What's the best bait to use when floater fishing?
Here's what our panel of experts think...
“I like a mixture of Mixer biscuits and Richworth Trout Pellets which I enhance further with Blended Salmon Oil. If I am struggling to get the fish feeding I will also add Go-Cat biscuits which are nice and small and get the carp really going. On the Hair I will always start off with a trimmed down Richworth KG1 pop-up.” HARRY CHARRINGTON
“For freebies I generally start feeding with small floating trouties, as these usually get the quickest response. Once the carp are feeding then I’ll begin to introduce a mix of bait that includes some large hookbait size pellets and normal Mixers. Hookbait-wise, I generally use a cubed down boilie. It doesn’t matter too much about flavour as long as it looks like some of the bait I’ve fed beforehand.” IAN POOLE
“My favourite Mixers are the oval-shaped Winalot ones, however I have been struggling to get hold of these recently. I like to use a few different types of Mixers, along with some 12mm Richworth Floating Trout Pellets, to get some different shapes and sizes in the mix. I also like to give the Mixers a good splash of salmon oil to boost attraction. As a hookbait, I find the oval Winalot Mixers great, very buoyant and a different shape to what most people use.” ALEXEI BYGRAVE
“Optimum hookbait choice will ideally be as close to whatever I am feeding. If I’m feeding dog biscuits then I’ll use one on the hook and the same with bread. Sometimes I will use a trimmed down pop-up or corkball if the bait is staying in the water for any length of time but the ideally situation is matching my hookbait exactly to my freebies.
“Freebies-wise, get On The Riser Pellet. It consists of a blend of various sized pellets with 80% of them floating and the other 20% slowly sinking through the water column pulling the fish up onto the surface. They are absolutely devastating! In with the Riser Pellet I will often mix in some dog biscuits or bread depending on my hookbait and the whole lot will be oiled up with either Pure Crustacean Extract or Strawberry Oil Palatant.” ALAN BLAIR