Winter is a time when you really need to maximise the effectiveness of any free baits you use to encourage fish to feed, while not prematurely filling them up. Here are some great proven ideas to help you get the balance right and catch you more winter fish. Read on to find out more!
Carp get filled by boilies and other potentially more difficult to digest baits, and it is well known that feeding too many of them in winter is not only often the kiss of death of a swim, but a big waste of money too which certainly does not maximise your chances of bites! Many methods have evolved to provide attraction near your hook bait without over-filling carp. Boilies threaded onto a water soluble PVA stringer next to the hook is very effective and this kind of idea has also spawned countless variations on the theme and really helps maximise bites, while minimising bait costs and usage.
Of course you can apply as many various baits in your attack as you like, from readymade ground baits, to maggots, to hemp, to various crushed boilies and soluble carp pellets and so on, all in conjunction with PVA products and methods (and specialised bait feeding cages and droppers etc. Ground bait application is the art and skill that is a genuine cornerstone of successful carp fishing so it is absolutely essential especially in winter to do it to suit the situation and conditions taking into account all the possible variables that may challenge your fishing. Ground baiting for some carp anglers might mean launching spods of pellets or hemp or slop or method mix etc, instead of just firing out whole baits; which may well fill carp up too fast and bread is a very useful ground bait base often over-looked.
Bread is often and over-looked ground bait base and it is soluble and digestible enough to really be ideal for the job at this time, and it is very well known not to be just a small fish bait! Fishing over all kinds of forms of bread-based ground baits in winter and spring has proven successful time and again. You can always fish reliable boilies on your hooks and these will of course always remain successful.
Increase your bite rate by improving the effective addtives and ingredients in your baits and ground baits that induce more sampling of hook baits having not fed fish up on free baits first! Water-solubility and digestible potential of your baits is paramount. Pellets and boilies made with little oil as possible (that make baits less digestible and less effective in cold water) are very highly recommended!
The high oil pellets usually associated with best effectiveness in warmer water temperatures, such as the infamous halibut pellets are not so great in low temperatures. Low oil pellets which are going to encourage far more prolonged feeding and better bait digestion are hugely preferable. The low oil pellets water-soluble attractors and feeding stimulators etc, will be far more able to disperse attraction more effectively in cold water, in contrast to high oil halibut pellets.
If you add a liquid to your boilies and pellets for whatever period you choose whether long or short, you can raise the water-soluble proportion of your baits making them far more effective. Baits like particles, boilies, pellets etc all benefit from glugs, dips and so on, and so do fake and live baits such as maggots. These tips are just a sample taster to give you a perspective on the importance of you bait choices and the seriously important free bait application methods and ground bait formats you might select; preferably you will try to stimulate as many carp senses as possible at this time by gathering as many tips to help you as possible!
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When the huge importance of the relationships between carp senses and your effective (or ineffective) choices of hook baits and ground baits become cornerstones of your fishing attack, you will not stop until you have read as much as possible on this subject and gathered an extremely effective arsenal to stop you wasting as much money on blanks and wasted bait as possible; so keep reading on…
By Tim Richardson.
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