Coarse Baits

Someone asked me about cheap readily available coarse baits the other day, so I thought Id do a little bait entry....

These are great established baits that should catch you fish in most situations.
Given some of these, you cant really go far wrong, as they are established fish catchers.
With no specialist baits available, I'd happily fish with these, and quite often do anyway.

Bread

Awesome bait. Famous angler Chris Yates said that if he could only have one bait to fish with, it
would be bread. It floats when fluffy, sinks when wet, is easily pinched onto hooks from small pea sized bits up to big lumps. Bits of crust can also be directly hooked and are a favourite for use floating on the surface. Very versatile with colors and flavours, and can catch most course fish species. A cheap thick white is the best choice.

Sweetcorn

Another one of the main cheap baits. Bright and sweet. Used for many many years and found in more tackle bags than you'd imagine. Probably the easiest bait to get hold of, use, and be successful. Hook it directly, or on a hair rig. Easily flavoured or colored if desired, but pretty devastating in its standard form. I would feel incomplete if I didn't have a small tin with me on any trip.

Luncheon Meat

Great bait for carp. Meaty and and fatty. Cut it into small cubes of half a cm across for tench or other small species, or even carp themselves. Cut into large 3cm cubes to select carp and keep smaller species off it. Again, takes colors and flavours well. Hook a small cube onto the hook or hair rig alongside a piece of corn for a mixed bait.

Worm

Probably the best known fishing bait of all time. Fantastic for Perch, and very good for carp and basically ALL species. Easily obtained, but a little time consuming. Simple enough to just side hook, but can be difficult when they are wriggling about all over the place. They can be bought from some tackle shops or online, but are not a cheap bait, and FAR better to have collected them yourself from wet grassy areas at night.


Specialist Baits
There are of course other baits that are available from tackle and bait shops, like maggots, castor, paste, boillies, and so on. Paste and boillies can be very effective indeed.