(photo courtesy of Heather Hazekamp)

By Heather Hazekamp

We anglers pay lots of money for readymade fishing baits! If they were so wonderful, why do companies keep on offering new baits all the time? I have discovered that you can catch the same number of fish or more by making your own unique baits, which will save you money too.

Having a unique bait is one of the greatest competitive advantages in fishing. There is no doubt in my mind after over 3 decades of making homemade fishing baits, that they can compete against commercial readymade baits on any water or venue.

My #1 Secret for making bait is......to use water from the lake we are going to fish in if there is water called for in any of the recipes!!!!

Catfish and Carp Hotdog Bait Mix Catfish and Carp Stink Bait Mix - With this bait you will need night crawlers, flour, frozen bread dough, sour cream, beef livers and garlic powder. Combine all the ingredients in a bowl and kneed them together.

Carp and Catfish STINK Bait Recipe
We take a 32 ounce container of rice. stir in 1 whole bottle of ketchup. add about 6 ounces of flavoring (we prefer butternut) keep moist. Place a few Corn Pops on your hook, squeezing on the rice mixture. The rice will stay on the hook long enough to start attracting the fish

Carp and Catfish STINK Bait Recipe
35 putrefied night crawlers
1 lb. beef liver (liquefy in blender)
1 pint sour cream
3 Tbsp. garlic powder
1 package of frozen bread dough (thawed)
2 lbsp. Flour
Large Ziploc Bags
combine the night crawlers, beef liver, sour cream, garlic powder and bread dough. Kneed the dough as you would if you were making the most disgusting loaf of bread ever! Use the extra flour if the dough is too sticky to work with.
Place your stinky dough into a Ziploc baggie, make sure that you squeeze all the air out, write on the bag do not open unless you want to PUKE and let ferment for 2 days. Unzip the baggie after the second day to let some of the fermented air out. When you are ready to go fishing...just stick a chunk of the dough onto the hook and reel in the fish!

Carp Bait Recipe
1 box of wheaties
1/2 pound of sausage
1 can of cat food
1 can of corn drained
In a large bowl. Combine all the ingredients. Store in Ziploc bag. Makes about 2 pounds of bait.

Now I'm not saying that you will produce a wonder bait which fish simply jump straight into your net and beg for! Even with the very best baits, all the usual skills of fish location, bait application and skillfully playing your big fish are still required. But on your own homemade baits, the rewards and joys of catching your personal life time best fish on your personal secret bait formula is just incredible. This is why it is so important to exploit the massive fish catching factor of making your baits very unique.

Homemade baits often succeed far longer than many readymade types of bait purely because you are the only one using that particular bait! Baits for carp are often termed attractor baits or food baits depending on their nutritional value to the fish biologically speaking. High flavor levels and high concentrations if used are sometimes an indicator of a bait being more of an instant attractor type of bait much more than a food or nutritionally stimulating oriented bait.

It might sound hard, but making baits that really work effectively is easy. There are obviously very many methods of making baits and you do not need to follow conventional steps at all, in fact there are many steps you can leave out completely. This makes things very much easier, saves hours of time and take the least effort possible!

Many anglers overlook the advantages of not making their baits oval in shape. Remember carp remember, so using angular baits or non oval baits is a definite advantage. Just with a handful of eggs and a pound of semolina and soya flour you can make limitless different baits utilizing any of thousands of additives and flavors, sweeteners and appetite stimulators and so on, or just one! Such a bait will form a protective skin if you drop pieces of such baits in water or scald them with steam. Why bother boiling your baits when bait which is merely dried in warm air are frequently more effective than boilies?

Making baits is very easy. You merely need a large container to mix your ingredients in and a knife or spoon to mix the materials to form a practical bait dough.

Having the knowledge to be able to consistently make homemade baits for a mere 3 pounds or 6 dollars per kilogram, instead of 12 pounds or 24 dollars is stunning. Just think of the saving on 10 kilograms costing 120 pounds or 220 dollars! (90 pounds or 180 dollars is a giant saving and is literally homemade made money!)

Homemade baits can look very unusual to a readymade bait user, but then when a fish encounters it is very much more likely to take it into its mouth, than a more conventional bait it sees 24 hours a day with a hook in it. This is why so many homemade baits catch so many big fish compared to very many readymade types of bait as the biggest fish have least reason to reject them out of conditioned fear through being hooked previously.

Homemade bait makers might appear to get lots of beginners luck with big fish and this is no coincidence; unusually consistent big fish catches are very easily possible with a little more knowledge of bait making!

Let Us Go Carp Fishing

Equipment

Fishing rod: medium action rods 6' long are preferred. The longer the rod, the easier it will be to land a big fish.
Reel: spinning or spin casting reels with a good drag and capable of holding 120 yards of 12 pound test line are most popular.

Hooks: size 2 to 6 is best.

Line: 8-12 lb test. Use stronger line in weedy waters for better control of the carp.

Bobbers: in most cases they are a bad idea. When they are used, a pencil bobber is the best choice. Avoid using large round bobbers since carp tend to drop bait at the slightest resistance.

Sinkers: small split shot, slip sinkers, and egg sinkers are most commonly used. When using a lot of weight, use a slip or egg sinker so the carp will not feel resistance when it takes the bait.

Strike indicator: cut a small slit in a piece of styrofoam and attach it to your line between the reel and the first guide. Leave the reel open so a fish can take free line out. When the styrofoam piece hits the first guide, it will pop off indicating a strike. If you tie a piece of line between the rod holder and the piece of styrofoam, you won't litter.

Cooking Carp

Carp are extremely good to eat; in fact, they are considered a delicacy in many countries throughout the world. One of the problems with carp, however, is the two rows of small floating bones above and below the lateral line. Breaking the floating bones by either scoring the fillet or grinding it up is important to make your meal an enjoyable one.

Carp Recipes

Breaded Carp for a Fish Fry

Carp fillets
flour
1 tbsp. milk
seasoned bread crumbs
1 egg
lemon wedges
tartar sauce

Place carp fillets in a paper bag containing all purpose flour. Shake well to coat the fish. Dip fillets in a mixture of 1 tablespoon milk and 1 egg. Place floured, egged fish into a pan containing seasoned bread crumbs. Pat crumbs onto the fish with the heel of your hand. Pan or deep-fry at 375°F. Serve with lemon wedges or tartar sauce.

Chinese Broiled Carp

Make sure you remove the red muscle and scales from the fillets.

2 lbs. prepared fillets
1/4 cup soy sauce
1/4 cup orange juice
2 tbsp. catsup
2 tbsp. peanut oil
1 tbsp. lemon juice
1/4 tsp. grated ginger
1/2 tsp. oregano
1/2 tsp. ground pepper 1 clove garlic, minced

Place fish in a single layer in a pan and combine all remaining ingredients and pour over the fillets. Marinate for 2 hours. Drain and save the marinade for basting. Broil fish 4 inches from heat until done, basting with reserved marinade to brown both sides of the fillets.