carp baits?

well open water is coming, and i love carp fishing. there are many baits out there and they are good and bad. i usually use corn or oatmeal for bait but it seems that they are not the best bait for carp according to many carp anglers. now i am willing to try something new, i mean artificial carp bait. the question is which ones are better than corn and oatmeal. i know there are boilies, but i dont know how to make them and am willing to learn. but for now i just want things i can buy, can anybody give me any advice or tips on where to buy good carp bait, i know some of the best bait are sold only at privet bait shops. thanks.

I think Wonderbread can be considered an artificial bait

I have used Berkly power bait carp nuggets with good success.

If they are surface feeding hard dog food can be awesome. Just put a piece or two on your hook with no weight and cast it out. If you need a little more weight for a farther cast put a small bobber about a foot and a half or so up the line. You will have to switch out the bait every so often, as it gets waterlogged it will sink. It also helps to chum the area somewhat. I’ve never used it besides topwater fishin’ but I’m sure it works just as well subsurface.
Good luck!

If you want a good time put a piece of nightcrawler on a hook and splitshot on your flyrod.More fun than Elliot Spitzer will be having for the foreseeable future!!!!

Try this recipe for dough bait. You will need some very soft white bread, CREAMY peanut butter, and a bottle of Sorghum. Sorghum (I may be spelling it incorrectly) is avaliable at grocery stores, usually near the maple syrup and Karo corn syrup. It is similar to molassas, but not the same. Anyways, tear the crusts off of the bread and mix in peanut butter and sorghum. You will know you have the mix correctly when you can form nice balls that do not fall apart. Put these on a small (#6 or # 8) treble hook, the ones with the spring on the shaft work well, and cast out with a weight above them. Might work weightless too, never tried it. Anyways, is a dynamite bait. Actually does not taste all bad either. LOL. Honest! If fishing when it is really hot out, keep these in your refridgerator prior to going out and them store them in a cooler when fishing. Give it a shot!

Sometimes I chum carp. I take a slingshot and wing out some dogfood or canned corn. Brings ’em in.

The Anoka County Parks sponsor a “Carp Festival” every year at the Mississippi River Coon Rapids dam. It’s quite an event. They even give away a different (gently used) car each year called the “Carp Mobile”. Cool Air brushing on the side of it of a Carp. Close to 800 people participate.

Each year the folks that bring in the most carp to be weighed use oatmeal mixed with a little river water. It’s amazing how well that simple bait works.

Regards,

Scott Mueller

cut up chunks of walleye work good too

With that and dough baits I always wonder how they keep the stuff on the hook! I’ll have to look into it.

My uncle swore that Wheaties and 7-UP formed into a dough was the best bait he ever used.

Ed

Heres one my dad used when I was learning how to fish. White bread without the crust. Some cornmel and some strawberry gelatine like the kind you use to make jello. Mix together until its about like clay and use just enough to cover the hook, like Robby said use a sliding sinker above the hook about 16″ or so. We caught plenty of carp while fishing at nights after work and school. I remember the ol man used to take them home, cut out the dark meat and grind them up, mix cracker crums and onions then make them into patties and fry them. Wasen’t steak but they were ok with tarter sauce with sliced onions in a sandwich.

there was a website that people just posted homemade carp bait. but it was too good to be true for me, so i could trust the validity of those ingredients. thats why i had to ask here. i’ll try all the formulas you guys give me and post the results when i get a chance. thanks for the help.

Good luck, right now around any hot water discharge coming from a factory into the local river ought to be good enough to catch some spring carp, after winter thier fillets might not be to bad to eat too, just remember to cut out the dark meat and give it to the cats.

Dogfish and gar also like walley chunks. LOL