How to spice up your carp food this spring
CARPology’s team of experts reveal their six finest bait-related edges when it comes to spicing up your carp fodder for the spring months
1. Get ‘em on the Alco Pops!
“The water temps are still on the low side, so we need to get the attractors in the water column quickly so why not add your favorite attractor package to some vodka or Baileys for a plume or sweet sloe gin for a twist?!”
2. Spring night crawlers
“The humble worm is so often overlooked and yet these little wrigglers can turn a quiet session into one to remember. Either balance them out with air to sit tantalizingly over chod or add to a small bright pop-up or piece of foam to get their dance noticed!”
3. Moonlit Senata
“Black Zig baits are awesome on clear moonlit nights due to their underwater luminescence, but why not make it even more noticeable in the water column by soaking your Zig in either of the following: cod liver oil, Nashbait’s Crustacean Extract or if you are using bugs, frog’s fanny powder! (FYI: this is a product used by trout anglers on their flies. It causes a bubble effect.)”
4. Spring cultures
“Find the lush new shoots of weed and you’ll find the fish close by. Feed ‘em little and often with morsels that won’t fill them up too quick: small pellets, Marmite-infused liquidised bread in a small PVA bag with a bite-sized hooker.”
5. Paste 'em big time
“Water-soluble attractors equals attraction, which equals food, and the best way to get attraction is by using paste baits, or paste wraps, often leading to quick bites. There are bait companies also doing breakdown baits, such as Mainline and Nashbait’s Cultured Baits, the latter leaks off natural food signals.”
6. Prawn cocktails
“Ask any good match angler what he rates as one of the best carp baits and invariably the answer will be prawns! Small cooked prawns from supermarkets are perfect – add a few to some loam groundbait and feed in close proximity to snags or reeds with one on the hook and sit back and wait!”