to keep picking up handfuls to load the throwing stick with, without having to keep bending down and getting them out of a bag, whilst also losing your rhythm.

Spod/spomb

The use of a Spomb or spod is the most popular way to bait up these days, and with the right gear, is very easy to use and accurate.

Modern Spombs and similar are a very efficient way to get your bait out, and unlike spods from years ago, don’t allow any bait to spill out mid-flight, plus are very stable and easy to cast, even when fishing at extreme range.

Once you’ve clipped up your spod rod to the correct distance, which will typically be roughly the same as your fishing rods are at, unless fishing very deep water and having to allow for swing back, it is then just a case of repeatedly filling your spod or spomb, and casting it out to your spot. How tightly you keep casting it will depend on what sort of baiting pattern you wish to achieve, as well as how many rods you are fishing on the area.

It is a very accurate way of baiting, as long as you are able to keep casting to the same spot, or getting the spread of bait that you want by allowing it to land in slightly different spots all over the area that you want to bait up.

To allow you to keep casting accurately, and especially so when using larger spombs, you will need tackle specifically designed for this purpose – including something like a Kaizen Green spod rod, plus a reel loaded with Korda Spod Braid, which is very thin and can easily be cast very long distances, as well as a leader, such as 30lb Arma-Kord, to prevent crack-offs. To protect your finger during casting with braid, especially doing so repeatedly and with wet hands, it is a good idea to wear some sort of finger stall - such as the Korda Finger Stall Strap - to prevent cuts, which can make it difficult to continue spodding.

Once you become proficient with spodding then the whole process becomes very quick and easy, and you can even turn up in darkness knowing that you are accurately putting out your fishing rods and then baiting up over the top of them.

Spodding does of course cause quite a bit of noise and disturbance over your spot, and whilst on some lakes this might spook the fish, at least for a while anyway before they come back, there are other waters where the noise of the spod actually attracts the carp as they associate it with food!

Bait boat

Love them or hate them, they are a tool which is allowed on many lakes and a lot of anglers like to use them.

Bait boats make it very easy to get bait – including larger amounts of it - around your rigs, as they drop freebies at the same time as your hookbait, or with the higher end models that have built in GPS and way points, you can easily send the boat out to your spot just to top up with some more bait, and know that it will be pretty accurate.

A bait boat is a fairly stealthy way of putting in your bait – certainly compared to a proper boat – and also allows you to bait and fish at ranges which you couldn’t normally reach, either due to distance or overhanging foliage making it impossible to cast there.

One disadvantage with many bait boats is that unless you have a special attachment designed to spread your bait out over a larger area, you can often end up with most of it dumped tightly around your rig, which the carp can start to wise up to, especially if lots of other anglers on the lake are doing the same – those piles of bait can end up signalling ‘danger’!

Boat

Although not very common in the UK and more used on the continent, some lakes do allow anglers to bait up from a boat – either rowing or with a motor – as well as dropping their rigs from one.

This of course makes baiting very accurate, especially if using some sort of marker, and even more so if the water is shallow and clear enough to see your spots.

Not only can you see your rig on the bottom once you’ve lowered it down to the lakebed, but you can also see where the bait you are throwing in is landing around it. This also has the added advantage of allowing you to go back out to the spot and check to see how much bait is left and whether the carp have eaten it all.

A boat is the most accurate way to bait up, but it also creates by far the most disturbance and is most likely to spook fish that may be on or close to your spot.

It is also very easy to over-bait when doing it from a boat as what you have thrown in often doesn’t look like much on the lakebed, and before you know it you can end up throwing in far more bait than you intended. A good tip is to only take out with you what you actually want to put in – so leave the big buckets or bags with the bulk of your bait in back on the bank.

PVA bags or stringers

If you only want a very small amount of bait directly around your rig, then a PVA bag or a PVA stringer is a good way of achieving that.

You literally just end up with your hookbait sat in amongst the contents of your PVA bag – either solid with the rig inside it or a Funnelweb style one which is attached to the hook – and in some circumstances that is enough for a bite as the fish home in on it and quickly eat the lot.

PVA bags are of course also effective when fishing over a bed of bait that has been put out via a spod, catapult or similar, and basically give you a presentation whereby your hookbait is in amongst the rest of your freebies, but is easier for the carp to pick out as it is surrounded by the contents of your PVA bag, and that attraction that is giving off.

When fishing over boilies which have been spread over the area you are fishing, then a PVA stringer with a few whole or half boilies on it, can help the carp to home in on where your rig is and make it stand out more and be more attractive.