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#Post#: 46--------------------------------------------------
The Best Winter Baits
DIR By: Voodoo
Date: March 9, 2013, 5:16 am
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Tempting lethargic fish to feed in winter can be particularly
tricky as most species’ metabolism slows right down in colder
water.
They need far less food than they require during the rest of the
year when they are much more active, so to cajole them into
feeding you need to alter your feeding approach as well as
selecting the right bait.
Here Angler’s Mail reveals ten great baits that have a top
reputation of catching even the most stubborn of fish in tough
winter conditions.
1 Salt
The addition of salt to baits is a great attractor at any time
of year, but it really comes into its own during cooler
conditions when you want to create a small area of maximum
attraction. Forget chemical-laden table salt and opt instead for
sea or rock salt which is easily incorporated into pastes or
groundbaits or sprinkled onto maggots, casters, pellets, hemp or
corn. Small PVA bags of pure salt are perfect to use with any
hook bait and are a little-used but devastatingly effective
winter edge.
2 Bread
Bread is a top winter bait especially on the rivers where chub
and roach both adore flake, crust or punch. Although mashed
bread is widely used as groundbait when bread fishing, for
winter use a finely liquidised white, sliced loaf which produces
smaller particle sizes and is less likely to fill up a feeding
fish; remove crusts from the slices for an even finer mix if the
going is really tough. A PVA stick of compressed crumb is a
little used but brilliantly effective winter carp tactic – use
in conjunction with a single grain of white, rubber corn.
3 Chocolate malt
Choccy malt breaks all the rules. Unlike all other flavours
which can be counter-productive if used in excess, it is
impossible to add too much. For a brilliant winter carp puller
add 20 ml of the gorgeously sweet liquid to an egg and mix up
with a proprietary fluoro-white pop-up mix to create small – 10
mm is ideal – pop up boilies. Reserve a bit for paste too.
4 Lecithin and alcohol
Oil-based flavours and attractors and fishmeals lose their
attractiveness as oils become more viscous in cool temperatures.
To ensure flavours leach out and are not locked into bait add
lecithin granules (from a health food shop) to fishmeal
groundbaits and pastes. Alternatively, mix up paste baits with
alcohol to ensure excellent dispersal – a tot of the odourless
vodka is the usual choice but experiment with whisky or gin for
a really different scent.
5 Maggots
One of the very best coldwater carp catchers. A mesh PVA bag of
maggots, in conjunction with a bunch of grubs on a hair-rigged
maggot clip, is one of the most reliable of winter carp tactics.
Maggots are easily digested, colourful and loved by carp. Cast
regularly and tightly to build an area and don’t forget to
include a couple of rubber grubs on the rig to balance the
weight of the hook.
6 Spices
Spicy flavours have long had an association with winter fishing
and with the proliferation of Asian stores there is a
bewildering range of brilliant additives with which to spice up
your baits. A sprinkling of turmeric on maggots, a shake of
garam masala in groundbait, chilli-laced hemp, coriander
flavoured corn, meat dusted with garlic salt and pastes made
with belachan paste are just some of the spicy options – which
are only limited by your imagination.
7 Paste
Hi-attract paste hook baits are only one part of the winter
paste story as the versatility of the bait lends itself to a
number of different applications. Most notably it can be used as
a ‘plug’ for watch-style leads or as a wrap around for any bomb
or hook bait; it can even be ‘blobbed’ onto PVA stringers. The
paste used in this way gives a longer-term leakage of
flavour-charged particles into the swim and acts as a great
fish-puller, especially in the rivers. To give a more rapid
breakdown for non-hook bait applications mix pastes with water
rather than eggs.
8 Corn
For coldwater commercial carping there are few baits to beat a
simple grain or two of sweetcorn. Corn is easily digested,
highly visible – even in coloured water – and, unlike maggots,
resistant to the attentions of small silvers. A couple of grains
hair-rigged through the middle sit perfectly on an 18 but, if
the going is really tough, a single grain presented lengthwise
on a size 20 should do the trick.
9 Liquids
Solid PVA bags are not just for filling with solid baits. The
tactic of filling bags with neat liquid flavours and attractors
has brought me winter bites by giving a massive explosion of
attraction with no feed. Make sure you use PVA-friendly mixes
and experiment with different mixes: condensed milk combined
with chocolate malt is a good starter for carp.
10 Peperami
The spicy meat snack checks all of the boxes when it comes to
winter fishing, despite the fact it is on the oily side. Highly
attractive to carp, chub and barbel it can be whittled down to
tiny chunks for use with scaled down line and small hooks, yet
it still packs a serious punch in terms of attraction once the
outer skin is sliced off. Try a thin slice as a topper for half
a 10 mm pop-up boilie for excellent winter carp results.
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