Fishing Lures 101

There are hundreds of types of types of fishing lures, with thousands of disparity within each group. But lures are more than just shiny and wobbly spoons and jigs. There is a real science that goes into the making of each one.

The concept is the same no matter the design; to imitate as close to reality a wounded baitfish or prey. The diversity of the ways used to imitate prey over the centuries is astounding when you think about it. Flies alone have been around since the end of the 17th century (however there may be evidence that similar devices were used as early as 200 AD).

Here is a high level description of the more common fishing lures and the characteristics that help make them successful.

Spoons are shaped (as the name suggests) as a spoon Looking at them in your tackle box you not expect them to be overly effective at catching fish. But when they're in motion in the water, they do an amazing job imitating a wounded baitfish. A hook (normally a three-pronged treble) is secured at the bottom and the weight of the lure makes it ideal for casting and trolling. Spoons are especially effective on northern pike, a variety of trout and bass.

Plugs and Crankbaits are often shaped like minnows and can sport hooks at the front, middle and end of the body (depending on the length). They may be anywhere from an inch to eight inches long and do a masterful job of imitating a distressed fish. There are a wide variety of plugs; some of them float on the surface and dive when reeled in, while others are weighted for fishing at deeper levels. Plugs (often called crankbaits) are very popular with walleye fisherman, pike fisherman and bass fisherman.

Spinners are designed for slow trolling and casting and do what their name suggests - they spin. The flash of the lure and the vibrations they emanate can bring trout, walleye and a variety of other predator fish from afar. These fishing lures come in a wide variety of sizes and colors because they have mass appeal with a variety of different species. Spinners typically have a centralized body with loops at both ends for attaching line and hook. When dragged through the water, a shiny blade spins around the body attracting predator fish.

Jigs are particularly effective at catching walleye, perch and a variety of fish. Often made of a lead blob the shape of a small fish head, they have an eye at one end and a hook at the other. Often suited with a rubber tail or bait (minnows, leeches and night crawlers are the most common) the jig is a favorite fishing lure for many anglers.

Whether made of metal, plastic or the most exotic material around (any you can imagine has been tried), lures are the business to catch fish, period. Match the right lure to the body of water you are fishing, and you will have a day full of lasting memories.

Thanks for reading.
Good fishing.

By Rhett Wallace

Check out one of Canada's best fishing resources at http://www.freshwater-fishing-canada.com/ We love fishing and it shows!

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What Bait to Use During Your Halibut Fishing Run

It may be as easy as attaching a head of a mackerel on a line and throwing it overboard; but then again, it may not be that easy at all. Halibut fishing need not be an overly complicated process but you may want to reconsider "traditional" bait for less conventional baits, especially if the fish isn't biting. Believe it or not, you do not need to buy those expensive lures; nor do you need to learn a new fishing technique. What you have now may work fine. However there is a bit of sprucing up to do when it comes to your halibut feeding education. For this, you would need: a bit of research on the fishing area, some prep, and a lot of time on your hands.

The fishing ground

The actual location of the fishing ground dictates what sells and what does not sell with the sand dwelling halibut. You do have to remember that the fish adapts to what is currently available in the open waters. Although the halibut is notorious for being an opportunistic feeder, this does not mean that it will lose its caution when introduced to a "new" meal.

Try to see what marine creatures are most abundant in the fishing grounds. It is with all likelihood that the halibut will be feeding on these as well. So if you bait your line with one or two of these creatures (or make lures that "act" similar to these); your chances of landing several fish is good. If you want to land a really big monster, experts are saying that you need to have larger bait as well.

One more thing, seasons bring changes in the available food for the halibuts. So what may have been successful baits for the last few seasons may not be "attractive" baits now. Your catch may just have shifted to an entirely new diet.

Preparation counts a lot

An ill-prepared fisherman is a poor fisherman indeed. And that maxim is true for anglers too. If you really want to score several large halibuts, you really need to prepare big time. First of all, as stated above, you need to know the exact bait you should be using. If you have done your research correctly, you will know that some bait shops in and around the fishing area may not be able to supply you all the things you need. In which case, try to pack (from home or en route to the fishing grounds) everything you might possibly need on a day out on the water. Lines, hooks and weights are essential, of course. The question is: are you keeping your catch or are you releasing them afterwards?

The J hook would be more advisable if you are performing the former, while the circle hook will be more beneficial (to the fish) if you are performing the latter. Also try using a fine mesh net only when it comes to halibut fishing. The delicate tail fins of the fish are bound to get damaged in the larger meshed nets.

Enjoying your time on the water

Fishing entails a lot of presence. Halibuts are known to "inhale" attractive bait in an instant. But sometimes, the fish needs more time to be coaxed into actually taking the bait. Just sit back and enjoy whatever view you have. If you do all these things, you might just have a great closing entry for your day: preferably a monster halibut on your deck.

By Rick John Jenkins

To find the best Alaska Fishing Lodge please visit http://www.bestalaskafishingtrips.com

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Worm Fishing - Tips For Successful Angling

For me there has never been a better way to catch fish, especially in the current of small rivers and streams, than worm fishing. As you can probably tell this article isn't about the worm fishing that bass anglers engage in, but rather traditional worm fishing with as Hank Hill once called them good old American worms. As a matter of fact there have been some breakthroughs in technology and Berkley makes Powerbait and Gulp worms that are every bit as effective as real worms. This article is about worm fishing with either live or synthetic worms such as Gulp night crawlers.

In this article you will learn some great tips for successful angling with worms. These tips were both taught to me by my fishing mentor (the best worm angler I've ever known) and learned through personal experience over the last 25 years of fishing. These tips are effective and they will make anyone a much more successful angler.

Most of these tips are best employed in the flowing waters of either small rivers or streams, although they can be easily modified for most any worm fishing situation. Remember there is no tip as effective as spending time on the water practicing your craft. Spending time fishing is the best way to learn to catch more fish, and these tips will most certainly help as well.

1. Deep Water Is Your Friend - In any small river or stream there will be a series of riffles (shallow water), runs (deeper flowing water), and pools(the deepest water with least current). Most fish will be found in deeper water most of the time. This isn't always the case, but it's a good rule to start with. The deeper flowing water of runs are a great place to fish with worms as bait.

2. Bottom Is Your Friend - When worm fishing you will have the most success when your worm is bouncing along the bottom naturally, with the current. The best way to accomplish this is to attach your hooks to your line using a small barrel swivel and use small slit shot sinkers as weight. Split shot are then added or removed depending on the depth of the water and current flow to keep your offering bouncing along the bottom.

3. Gang Hooks Are Your Friend - When worm fishing one of the most important points is that your bait look as natural as possible. You want your worm to look like, well a worm, and this is accomplished through the use of gang hooks. Gang hooks are simply a pair of small hooks tied in tandem which enable worms to be presented in an outstretched and natural manner.

4. Clean Hands Are Your Friend - Any scents that are on your hands will transfer to your worm and cost you bites. This is especially true with larger, more experienced fish. For this reason you want to make sure that your hands are free from any unnatural scents. This can be accomplished either by using odor neutralizing soap or by rubbing your hands in a handful of grass or dirt before baiting up. Clean hands make a difference when worm fishing.

Use one or all of these tips sooner rather than later and you will become a much more successful worm angler. Worm fishing is every bit the 'art form' that other forms of fishing have been proclaimed to be if you take it seriously. You can become a master worm fisherman, just like you can become a master painter. All that's necessary is practice and determination.

By Trevor Kugler

Trevor Kugler is co-founder of JRWfishing.com and an avid angler. He has more than 20 years experience fishing for all types of fish, and 15 years of business and internet experience. He currently raises his three year old daughter in the heart of trout fishing country.....Montana!

Gang Hooks Tied & Ready To Fish: http://www.jrwfishing.com/gang_hooks.asp

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Special Winter Carp Fishing Tackle and Bait Tips!

Winter carp fishing can very often be more productive in many ways with less anglers on the bank and more possibility of multiple catches of fish in a very short space of time. Prepare well for big rewards in winter and spring and some of the biggest fish can be yours now so read on!

When water temperatures drop to under about 16 degrees Celsius carp metabolism and feeding is markedly affected leading to changes in behaviours that differ to summer for example. We can exploit such changes and make winter catches much easier. For instance, the first winter I seriously winter fished almost no carp were caught during certain months, but the syndicate members on this lake were just getting started.

While at Agricultural College in the early and mid-eighties I recall using the UK meteorological office data from the previous 30 years on winter temperatures. I used this to help me chart winter temperatures and pressures and spot current patterns to exploit in terms of best probable fish feeding conditions.

In doing this I guess I may have been described as one of those who accidentally noticed the effects of global warming but the sudden rise of winter temperatures I noticed at that time and ever since that time really had me puzzled. When global warming was being discussed as an issue and not yet accepted as fact back in the early nineties I already knew a cover-up was taking place!

In fact as I worked outside for my living for majority of the past 30 years and rain patterns, dry spells, extremes of temperature and these effects on plants and animals just cannot be ignored. I began seeing the warmer seasons extending, starting earlier and ending later with some winters with such little frost that certain deciduous trees and shrubs actually kept some of their leaves on all the way from summer to late spring.

Much as I thought warmer winter temperatures for carp fishing was a good thing at the time, it has in fact meant for many that winter fishing has become harder due to various factors. At many waters, the traditional late autumn feed in preparation for the onset of winter seems now to be much less noticeable, or much earlier than before. September can be even more productive now and Late April and May are 2 periods I am especially keen to exploit now.

Everyone is now aware of altered migrations of birds now and to see roses in full bloom in the UK and geraniums lasting outside in sheltered microclimate positions for instance are now more common signs we are moving towards a more Mediterranean climate. Some common birds species are not even wasting energy by migrating for the winter and are remaining in various locations in the UK all winter!

The mass use of high oil highly nutritious fish meal boilies and marine halibut pellets for instance definitely has provided UK cap with far higher levels of stored energy reserves. This can mean reduced requirement for many fish to feed during the colder months. Despite the possibility of reduced feeding due to such enormous mass use of high energy pellets for instance at most carp waters, incredible winter catches are there to be had for everyone and every fish is an individual with different needs.

It is not uncommon to catch winter and spring carp covered in leeches and with leeches inside their mouths that have build-up as a result of very low carp activity levels. You will notice too that often the colour of winter carp are fantastic. It perhaps is no coincidence that antioxidant additives and substances that contain colour pigments that boost the immune system are very successful in winter time.

In winter you need bait that will not fill fish up prematurely and stop them feeding. What you need is food that is very highly digestible with excellent soluble nutritional attraction. (I include in the attraction of highly potent antioxidant substances.)

Spices and herbs and many other natural products packed with bioactive and antioxidant substances are really well proven in low temperatures, and a whole new generation of baits and bait and ground bait-making ingredients are now available and especially good for winter use.

Milk powders have always been great in winter and products like supermarket milk powders and also Vitamealo for example are great in hook baits and ground baits, spod and stick mixes and paste etc. Although many anglers discuss the advantages or disadvantages of milks in terms of how far carp digestion might actually deal with their elements, milk ingredients have been in use in most of the leading readymade carp baits for decades for very good reasons. (Some of these have nothing to do with nutrition at all!)

Soluble nutritional attraction is vital and the predigested additives and ingredients in winter baits can make all the difference. Summer boilies designs that are high in predigested protein ingredients that last just 3 hours on an immersed hair-rig in warm water, might well last 6 hours in winter conditions. A mixture of 50 percent whole egg powder with Vitamealo, and fermented shrimp powder (European) from Ccmoore for instance, makes a great bait especially with their Marine Amino Compound at the rate of 30 millilitres per kilogram of bait for instance.

Fish can move so slowly and so little in winter it is amazing we get any bites at all sometimes. Moving your baits every hours on a water searching out every possible spot, is often much better than casting out and waiting for bites from fish that may be in the vicinity, but just will not move!

Even 30 years ago it was common for me to catch fish in winter on rigs I knew were probably tangled (this was before the predominant usage of rig tubing, lead core leaders etc.) I was unwilling to move these rigs however, having cast them exactly onto known tight feeding spots. Many of these tangled rigs were effectively only 2 or 3 inches long at best but they more often than not caught fish.

It reminds me of the short length of the now popular so-called helicopter style chod rigs for example, where the hook link is very short. Years ago I used light leads mostly under 2 ounces in weight and I found the fluted flat-bottomed Arlesey bomb types of 2 ounces or under to be great fish hookers. These would end up in a tangled rig frequently, but would often not bury themselves deep in bottom silt and the short tangled rigs teamed with 5 bait stringers really worked!

I recall cutting special roller wheels for my Optonic bite alarms that had about 24 slender arms to trigger the light beam inside and indicate the least possible lime movement from very shy biting carp in winter. Using the higher vibration and sensitivity settings on modern digital alarms for example and exploiting new refined bite indicators with adjustable line pressures etc, all add up to more winter fish!

Location is of paramount importance and that is all about knowing your lake at all times of year and only personal experience can give you an instinct for this and sometimes you are right and other times wrong, perhaps due to changes in fishing pressure on a particular area, pre-baiting by other anglers, or slightly different prevalent autumn winds building-up silt and carp food items in different locations to previous years.

Fish location is an art form that requires extremely sharp senses sometimes but you can leverage bating and lines and bite alarms to locate your fish. Often in winter you might get not a single bite sound from your bite alarm. Casting around until you do get some kind of feedback is very useful indeed and from this you might locate fish, or fresh silk weed, green Canadian pond weed, or even bloodworm.

If you know your swims in very great detail and keep this knowledge very regularly up-dated, then you will also notice changes in the bottom silt and in leaf and other detritus or chod deposits. Use of a braided line and specially grooved feature-finding leads to feel for clay, gravel and silt characteristics that indicate positive changes made by carp activity are invaluable.

The lake bed hardness and textures and even depths and consistencies and smells of silts can very frequently be caused by feeding carp and be identified and exploited. Some of the changes in the bottom of a lake caused by carp activities can be far beyond the belief of the average angler! Location of certain of these features have lead to great breakthroughs in winter and early spring fishing results for me for sure.

One prominent example of the nature of winter fish location was while fishing an exposed and apparently featureless clay lined reservoir. I remember fishing 2 baits on a particular spot in a swim in early February following a period when there had not been a single carp caught for 5 weeks. This spot was only place discovered to produce fish on the whole lake for quite a while so it was kept very quiet! Using a knowledge of the food-rich thick weed beds that existed in warmer months, I could locate the edges and channels made by the old weed beds that fish used to navigate and feed along.

Much repeated casting was required to get the baited rigs tight up against the old dead weed on the bottom were the fish would feed. Often of 2 rigs cast out (less than 3 feet apart,) only 1 rod would consistently produce fish 99 percent of the time indicating the fish travelled to this spot from one angle and on a very tight path. On one occasion this spot produced 4 fish in just under an hour for me, which was a very rare winter achievement at this time on the water.

As an experiment a friend cast his rod into the spot from a different swim having blanked for days and had a take before even putting his rod in rests. Such is the nature of winter fishing!

Winter fish can feed like clockwork in various spots habitually, and inducing and exploiting this behaviour with pre-baiting is a massive edge if you have the discipline to do it regularly enough! Pre-baiting holding areas and areas that you have observed fish visiting and feeding in winter such as snags and reed beds, and swims that are warmed by afternoon sun for instance, can really make catches very much easier.

Using particle type baits and finer ground baits can be a great option in winter and you can soak them in all kinds of additives and liquids you would use for boilies. Some substances are ideally suited for maximum effective water dispersal and fish feeding stimulation in low water temperatures.

Using your own creative thinking is a very big edge most especially in regards to bait and its application at this time; when some of the biggest carp in your water are most vulnerable to capture...

By Tim Richardson.

By Tim F. Richardson

Now why not seize this moment to improve your catches for life with these unique fishing bibles: "BIG CARP FLAVOURS AND FEEDING TRIGGER SECRETS!" "BIG CARP AND CATFISH BAIT SECRETS!" And "BIG CARP BAIT SECRETS!" For much more now visit: http://www.baitbigfish.com Home of world-wide proven readymade and homemade bait success secrets bibles!

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Tim_F._Richardson

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Trout Or Steelhead Fishing - Tips on How to Make Several Great Catches

Trying your hand on trout or steelhead fishing for the first time can be a really great experience, since this type of fish can really put up a spectacular fight. However, if you are harboring notions about getting your fishing gear wet in Alaskan waters as your baptism of fire, you might want to backtrack a bit. Although a 7-pound steelhead may not seem such a big thing to handle, Alaskan trout or steelhead fishing regulations are very stringent; and you need to successfully return your catch to the open waters with minimal damage to the fish.

Try catching first one or two steelheads from a freshwater stream as a practice before moving on to the Alaskan fishing grounds. This way, you have some working knowledge on how to catch, unhook, and release a live one back in the water. Here are some trout or steelhead fishing tips for beginners.

1. Wear the clothes. Naturally, you can wear plain tees and jeans when you fish. You can wear your sneakers and have your iPod attached to your arm as well. However, when the fish starts moving away from the shorelines, and into the deeper waters, then you have nothing but your iPod to keep you company. You do have to remember that when it comes to fishing trout and steelheads, these animals like moving in the coldest parts of the rivers. If you are trying to catch one during the fish's annual migratory runs, then you may need to wade into that water yourself. Try to bring along a good pair of waders, preferably something made from neoprene. A 5-millimeter material should provide you both buoyancy and warmth. Keep the iPod at home. You need to be able to hear your surroundings clearly.

2. Bring the proper equipment. If you are fly fishing for the first time, then bring a 2- handed rod that measures 12 to15 feet as your choice of equipment. You can use the floating lines if you want to fish on the surface (a process called nipping) or use a sinking line if you would rather catch steelheads from the shallower areas of the river (a process called swinging or swinging in a streamer.) Your best lures would be bait made of cured steelhead chunks, salmon eggs, or sand shrimp.

3.You can also use artificial lures that mimic the erratic movements of crustaceans or the colorful outer layers of fish and amphibian eggs. Using nets on these delicate fishes is really never a great option. So in case you were able to snag one, try to keep the fish on the line for as long as possible. This tires the fish out, which makes it easier for you to haul it to the surface.

4. There are two things you might want to do in case the fishes are not biting. One: change positions often. Keep moving to potentially great location. Steelheads are quick to learn which parts of the river usually attract the most predators, and will most likely avoid those areas. If you can wade out into the wade, wade carefully so as not to spook your quarry away. You can also move upstream in case you find yourself in the opposite direction of the water's movements. During the migratory runs, all the fishes will be heading upstream anyway. You might as well wait for them there.

5. Lastly, practice the catch and release fishing method here. You have to remember to keep the fish out of the water for only a short period of time, and handle your catch delicately. It is also essential to keep your hands wet to minimize the friction on the steelhead flesh. Be extra gentle when it comes to removing the hook from the fish's mouthparts. And slide your catch gently back into the water.

By Rick John Jenkins

To find the best Alaska Fishing Lodge please visit http://www.bestalaskafishingtrips.com

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The Best Bait - Is There a Best Fishing Bait?

If you've been fishing for any period of time you must realize that the question posed in the title of this article is all but unanswerable. There is probably no best fishing bait, but rather there are individual anglers favorite bait for fishing. The bottom line is that the best fishing bait is largely up to individual preference. If you've had personal success with a certain bait, that bait will be your 'best fishing bait'.

In this article I'm going to list some of the most popular and effective baits for fishing and some tips on fishing them. You can then draw your own conclusions as to which of these bait's is the best. Sometimes the bait isn't the issue as much as the way in which it's fished. After reading this article you'll get some valuable tips for fishing your bait in the most effective manner.

Let's get down to business, shall we?

1. Live Minnows - One of the most popular and effective fishing baits in the world are live minnows. Crappie and walleye fishermen are very aware of using live minnows as bait. The most popular method for fishing live minnows is to tip jigs with them. Live minnows rigged on a set of gang hooks is also an effective fishing tactic. The downside of fishing with live minnows is carrying them around. Minnow buckets are bulky and inconvenient, especially if you're not fishing from a boat.

2. Live Crayfish - Although not very popular, live crayfish are a great fishing bait, especially for smallmouth bass or large trout. Live crayfish are an extremely effective fishing bait. The downside of these little buggers is obviously the fact that they aren't readily available and they are also difficult to carry around. As far as 'the best fishing bait' is concerned, crayfish need to be on the list.

3. Live Worms - Every angler on the planet knows all about the effectiveness of live worms as fishing bait. Worms and fishing seem to fit together like hands and gloves, it's hard to think about one without the other. The interesting thing about live worms is that most anglers don't fish them in the proper manner. The only way to fish worms in a truly effective manner is through the use of gang hooks. You see, gang hooks are the only way to present live worms in an outstretched and natural manner. This makes a huge difference in bite and catch rates.

4. Synthetic Baits - What do I mean by synthetic baits? Berkley has made incredible breakthroughs in fishing baits with their Gulp and Powerbait products. These fishing baits are molded into every imaginable fishing bait, from minnows to crayfish and every bait in between. Many anglers say that these synthetic baits outperform live baits. At The end of the day, these fishing baits could easily be the best.

Whatever your choice for the best fishing bait, what's important is that you spend as much time on the water as possible practicing your craft. Nothing will make you a better and more successful angler like practice. At the end of the day, the bait you choose to use can be secondary to the experience of fishing itself.

By Trevor Kugler

Trevor Kugler is co-founder of JRWfishing and an avid angler. He has more than 20 years experience fishing for all types of fish, and 15 years of business and internet experience. He currently raises his three year old daughter in the heart of trout fishing country.....Montana!

Gang Hooks Tied & Ready To Fish: http://www.jrwfishing.com/gang_hooks.asp

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Using Worms For Fishing - Tips to Be More Successful When Fishing With Worms

In this article I'm going to outline a few tips that will help you when using worms for fishing. More than twenty years ago, a man I considered to be a 'trout fishing master' introduced me to most of these tips and I've been using them to catch more fish ever since. These tips are simple and down to earth, which is exactly how my mentor was. Many times in fishing (as in life) we overcomplicate things. These tips for using worms for fishing are simple and to the point which makes them very effective.

I love using worms for fishing whether those worms are live or synthetic such as Berkley Power worms. In my experience using worms for fishing can be every bit the art form that fly fishing has ever been proclaimed to be. The key is to rig the worms in the proper manner, employ light fishing line, and spend a lot of time o the water practicing your craft.

In any case, let's get down to the tips to be more successful when fishing with worms, shall we?

1. Use Light Gear - When I refer to 'gear', I'm referring specifically to your rod, reel, and fishing line. First of all your d and reel should match your fishing line. If you're using ultra light rods and reels, you're going to want to use 2-6 pound test. If you're using light rods and reels, you're going to want to use 6-8 pound test fishing line, and so on. My point is that when using worms for fishing many times anglers use fishing line that's much too heavy. My suggestion is to use an ultra light rod and reel spooled with 4-6 pound test line when worm fishing.

2. Clean Your Hands - Cleaning your hands' may sound strange, but its nonetheless true. When using worms for fishing y we always want to make sure that our hands are free from any unnatural odors. You see any unnatural odors that are on your hands (and there are alot) will transfer to your worm and cost you bites. Most anglers don't realize this fact, but it's true, especially with larger more experienced fish. The simplest remedy for this problem is to grab some dirt in your hands before rigging up and rub it into your hands. This will eliminate any unnatural odors that might be present.

3. Use Gang Hooks - Whenever you use worms for fishing, whether those worms are live or synthetic, gang hooks should be employed. Gang hooks are the most effective and natural way to present worms for fishing, there's no question about it. When using worms those worms should look as natural as possible and gang hooks are the best way to do this. At the end of the day it only makes sense, a worm should look like a worm when we are fishing with it.

These simple tips for using worms for fishing will make you a much more successful worm angler. Never forget that the simplest things are many times the most effective. Nowhere is that more true than in the wonderful sport of fishing. Employ these tips sooner, rather than later and spend as much time as you can honing your worm fishing skills.

By Trevor Kugler

Gang Hooks Tied & Ready To Fish: http://www.jrwfishing.com/gang_hooks.asp

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The Universal Crappie Catching Rig - Check Out These Amazing Crappie Fishing Tips!

If you make the decision to go crappie fishing there are so many ways to make crappie rigs that catch crappie.You will need different crappie catching rigs for the different seasons of the and for different fishing situations. We have developed a list of crappie catching rigs that have worked for us in the past and they are shown below.Our tips include many excellent rigging tips using artificial crappie jigs, and crappie minnows which are called "Missouri minnows" in many parts of the country.

TIP#1 Use a "spin cast" reel fishing with a light weight graphite rod with 6-12# test line. (this is a bit more then most guys use.. but it works.

Tip#2 Purchase some "Cajun Red 6 -12lb test line for your crappie fishing rig.(you can get away with the 6-12# test line because this crappie fishing rigged line is almost invisible to crappie in the water.

TIP#3 Get some "Missouri minnows" (use when you have the wives and kids in the boat) You don't catch as many fish but it easier for the youngsters to use.

Tip#4 Use weights up to 1/4ounce.

TIP#5 Use crappie fishing jigs.

Tip#5a use plastic crappie fishing jig parts commonly referred to as "tubes" in the color of green, yellow and white

Tip#5b Use the smallest artificial minnow jigs you can find, with black tops and silver belly. The tale should move and get a lot of action in the water.

Tip#5c Use a Hair wrapped jig (these jigs are hard to fine)

Tip#5d Use jigs with a black body and yellow tail with a yellow head and black eyes.

Tip#6 The colder the water gets the smaller the line test you should use. Also water can see better in colder water so use 4lb test line in colder water temperatures.

Tip#7 Use spring loaded floats (bobbers,corks) That can slide up and down the line so you can easily adjust your fishing depth.

Tip#8 Change your crappie fishing rig by tying 2 or there jigs about 10 inches apart. This gives you the capability to fish at different depths to find your crappie. You can put a weight on your line above the jigs or below the jigs. Try both methods until you start catching crappie.

We sincerely hope these crappie fishing tips will help you on your next fishing trip! have a wonderful day!

By Mark Fleagle

Mark Fleagle Webmaster. 30+ Years Of Fishing Experience Expert Author At EzineArticles.com. Click This Link To Find Out More About crappie fishing tips.

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Live Bait Fishing - Tips For Catching More Fish

For many anglers live bait is the bait of choice for fishing. In most cases live bait is the best bait option for a variety of fish species such as: trout, small and largemouth bass, crappie, walleye, and even catfish to name a few. In this article I'm going to provide you with some time tested tips to help you catch more fish when live bait fishing.

It's also worth noting that the Berkley Company has made some incredible breakthroughs in synthetic baits. These baits are called Berkley "Gulp" and these baits perform as well, or better than live bait in many situations. "Gulp" baits come in every type of bait imaginable from minnows to earthworms and they are all quite effective. The "Gulp" products are so effective that I consider them another form of live bait. In any case the "Gulp" products are rigged in the exact same ways as any live bait, and the tips in this article are effective with either type of "bait".

Shall we get down to business and reveal the tips for live bait fishing?

1. Always Clean Your Hands - When fish are considering eating something, they smell it first. If the fish detect any unnatural odors such as nicotine, gasoline, or humans they will tend not to bite. This is especially true with larger and more experienced fish. For this reason you always want to clean your hands and make sure that your hands are free from unnatural scents. The easiest way to accomplish this task is to grab a handful of grass or dirt and rub it into your hands before baiting up. This will effectively "wash" your hands of any unnatural scents.

2. Use Sharp Hooks - This is accomplished by either changing hooks frequently or sharpening your hooks often. Hooks become dull fairly easily, and the sharper your hooks are the more hook ups you will see. Either sharpen or change your hooks when live bait fishing after you catch a couple of fish, get snagged, or just fish for an hour or so. The sharper your hooks are the less "misses" you'll have to deal with.

3. Use Gang Hooks - When live bait fishing, gang hooks are always a great idea. This is especially true in the case of worms (either live or synthetic). Gang hooks are simply a pair of small hooks tied in tandem that enable bait to be presented in a completely natural and realistic manner. Gang hooks are a "must have item when live bait fishing. Gang hooks are effective for many different types of bait from worms to minnows to crayfish. Gang hooks and bait fishing go together like a hand and a glove.

Begin using one or all of these tips when live bait fishing and you will almost immediately begin catching more fish. Samuel Johnson once said, "A fishing rod is a stick with a hook at one end and a fool at the other". The tips in this article will help you avoid the "fool" part of this very funny quote.

By Trevor Kugler

Trevor Kugler is co-founder of JRWfishing.com and an avid angler. He has more than 20 years experience fishing for all types of fish, and 15 years of business and internet experience. He currently raises his three year old daughter in the heart of trout fishing country.....Montana!

Gang Hooks Tied & Ready To Fish: http://www.jrwfishing.com/gang_hooks.asp

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Early Spring Bass Lures

In early spring, when bass are moving from their winter areas to staging areas and eventually to the shallow flats, few presentations consistently produce better than a crawfish imitating lure. The reason these lures are so effective is the bass's fondness for the freshwater crawfish. Even though bass will eat crawfish through out the year, this predator/prey relationship is strongest in the early spring.

I believe that a bass's early season preference for the crawfish is due to the important nutrients the crawfish provides the pre-spawn bass and during this cold-water period, the crawfish matches the low metabolic activity of the bass making it an ideal forage .

Early spring the crawfish are in the deeper water just of flats. Bass move up from their cold water homes and stage in the same area as the crawfish. As the cold shallow flats warm up both crawfish and bass become more active and move into the shallow water.

It's my opinion that the jig out produces all other crawfish imitating lures during the pre-spawn period, at when it comes to taking trophy bass. Some anglers limit the role of the jig/pig to flippin & pitchin, but I have found that the lure is effective when cast out and slowly dragged over deep structure.

The water temperatures in early spring are lower and so the bass's metabolism has slowed down. And for this reason, I want a bait to fall slowly staying in the strike zone as long as possible. That's why I use the jig/pig. In early spring I find it very important to match the hatch and go with the lightest jig possible. I use a ¼ ounce jig. I use two color combinations - a black/blue jig with a metal flake trailer and a green/pumpkin with a green/pumpkin trailer.

The trailer gives the jig a natural appearance, The pinchers on the trailer move as the jig falls and dragged across the bottom. Also, a scented soft plastic trailer encourages the bass to hold onto the lure longer. The jig/pig combo is hard to beat during the pre-spawn period but when the fish want something a little smaller I go with the next best setup a Carolina rigged worm. This technique is very effective when they are staged on deeper structure and feeding on crawfish. I put on a rattler because it imitates the noise of the crawfish's pinchers, which attract bass. Dragging the lure whether it be a jig/pig combo or a worm across the bottom kickin up a lot of silt imitates a crawfish emerging from its winter home. When a crawfish emerges from hibernation they're covered with mud, when they try to kick the mud off it creates a disturbance, a cloud of dirt along the bottom that draws the attention of the bass.

Spinnerbaits are considered to be one of the better shad imitating lures of all time, however I find a large spinnerbait that is properly dressed and fished also imitates a fleeing crafish. The largest population of crawfish is found on weed beds and timber filled flats at the back of creeks. My go to spinnerbait is a 1 ounce black spinnerbait with a no. 7 or 8 Colorado blade with a black/blue trailer.

Like the slow rolled spinnerbait , a rattlin lipless crankbait worked over shallow flats is an effective way to catch big bass in early spring. I've been using a red lipless crankbait to catch big bass for years. I believe actively feeding bass are on the move flushing crawfish and other forage from the grass-beds and shallows, that's why I think the red Rat-L-Trap crankbait is so effective in grassy areas because it draws a reaction bite and because it thinks it a crawfish fleeing the grassy area.

The key to drawing the reaction bite with this lure is retrieving it so it stays in contact with the grass throughout the retrieve. You want to keep in touch with the grass and when the bait catches or snags on the grass, you want to rip it free. The quick acceleration and pause mimics a craw fish fleeing danger.

The key to catching Big Bass in early spring is choosing a lure that accurately mimics the crawfish.

By Lester Paul Roberts

Article by P. Roberts http://bassfishingbyproberts.blogspot.com/

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Catch Crappie Fishing Minnows Amazing Method! Crappie Fishing Secret Part 3

How To Catch Minnows

If you are a beginning crappie fisherman and you want to give yourself a chance to catch some crappie, Then I suggest you fish with live crappie fishing minnows. And if you don't want to spend a arm and a leg at the bait shop here is a way to catch a ton of them quickly.

The best thing about this is, crappie minnows that you catch come from the crappies natural environment, in the exact water you will be fishing. Bait shop minnows are sometimes caught at different bodies of water, and will be "foreign" to crappie which can cause crappie to reject them as a food source. Plus, bait shop crappie minnows are usually more fragile-i.e. older, and dying from being in captivity. Amazingly this is a little used crappie fishing secret , that few fisherman use these days.

STEP#1 Walk around the lake looking for "shaded areas" close to shore. The best place to catch crappie minnows is by boat ramps or boat docks. Possibly because that is where fisherman dump their bait after they are done bringing their boats in.. but also because these areas offer good "cover" for minnows, along with food sources.

STEP#2 You need to find areas that are between water depths of 4 to 8 feet. You need these depths because of the limitations of your minnow catching casting net.!

STEP#3 Cast a 3-4 foot crappie minnow net with 1/4" netting holes. This takes some practice. The Idea is to cast the net "flat" so the largest area hits the water.

Step#4 If you can't find any good areas to cast your net or your just not catching anything , then I suggest you try it at night. You will need a good submersible fishing light to be successful at night, but your chances of success will be much greater.The submerged fishing lite will attract minnows like crazy! you can either use your cast net, build yourself a minnow trap and drop it down near the submerged fishing light or use a bait store dip net. All these methods work great and you will catch your crappie fishing minnows in no time flat.

Well I hope these tips on how to catch crappie minnows help you. This concludes part there of our Crappie Fishing Secrets Series.

By Mark Fleagle

Mark Fleagle Webmaster. 30+ Years Of Fishing Experience Expert Author At EzineArticles.com. Click This Link To Find Out More About how to catch crappie minnows.

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Fishing With Worms

In this article I'm going to outline some tips and techniques for fishing with worms. By the way I'm referring to both live or synthetic worms and not the multi-colored plastic worms that largemouth bass fisherman are so enamored with. Worms are probably the most popular fishing bait on the planet, yet most anglers don't understand the simple nuances of fishing with them.

After reading this quick article you will understand the simple nuances of fishing with worms that will make you a much more effective angler. I learned these tips more than 25 years ago and have been using then successfully ever since. Most of these tips for fishing with worms were taught to me be a man I considered to be a "worm fishing master" (if there is such a thing) and the rest have been learned though my own fishing experience.

In any case, learn these fishing tips, use them, and find out for yourself just how effective they are. Let's get down to business, shall we?

1. Use Light Line - When using worms as bait for fishing the lighter you fishing line is the more bites you will receive, it's as simple as that. This is especially true in cold, clear water where your line is highly visible to the fish. Most anglers use fishing line that's much too heavy for the fish they are trying to catch anyway. When fishing with worms use light fishing line.

2. Clean Your Hands - When fishing with worms (either live or synthetic) it is amazingly important that your hands are free of unnatural scents. Any unnatural scents that are present on your hands will transfer to your bait and cost you bites. The easiest way to accomplish this task is to wash your hands with odor neutralizing soap, or simply rub your hands in a handful of grass before baiting up. Either of these solutions will clean your hands of any unnatural scents that might be present.

3. Always Use Gang Hooks - Gang hooks are the only way to present worms in a completely natural manner, outstretched the way God intended. A worm should look like a worm when being used as bait and gang hooks are the only way to truly accomplish this task. Fishing With Worms and gang hooks go together like a hand and a glove. A worm (either live or synthetic) rigged on a set of gang hooks and allowed to flow naturally with the current of a river or stream is a deadly fishing tactic.

Steven Wright once said of anglers, "there's a fine line between fishing and standing on the shore looking like an idiot". No truer words may have ever been spoken, and these tips for fishing with worms will help you avoid the latter part of that wonderful quote.

By Trevor Kugler

Trevor Kugler is co-founder of JRWfishing.com and an avid angler. He has more than 20 years experience fishing for all types of fish, and 15 years of business and internet experience. He currently raises his three year old daughter in the heart of trout fishing country.....Montana!

Gang Hooks Tied & Ready To Fish: http://www.jrwfishing.com/gang_hooks.asp

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Crappie Fishing - The List You Can't Do Without!

Gear To Catch Crappie Amazing results!

If you are a active crappie fishing angler, you know they are a unusually smart and cunning fish species. If you were a crappie in the far south, like the southern Florida area of Lake Talquin Florida, you would be hiding from gators part of the day and water moccasin snakes the other part of the day.

This means the crappie species should definitely be classified as a sporting fish, and not every fisherman who picks up a fishing pole, buys some crappie fishing gear he thinks will catch crappie,and purchases a fishing license will go home with a stringer loaded with crappie.

And if you want to out smart them, and come home with your limit of crappie- it all starts with your gear. You gotta have the right stuff, and here's has got a quick list that's been tested through decades of fishing. if you use the crappie fishing gear suggestions shown on this list you will increase your crappie fishing success.

The Quick list of Crappie Catching Gear

Use a cane pole (or bamboo pole) that can also be made of fiberglass. We recommend one that is 10 to 16ft in length.( the beauty of the bamboo pole is that it allows you to "feel the slightest movement and actually decreases the response time)

Tie a number 4, gold Aberdeen hook

Put a small, 2inch bobber about 2 feet above the hook

Put a piece of spit shot (lead weight) the size of a BB on the line right beneath the bobber.

A bucket of "Missouri Minnows" (the smallest you can find)

Well, that does it for the oldfishinghole's recommendation of recommended crappie fishing gear.

By Mark Fleagle

Mark Fleagle Webmaster. 30+ Years Of Fishing Experience Expert Author At Ezinearticles.com. Click This Link To Find Out More About Crappie Catching Gear.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Mark_Fleagle

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The Best Bait For Fishing

In this article I'm going to explore the best bait for fishing. Now I realize that this issue is more than debatable and there probably isn't a single "best bait" for fishing. However, I'm going to list some of the most popular baits for fishing and some popular methods for fishing them, and you can make your own determination. We all have our favorite bait for fishing and at the end of the day in everyone's individual case, that's probably the best bait for fishing.

Let's list the most popular baits and how they are used, and you can make your pick as to which is the best bait for fishing. Franz Kafka once said, " There art two cardinal sins from which all others spring: Impatience and Laziness". This quote relates heavily to the art of fishing, and the best bait for fishing may very well be patience. With that in mind, let's discuss the best bait for fishing, shall we?

1. Minnows - Minnows have long been known as a great bait for fishing, and when it comes to fish like crappie and walleye minnows can be an incredibly effective bait for fishing. The downside of minnows is keeping them alive. This can be a challenge at times. Many anglers say that the Berkley Gulp minnows are as good as live minnows as bait. These synthetic minnows are fine for tipping jigs, but for crappie fishing under a bobber they leave something to be desired. In any case minnows are certainly a great bait for fishing.

2. Crayfish - For fish such as trout and smallmouth bass there may be no more effective bait than crayfish, especially live crayfish. This is certainly the case with large trout. Large trout love crayfish along with all any size smallmouth bass. Again, the Berkley gulp crayfish work quite well for jigging, and live crayfish (although difficult to come by sometimes) are incredibly effective when fishing for large trout. Crayfish are certainly one of the best baits for fishing, especially when it comes to large fish.

3. Earthworms - Of all the baits available for fishing worms are without question the most popular and readily available. They could very well be the most effective as well. When using worms as bait for fishing there is no more effective way to rig those worms than a set of gang hooks. Gang hooks are the only way to present a worm (either live or synthetic) when fishing. Gang hooks enable worms to be presented in a completely natural manner, and this makes a huge difference in bite rates. These hooks also work quite well with most any live bait.

4. Leeches - Leeches are a great bait for fish such as walleye and bass. The only issues with leaches are availability and transportation. Much like with minnows, carrying your leeches with you while fishing can be a problem, and finding them can even be more of an issue. As far as the best bait for fishing, leeches need to be in the discussion.

As I said before, the actual "best bait for fishing" is a personal preference, but this list certainly contains four of the most popular and effective. We all have our favorite bait, and that is the best bait for fishing.
By Trevor Kugler

Gang Hooks Tied & Ready To Fish: http://www.jrwfishing.com/gang_hooks.asp

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Trout Fishing Tips - Ways to Catch More Trout

Trout is a species of fish that is very enjoyable and exciting to catch. This is the reason why many individuals are into trout fishing. If you are a novice at fishing then you might find it quite difficult to catch trouts especially during the spring season.

There are things that you can do though to improve your trout-catching skills. Here in this article, I will provide you with some trout fishing tips that will surely help you catch more trouts whatever the season is. So before you head on to the river or lake with your trout fishing gear, read these trout fishing tips first. These could spell the difference on whether you will go home empty-handed or not.

1.Use light or very light fishing gear. When trying to catch trouts, it is better to leave your heavy gears at home. Light to ultra light fishing gear are the way to go in trout fishing even if you are trying to catch the large varieties. A five-foot light rod with a light reel is perfect for most trout fishing situations. Small and light is also best for other fishing equipment such as hooks, lures, spinners and spoons as far as trout fishing is concerned.

2.Wear earth-colored clothes. Wear clothing that will make you blend with your surrounding and not stand out. Earth colors work best such as brown or gray. Avoid loud colors or plain white that will make you easy to be spotted by the fish.

3.Use natural-looking baits as much as possible. Trouts are probably one of the smartest species of fish and most of them can tell the difference between natural and unnatural baits. If you don't have a natural bait then present your artificial bait in a way that it will make it look as natural as possible.

4.Clean your hands. Trouts have a very sensitive sense of smell and they are turned off at the slightest hint of odor that is alien to their environment. Wash your hands on the river or rub them on the grass before you start fishing.

Follow these trout fishing tips on your next trip to the lake or river and you will surely catch more fish.

By David Vanistendael

Hi, when you enjoyed these tips there are more free Trout Fishing tips and fishing gear advise to be found on my site! Go and check out my site: http://www.squidoo.com/letsgotroutfishing

We have bin Fishing for many years and we tested alot off Fishing Gear and used alot of Trout Fishing techniques, go and look for your FREE Trout Fishing Tips, tested, used and reviewed Fishing Gear HERE. Hope you enjoyed these tips! Thank's for your time, David

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Powerful Carp Fishing Bait Flavours and Fermentation Secrets!

Why not exploit these great bait, ground bait and other free baiting suggestions to multiply your catches of big fish and some of these will be new to almost everyone who reads this article, so read on...

Carp utilise fermentation a lot so what is it; why is this important, and how can we exploit it and its products in numerous ways to catch more fish? I know most of us carp anglers are familiar with fermentation from the point of our drinking beer, larger, spirits, wines and so on, but these things are all significant clues to improving your catches!

Most of us are very familiar with the age old scenario where we find an old bait from a trip a few months ago lost in the bottom of our fishing bag and for whatever reason decide to give it a try. Now this bait very probably looked and smelt rather different compared to when it was fresh even to point of being a bit unpleasant to the senses.

So you have cast out and proceed to set up your camp but suddenly, after only 5 minutes out, you get a take, and end up landing either the biggest fish of your trip, or maybe the only fish of your trip! So what is going on here and why might this have happened?

Bacteria abound in our environment and we ourselves are no exception, even though we have a digestive system much longer than that of a carp we utilise natural balances of beneficial bacteria (and fungi like yeasts) in our gut, which have a variety of impacts upon your body's abilities to most efficiently digest and assimilate food. This is especially in the case of food items that perhaps our natural digestive enzymes cannot fully handle entirely.

Anyone who has used enzymes in their baits will know they are effective feeding triggers, enhancers and attractors in their own right and most of us are using them without realising it. Bacteria and fungi build up in our baits and of course, given suitable conditions including moisture, air, an energy source such as the ingredients in your bait, they will activate their own enzymes to digest you bait and absorb its nutrients for themselves and also make various side products too.

We have even got the fashion of introducing so-called probiotic bacteria into our diets to improve our general health, improve digestion and even strengthen our immune systems. The most beneficial bacterial are a very specific range and not all bacteria are effective for this purpose and of course some are even harmful.

The live bacteria are what work as opposed to the pasteurised sort in the popular yogurts which are already dead! Use of live corn steep liquor is a great idea in baits and ground baits and microbial activity in baits is a good thing for so many reasons, but beware that rancid baits are not good!

Fermentation is basically the chemical reaction between the microbial enzymes breaking down substances into smaller units and of course alcohol and various naturally common acids are well known results. Every carp angler knows that alcohol and acids of various forms are very successful carp attractors, but some can be more than this and actually be serious feeding triggers themselves. Yeast and yeast products are very well proven carp feeding stimulants for very many great reasons...

Butyric acid is a very common flavour component and more recently known as a flavour used individually. It is an awful smelling substance though and I know it can put many anglers off using it because it is simply so potent and impacts on our own senses!

It is interesting in regards flavours than many successful carp bait flavours are highly volatile in air and many of the most familiar fruit, sweet and spice flavours for instance are highly noticeable to use. Some flavours are less volatile in air but are still extremely effective. When you go past a bakers, or a Chinese restaurant, or a carvery you will be noticing flavours and other substances in the air and this is actually exploited (frequently deliberately,) to get you into the shop!

Meats like hams are cured in order to produce further flavours and age them suitably and this goes for cheeses too. Both are highly successful carp baits, not simply for their protein and fat content either, but for the flavours they give off and the very significant salts that they contain.

Salting of meats is used for various reasons, but obviously it enhances taste. Apparently butyric acid can be produced in the right conditions from proteins not just carbohydrate sources and this is probably far more important than is realised in the attraction of many of our captures on mouldy old baits.

I'm certain the salts that are also formed are extremely important too, yet relatively few carp anglers apply specific salts and salt-like substances in order to enhance the taste of their baits and ground baits. Many of the more savvy carp bait companies offer bait enhancers, knowing it is bait taste that most promotes repeated feeding activity of the kind that multiplies your chances of takes the most.

Unfortunately most carp anglers have been focussed so much on flavours and smells rather than taste that taste has been relegated to a secondary position. Taste or bait palatability seems much more important than smell in achieving actually getting our hooks inside fishes mouths!

Think about it; you get a 5 brands of crisps, each with exactly the same flavour on the packet. Each probably smells pretty much the same, but what happens when you taste them? Some will certainly not match the flavours you smelt; in fact although you might have liked the smell of some of the brands, the taste of them did not match up to the promise of their smell! Perhaps only 1 brand was preferable to you and you could not get enough of them. Sometimes this is the brand from a lesser known company of crisp producer.

How often do you find salts and flavours together in snack foods, often with yeast extract? This is for no reason, after all each ingredients costs more money to put into the food. Well the foods you eat do condition your taste buds to a great degree and will get you into the habit of wanting to eat and buy more foods with these in. this also includes things like the taste enhancer monosodium glutamate.

Glutamic acid one of those things you will very likely find in your old baits alongside butyric acid and many other flavours and salts and sugars, predigested proteins, broken down oils and much more aside. Many baits contain soya flour and many of us are familiar with soya source as a flavour enhancer and product of fermentation of soya bean products etc.

Belachan or fermented shrimp paste as used oriental soup and other dish taste as a very distinctive flavour and taste improver used to be one very well kept secret bait additive in carp bait circles for years. How anglers do you know that deliberately exploit active fermentation within the materials they use within their PVA bags for instance that very powerfully pull fish to their hook baits? I'm not going to suggest how it can be done in various ways here but it is easily done.

Some of you might have noticed that many condiments which we use to enhance the flavour and palatability of our foods contain results of fermentations and crab, fish and shrimp sources are great examples. Even the most taken for granted tomato ketchups and vinegars are included here. You might not be so surprised now that a low pH flavour like pineapple that contains butyric acid, teamed with butyric acid itself in a winter bait is so universally successful...

All these things are highly attractive not just to us, but to carp which are highly sensitive to all of these substances; it any wonder that old baits work so well?! There are many substances from bait companies as well as things we can do ourselves to improve our boilies, pellets and particle baits and ground baits by exploiting fermentation and its products.

You can seriously multiply your catches when you know how to do this for yourself; even make your own unique flavours and active bait ingredients and ground baits. In fact many of the very best flavours and bait additives and ground bait liquids available today are products of fermentation. But it is not simply what you know about any individual bait additive for instance, but how you creatively use what you know to improve your catches. (There is great information available on this vital subject!)

So now you realise the enormous importance of fermentation and palatability in carp baits perhaps it's worth taking a lot more interest and give your catches a genuinely powerful boost...

By Tim Richardson

Now why not seize this moment to improve your catches for life with these unique fishing bibles: "BIG CARP FLAVOURS AND FEEDING TRIGGER SECRETS!" "BIG CARP AND CATFISH BAIT SECRETS!" And "BIG CARP BAIT SECRETS!" For much more now visit: http://www.baitbigfish.com - Home of the world-wide proven readymade and homemade bait success and carp fishing secrets bibles!

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Worm Fishing - Tips For Successful Angling

For me there has never been a better way to catch fish, especially in the current of small rivers and streams, than worm fishing. As you can probably tell this article isn't about the worm fishing that bass anglers engage in, but rather traditional worm fishing with as Hank Hill once called them good old American worms. As a matter of fact there have been some breakthroughs in technology and Berkley makes Powerbait and Gulp worms that are every bit as effective as real worms. This article is about worm fishing with either live or synthetic worms such as Gulp night crawlers.

In this article you will learn some great tips for successful angling with worms. These tips were both taught to me by my fishing mentor (the best worm angler I've ever known) and learned through personal experience over the last 25 years of fishing. These tips are effective and they will make anyone a much more successful angler.

Most of these tips are best employed in the flowing waters of either small rivers or streams, although they can be easily modified for most any worm fishing situation. Remember there is no tip as effective as spending time on the water practicing your craft. Spending time fishing is the best way to learn to catch more fish, and these tips will most certainly help as well.

1. Deep Water Is Your Friend - In any small river or stream there will be a series of riffles (shallow water), runs (deeper flowing water), and pools(the deepest water with least current). Most fish will be found in deeper water most of the time. This isn't always the case, but it's a good rule to start with. The deeper flowing water of runs are a great place to fish with worms as bait.

2. Bottom Is Your Friend - When worm fishing you will have the most success when your worm is bouncing along the bottom naturally, with the current. The best way to accomplish this is to attach your hooks to your line using a small barrel swivel and use small slit shot sinkers as weight. Split shot are then added or removed depending on the depth of the water and current flow to keep your offering bouncing along the bottom.

3. Gang Hooks Are Your Friend - When worm fishing one of the most important points is that your bait look as natural as possible. You want your worm to look like, well a worm, and this is accomplished through the use of gang hooks. Gang hooks are simply a pair of small hooks tied in tandem which enable worms to be presented in an outstretched and natural manner.

4. Clean Hands Are Your Friend - Any scents that are on your hands will transfer to your worm and cost you bites. This is especially true with larger, more experienced fish. For this reason you want to make sure that your hands are free from any unnatural scents. This can be accomplished either by using odor neutralizing soap or by rubbing your hands in a handful of grass or dirt before baiting up. Clean hands make a difference when worm fishing.

Use one or all of these tips sooner rather than later and you will become a much more successful worm angler. Worm fishing is every bit the 'art form' that other forms of fishing have been proclaimed to be if you take it seriously. You can become a master worm fisherman, just like you can become a master painter. All that's necessary is practice and determination.

By Trevor Kugler

Trevor Kugler is co-founder of JRWfishing.com and an avid angler. He has more than 20 years experience fishing for all types of fish, and 15 years of business and internet experience. He currently raises his three year old daughter in the heart of trout fishing country.....Montana!

Gang Hooks Tied & Ready To Fish: http://www.jrwfishing.com/gang_hooks.asp

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Tips About Fishing Equipment

For some people, their fishing is just a way to pass the time gently but to others it is a very serious matter indeed. It is important to have the proper equipment no matter what sport you are participating in, and the same goes for fishing. There is some important tips that you are going to need to equip yourself before you go fishing.

1.Fishing Boat
As you are getting ready to start, the first consideration is how to reach the water. You make your way to the fishing dock dreaming you had the perfect fishing boat so you were landlocked no more. You can choose the boats with hulls for overnight stays and rough waters, or small boats for small lakes, the former are obviously more expensive than the latter. Before making a purchase, read and understand the warranties fully. Make sure the boat has proper certification and also, just like cars, boats must be registered.

2. Tackle Box
Make sure to know well the most common types of fishing tackle; lures, flies, hooks, floats and sinkers. Once we have covered these basic elements you will have a better idea of what is needed to fill up your fishing tackle box. Most anglers have at least three tackle boxes: one for the home (reserve), one left in the car and of course one for when they are in the boat. This enables you to be covered against any loss or accident. Getting all your fishing supplies in huge quantities towards the start of the season is a wise idea as this keeps you ready for fishing at night.

3.Dress for Fishing Trip
Wear a comfortable set of waders. These aren't your typical boots. They are made to keep your feet dry while you are fishing at the edge of a lake of river. Remember to pack your hat gloves and a waterproof jacket.

Finally , if you want to make the most of your time fishing then you really need to carefully consider whether all needed equipment are available.

By Iden Blacksmith

Information for Your Life

Click to find more about Fishing Tips

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Special Winter Carp Fishing Tackle and Bait Tips!

Winter carp fishing can very often be more productive in many ways with less anglers on the bank and more possibility of multiple catches of fish in a very short space of time. Prepare well for big rewards in winter and spring and some of the biggest fish can be yours now so read on!

When water temperatures drop to under about 16 degrees Celsius carp metabolism and feeding is markedly affected leading to changes in behaviours that differ to summer for example. We can exploit such changes and make winter catches much easier. For instance, the first winter I seriously winter fished almost no carp were caught during certain months, but the syndicate members on this lake were just getting started.

While at Agricultural College in the early and mid-eighties I recall using the UK meteorological office data from the previous 30 years on winter temperatures. I used this to help me chart winter temperatures and pressures and spot current patterns to exploit in terms of best probable fish feeding conditions.

In doing this I guess I may have been described as one of those who accidentally noticed the effects of global warming but the sudden rise of winter temperatures I noticed at that time and ever since that time really had me puzzled. When global warming was being discussed as an issue and not yet accepted as fact back in the early nineties I already knew a cover-up was taking place!

In fact as I worked outside for my living for majority of the past 30 years and rain patterns, dry spells, extremes of temperature and these effects on plants and animals just cannot be ignored. I began seeing the warmer seasons extending, starting earlier and ending later with some winters with such little frost that certain deciduous trees and shrubs actually kept some of their leaves on all the way from summer to late spring.

Much as I thought warmer winter temperatures for carp fishing was a good thing at the time, it has in fact meant for many that winter fishing has become harder due to various factors. At many waters, the traditional late autumn feed in preparation for the onset of winter seems now to be much less noticeable, or much earlier than before. September can be even more productive now and Late April and May are 2 periods I am especially keen to exploit now.

Everyone is now aware of altered migrations of birds now and to see roses in full bloom in the UK and geraniums lasting outside in sheltered microclimate positions for instance are now more common signs we are moving towards a more Mediterranean climate. Some common birds species are not even wasting energy by migrating for the winter and are remaining in various locations in the UK all winter!

The mass use of high oil highly nutritious fish meal boilies and marine halibut pellets for instance definitely has provided UK cap with far higher levels of stored energy reserves. This can mean reduced requirement for many fish to feed during the colder months. Despite the possibility of reduced feeding due to such enormous mass use of high energy pellets for instance at most carp waters, incredible winter catches are there to be had for everyone and every fish is an individual with different needs.

It is not uncommon to catch winter and spring carp covered in leeches and with leeches inside their mouths that have build-up as a result of very low carp activity levels. You will notice too that often the colour of winter carp are fantastic. It perhaps is no coincidence that antioxidant additives and substances that contain colour pigments that boost the immune system are very successful in winter time.

In winter you need bait that will not fill fish up prematurely and stop them feeding. What you need is food that is very highly digestible with excellent soluble nutritional attraction. (I include in the attraction of highly potent antioxidant substances.)

Spices and herbs and many other natural products packed with bioactive and antioxidant substances are really well proven in low temperatures, and a whole new generation of baits and bait and ground bait-making ingredients are now available and especially good for winter use.

Milk powders have always been great in winter and products like supermarket milk powders and also Vitamealo for example are great in hook baits and ground baits, spod and stick mixes and paste etc. Although many anglers discuss the advantages or disadvantages of milks in terms of how far carp digestion might actually deal with their elements, milk ingredients have been in use in most of the leading readymade carp baits for decades for very good reasons. (Some of these have nothing to do with nutrition at all!)

Soluble nutritional attraction is vital and the predigested additives and ingredients in winter baits can make all the difference. Summer boilies designs that are high in predigested protein ingredients that last just 3 hours on an immersed hair-rig in warm water, might well last 6 hours in winter conditions. A mixture of 50 percent whole egg powder with Vitamealo, and fermented shrimp powder (European) from Ccmoore for instance, makes a great bait especially with their Marine Amino Compound at the rate of 30 millilitres per kilogram of bait for instance.

Fish can move so slowly and so little in winter it is amazing we get any bites at all sometimes. Moving your baits every hours on a water searching out every possible spot, is often much better than casting out and waiting for bites from fish that may be in the vicinity, but just will not move!

Even 30 years ago it was common for me to catch fish in winter on rigs I knew were probably tangled (this was before the predominant usage of rig tubing, lead core leaders etc.) I was unwilling to move these rigs however, having cast them exactly onto known tight feeding spots. Many of these tangled rigs were effectively only 2 or 3 inches long at best but they more often than not caught fish.

It reminds me of the short length of the now popular so-called helicopter style chod rigs for example, where the hook link is very short. Years ago I used light leads mostly under 2 ounces in weight and I found the fluted flat-bottomed Arlesey bomb types of 2 ounces or under to be great fish hookers. These would end up in a tangled rig frequently, but would often not bury themselves deep in bottom silt and the short tangled rigs teamed with 5 bait stringers really worked!

I recall cutting special roller wheels for my Optonic bite alarms that had about 24 slender arms to trigger the light beam inside and indicate the least possible lime movement from very shy biting carp in winter. Using the higher vibration and sensitivity settings on modern digital alarms for example and exploiting new refined bite indicators with adjustable line pressures etc, all add up to more winter fish!

Location is of paramount importance and that is all about knowing your lake at all times of year and only personal experience can give you an instinct for this and sometimes you are right and other times wrong, perhaps due to changes in fishing pressure on a particular area, pre-baiting by other anglers, or slightly different prevalent autumn winds building-up silt and carp food items in different locations to previous years.

Fish location is an art form that requires extremely sharp senses sometimes but you can leverage bating and lines and bite alarms to locate your fish. Often in winter you might get not a single bite sound from your bite alarm. Casting around until you do get some kind of feedback is very useful indeed and from this you might locate fish, or fresh silk weed, green Canadian pond weed, or even bloodworm.

If you know your swims in very great detail and keep this knowledge very regularly up-dated, then you will also notice changes in the bottom silt and in leaf and other detritus or chod deposits. Use of a braided line and specially grooved feature-finding leads to feel for clay, gravel and silt characteristics that indicate positive changes made by carp activity are invaluable.

The lake bed hardness and textures and even depths and consistencies and smells of silts can very frequently be caused by feeding carp and be identified and exploited. Some of the changes in the bottom of a lake caused by carp activities can be far beyond the belief of the average angler! Location of certain of these features have lead to great breakthroughs in winter and early spring fishing results for me for sure.

One prominent example of the nature of winter fish location was while fishing an exposed and apparently featureless clay lined reservoir. I remember fishing 2 baits on a particular spot in a swim in early February following a period when there had not been a single carp caught for 5 weeks. This spot was only place discovered to produce fish on the whole lake for quite a while so it was kept very quiet! Using a knowledge of the food-rich thick weed beds that existed in warmer months, I could locate the edges and channels made by the old weed beds that fish used to navigate and feed along.

Much repeated casting was required to get the baited rigs tight up against the old dead weed on the bottom were the fish would feed. Often of 2 rigs cast out (less than 3 feet apart,) only 1 rod would consistently produce fish 99 percent of the time indicating the fish travelled to this spot from one angle and on a very tight path. On one occasion this spot produced 4 fish in just under an hour for me, which was a very rare winter achievement at this time on the water.

As an experiment a friend cast his rod into the spot from a different swim having blanked for days and had a take before even putting his rod in rests. Such is the nature of winter fishing!

Winter fish can feed like clockwork in various spots habitually, and inducing and exploiting this behaviour with pre-baiting is a massive edge if you have the discipline to do it regularly enough! Pre-baiting holding areas and areas that you have observed fish visiting and feeding in winter such as snags and reed beds, and swims that are warmed by afternoon sun for instance, can really make catches very much easier.

Using particle type baits and finer ground baits can be a great option in winter and you can soak them in all kinds of additives and liquids you would use for boilies. Some substances are ideally suited for maximum effective water dispersal and fish feeding stimulation in low water temperatures.

Using your own creative thinking is a very big edge most especially in regards to bait and its application at this time; when some of the biggest carp in your water are most vulnerable to capture...

By Tim Richardson.

By Tim F. Richardson

Now why not seize this moment to improve your catches for life with these unique fishing bibles: "BIG CARP FLAVOURS AND FEEDING TRIGGER SECRETS!" "BIG CARP AND CATFISH BAIT SECRETS!" And "BIG CARP BAIT SECRETS!" For much more now visit: http://www.baitbigfish.com Home of world-wide proven readymade and homemade bait success secrets bibles!

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Crappie Fishing - The List You Can't Do Without!

Gear To Catch Crappie Amazing results!

If you are a active crappie fishing angler, you know they are a unusually smart and cunning fish species. If you were a crappie in the far south, like the southern Florida area of Lake Talquin Florida, you would be hiding from gators part of the day and water moccasin snakes the other part of the day.

This means the crappie species should definitely be classified as a sporting fish, and not every fisherman who picks up a fishing pole, buys some crappie fishing gear he thinks will catch crappie,and purchases a fishing license will go home with a stringer loaded with crappie.

And if you want to out smart them, and come home with your limit of crappie- it all starts with your gear. You gotta have the right stuff, and here's has got a quick list that's been tested through decades of fishing. if you use the crappie fishing gear suggestions shown on this list you will increase your crappie fishing success.

The Quick list of Crappie Catching Gear

Use a cane pole (or bamboo pole) that can also be made of fiberglass. We recommend one that is 10 to 16ft in length.( the beauty of the bamboo pole is that it allows you to "feel the slightest movement and actually decreases the response time)

Tie a number 4, gold Aberdeen hook

Put a small, 2inch bobber about 2 feet above the hook

Put a piece of spit shot (lead weight) the size of a BB on the line right beneath the bobber.

A bucket of "Missouri Minnows" (the smallest you can find)

Well, that does it for the oldfishinghole's recommendation of recommended crappie fishing gear.

By Mark Fleagle

Mark Fleagle Webmaster. 30+ Years Of Fishing Experience Expert Author At Ezinearticles.com. Click This Link To Find Out More About Crappie Catching Gear.

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Live Bait Fishing - Tips For Catching More Fish

For many anglers live bait is the bait of choice for fishing. In most cases live bait is the best bait option for a variety of fish species such as: trout, small and largemouth bass, crappie, walleye, and even catfish to name a few. In this article I'm going to provide you with some time tested tips to help you catch more fish when live bait fishing.

It's also worth noting that the Berkley Company has made some incredible breakthroughs in synthetic baits. These baits are called Berkley "Gulp" and these baits perform as well, or better than live bait in many situations. "Gulp" baits come in every type of bait imaginable from minnows to earthworms and they are all quite effective. The "Gulp" products are so effective that I consider them another form of live bait. In any case the "Gulp" products are rigged in the exact same ways as any live bait, and the tips in this article are effective with either type of "bait".

Shall we get down to business and reveal the tips for live bait fishing?

1. Always Clean Your Hands - When fish are considering eating something, they smell it first. If the fish detect any unnatural odors such as nicotine, gasoline, or humans they will tend not to bite. This is especially true with larger and more experienced fish. For this reason you always want to clean your hands and make sure that your hands are free from unnatural scents. The easiest way to accomplish this task is to grab a handful of grass or dirt and rub it into your hands before baiting up. This will effectively "wash" your hands of any unnatural scents.

2. Use Sharp Hooks - This is accomplished by either changing hooks frequently or sharpening your hooks often. Hooks become dull fairly easily, and the sharper your hooks are the more hook ups you will see. Either sharpen or change your hooks when live bait fishing after you catch a couple of fish, get snagged, or just fish for an hour or so. The sharper your hooks are the less "misses" you'll have to deal with.

3. Use Gang Hooks - When live bait fishing, gang hooks are always a great idea. This is especially true in the case of worms (either live or synthetic). Gang hooks are simply a pair of small hooks tied in tandem that enable bait to be presented in a completely natural and realistic manner. Gang hooks are a "must have item when live bait fishing. Gang hooks are effective for many different types of bait from worms to minnows to crayfish. Gang hooks and bait fishing go together like a hand and a glove.

Begin using one or all of these tips when live bait fishing and you will almost immediately begin catching more fish. Samuel Johnson once said, "A fishing rod is a stick with a hook at one end and a fool at the other". The tips in this article will help you avoid the "fool" part of this very funny quote.

By Trevor Kugler

Trevor Kugler is co-founder of JRWfishing.com and an avid angler. He has more than 20 years experience fishing for all types of fish, and 15 years of business and internet experience. He currently raises his three year old daughter in the heart of trout fishing country.....Montana!

Gang Hooks Tied & Ready To Fish: http://www.jrwfishing.com/gang_hooks.asp

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Trevor_Kugler

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Fishing With Worms

In this article I'm going to outline some tips and techniques for fishing with worms. By the way I'm referring to both live or synthetic worms and not the multi-colored plastic worms that largemouth bass fisherman are so enamored with. Worms are probably the most popular fishing bait on the planet, yet most anglers don't understand the simple nuances of fishing with them.
After reading this quick article you will understand the simple nuances of fishing with worms that will make you a much more effective angler. I learned these tips more than 25 years ago and have been using then successfully ever since. Most of these tips for fishing with worms were taught to me be a man I considered to be a "worm fishing master" (if there is such a thing) and the rest have been learned though my own fishing experience.

In any case, learn these fishing tips, use them, and find out for yourself just how effective they are. Let's get down to business, shall we?

1. Use Light Line - When using worms as bait for fishing the lighter you fishing line is the more bites you will receive, it's as simple as that. This is especially true in cold, clear water where your line is highly visible to the fish. Most anglers use fishing line that's much too heavy for the fish they are trying to catch anyway. When fishing with worms use light fishing line.

2. Clean Your Hands - When fishing with worms (either live or synthetic) it is amazingly important that your hands are free of unnatural scents. Any unnatural scents that are present on your hands will transfer to your bait and cost you bites. The easiest way to accomplish this task is to wash your hands with odor neutralizing soap, or simply rub your hands in a handful of grass before baiting up. Either of these solutions will clean your hands of any unnatural scents that might be present.

3. Always Use Gang Hooks - Gang hooks are the only way to present worms in a completely natural manner, outstretched the way God intended. A worm should look like a worm when being used as bait and gang hooks are the only way to truly accomplish this task. Fishing With Worms and gang hooks go together like a hand and a glove. A worm (either live or synthetic) rigged on a set of gang hooks and allowed to flow naturally with the current of a river or stream is a deadly fishing tactic.

Steven Wright once said of anglers, "there's a fine line between fishing and standing on the shore looking like an idiot". No truer words may have ever been spoken, and these tips for fishing with worms will help you avoid the latter part of that wonderful quote.

By Trevor Kugler

Trevor Kugler is co-founder of JRWfishing.com and an avid angler. He has more than 20 years experience fishing for all types of fish, and 15 years of business and internet experience. He currently raises his three year old daughter in the heart of trout fishing country.....Montana!

Gang Hooks Tied & Ready To Fish: http://www.jrwfishing.com/gang_hooks.asp

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Homemade Carp Bait Recipes For Fishing Beginners!

Carp fishing is so addictive! Many carp fishing beginners would love to make their own homemade baits so here are a few proven carp bait recipes and some solid advice to give you a big fish start; from a bait maker of 30 years experience!
When you quickly realise as a beginner that carp will at least sample almost anything used as bait to a degree, even inedible items like a cork ball or a rubber fake piece of sweetcorn, you might wonder where to begin. There may appear to be no definitive answer except probably beginning with thinking like a fish and not like an angler! You will find that doing this will give you huge advantages over your fish and very many competitive advantages over fellow anglers who do not appreciate this vital aspect of carp fishing so much!

It is very true that most foods humans eat will usually be fine as carp baits with many being outstanding having a long proven record of success. When you are thinking of making a homemade bait for carp, the popular baits used for decades make a great point to start from. I will get back to thinking like a carp in a moment.

Most new anglers know worms catch fish. But there is more power in this statement than most carp anglers will appreciate! Famous UK carp angler Kevin Maddocks used very many bait formulas on the road to becoming successful. His success is also well known to be attributable very much to his outstanding ability and competitiveness as an angler. He did many trials of bait substances on captive carp in a tank in his house.

But by probably at the zenith of his fame (upon the publication of his Carp Fever book,) he was very keen to promote worm extracts in particular... It might seem that he went full circle and actually ended up using basically the same bait a complete novice fisherman would use logically to guarantee success?

Perhaps he realised that those substances carp that carp are naturally familiar with and most confidently feed upon, that have highly stimulating nutritional benefits to carp, providing essential dietary requirements too, are one of the most logical avenues of bait substances to exploit?

Many bait enthusiasts have seriously gone down the route of researching proteins sources, amino acids and peptides, how they are detected by carp, and how they are digested even. However, under actual fishing conditions, despite years of trials, relatively few absolute conclusions about what is actually top of the list of substances to be used in carp baits have been reached. But why is there almost a fixation among most carp anglers with protein levels in particular, used in their baits.

If farming for profit is your goal, then things are much simpler, and a balanced complete pelleted diet food source with a biologically digestible protein content usually ranging from above 25 to 45 percent, for example, is well proven to produce profitable carp growth rates for fish farmers.

Carp have a basic essential dietary requirement for nitrogen and a variety of amino acids of various forms and carp need these rather than whole proteins per se according to many leading fish science sources. Carp are very sensitive to the water soluble elements of proteins and many other substances in solution, such as mineral salts. These and others certainly induce various intensities of feeding behaviours, and differing rates of feeding, or at least bring carp into range of your carp bait, in an excited mode of behaviour. The more you can get your carp to actually at least mouth your baits, the higher your chances of hooking one!

Many anglers get confused about protein in attracting carp and the ideal protein type of bait profiles used to feed carp, using a modern balanced diet in farming for profit. The 2 are not identical, and in fact there are many other substances that induce intense feeding responses in carp. The amino acids from whole protein ingredients in carp baits, such as caseins or fish meals for example are very significant indeed in the evolution of carp baits, especially in the UK for instance. (In this example a whole protein is one that is yet to be part or fully broken down by any process, such as enzyme treatment.)

Free form water soluble amino acids do not appear to be as well utilised as whole proteins in trial carp diets for example, that test growth rates, mass and protein content of growing farmed carp under test conditions.

Most carp anglers are now familiar with the fact that most carp baits provide carp with at least a minimal quantity of amino acids or these essential natural protein building blocks. Even baits made from very low protein ingredients such as many plant sources, like wheat or maize flour have proved very successful, and bread rates as one of the best of all time, despite a relatively poor protein content compared to so many other baits.

Now you might be getting to see that although amino acids, nitrogen and protein are important, they are not solely the only thing on the planet that catches carp very well, so you can open your mind and relax again! You can catch carp on bits of rubber, or wood, and these obviously work on more carp senses than simply chemical orientated curiosity of carp.

A long list of simple baits can be made for carp going back centuries, from wasp grubs, slugs and snails, to honey bread paste, and many exotic baits most anglers would never even dream of. When you consider that partly boiled potatoes were once rated highly as carp bait on a rig consisting of a hook to line, with nothing else added, you can see how things have changed in the present day. In fact this bait and rig was recommended by a nationally honoured carp fishing pioneer by the name of Fred J. Taylor, and his recommendations were among some of my first introductions to carp fishing and baits, early in the seventies.

But do not get me wrong, fishing like anything evolves as carp habits do in response to carp angler's hooks and baits. It was Fred who really started the popularisation of using sweetcorn for carp fishing in the UK. There have been many occasions when modern baits have required some previous introduction into a carp water, before good results can be expected and so-called pre-baiting is a valuable tool in carp angling. But if your want to keep everything simple, then trying a natural bait in a slightly changed form can reap instant catch results.

But using natural live baits, like worms, maggots, or even at times, hemp seed or sweetcorn, can end up catching you lots of smaller fish instead of the bigger ones you are so keen to catch, at least initially.

So what you might like to use is a bait that will remain intact long enough to be selective much more for carp to a higher degree. Most carp anglers have heard of dough or pastes being used for carp bait, but more often today, baits produced as boilies are most common and these dissolve and break down in water far less quickly than dough or paste baits. Protein has been mentioned as a carp diet essential, but this needs to be balanced by a proportion of energy providing carbohydrate food too.

Luckily for us, there are very many carbohydrate foods easily within our grasp at very little cost that we can use for effective baits. Starch is one of the energy store forms of carbohydrates and like sugar, is soluble in water, so it is well detectable by carp. In nature, starch is the natural energy source of many things. Starch is found in fruits, tubers and rhizomes (think potatoes or tiger nuts,) grasses like wheat and oats, buckwheat, and hulled cereals like groats, to seeds like maize, sweetcorn, sesame seed, rice and hempseed, to beans and peas for example.

We are taught that carbohydrates are great for humans, cereals, rice and tubers are the sources of the staple energy and minimal nutrient providing foods of most cultures around the world (corn, wheat, potatoes and rice.) Starch is a form of glucose (long chains of glucose molecules,) and both humans and carp digest and use starches to form glucose in the bloodstream for the fuel to live. But carp do differ to humans in regards to carbohydrate and protein needs for instance, but I won't go into that here.

Although starch is a stiffening agent used in many foods, it is the high protein gluten part conjoined with starch that glues carbohydrate foods and ingredients together. This mixture of soluble starch and gluey high protein gluten is ideal for making baits. All you have to think of is a basic ingredient like semolina or soya bean meal or flour. Semolina is a sticky very hard particle form of wheat flour ideal for use as a bait binding ingredient and as a flavour carrier. Soya flour like wheat flour has a long history in cheap carp bait making.

Soya has provides carp and humans with a far better nutritional profile compared to wheat, especially in regards protein content and the stimulatory as well as and essential amino acid profile it offers. Together they offer a very simple basic carp bait that carp recognise as edible which you can use as a basis to develop into many other bait recipe forms and experiments.

The fifty percent semolina and fifty percent soya flour type bait recipe, with an added attractor such as a flavour or sweetener substance that has started off so many carp bait makers, world-wide. As the basic combination of soya flour and semolina is able to be recognised and utilised as food by carp, you can work on adding other ingredients, additives, liquids etc, to boost attraction and bait success and prolonged longevity. You can make paste or dough using this mixture and use it straight away. Adding sugar and salt in moderation as you might in making bread for example obviously adds more for fish to get excited about.

Beginners can use a recipe like this one below to successfully make a simple dough or paste mixture, that can also be boiled in water after making marble size balls out of it for example, to produce boiles:

8 ounces (or around 500 grammes) of semolina.
8 ounces (or around 500 grammes) of soya flour.
4 to 6 large hen eggs to help bind the mix and boost nutritional attraction (Preferably as fresh as possible; this is very significant.)
2 to 5 millilitres of a proprietary concentrated carp fishing flavour.
1 to 2 millilitres of a proprietary liquid intense sweetener.

Perhaps add a table spoon of blackstrap molasses or yeast extract or both to help nutritional attraction or even a proprietary vitamin and mineral compound, or Minamino for instance.

Add a heaped teaspoon of edible proprietary bait dye.

Usually the best thing to do is clear a table or work surface where you will not contaminate your own foods with bait nor get any contamination in your baits from your working environment! You might choose to use a round mixing bowl and fork specifically set aside for your bait making use. But if you can, do this initial mixing part at least using a kitchen mixing or blending machine for quicker easier results.

First crack your eggs into your container, your egg protein will help bind your mix and help to produce skinned resilient boilies or more durable paste. Add your liquids next, i.e. your flavour (or flavours,) sweetener, and molasses and (or) yeast extract. You can add your dye to the liquids or add it to your dry flour powders, it's your choice. This mix must be very thorough to efficiently disperse your liquid components evenly as possible.

The simplest way to mix a small amount of flours together is to weigh out your flours and put them into a strong plastic bag. Next tighten the top of the bag and blow into it like you would when blowing up a balloon. Now proceed to really shake those powders until they are very well evenly mixed.

This is all standard stuff and to be honest, there are very many alternative methods and much faster and labour removing options that can be used these days, but anyway, this route is proven to work by hundreds of thousands of carp anglers. All you do now is transfer your flour gradually while still mixing it into the liquid all the time, until a firm dough is formed. Like anything, you will soon speed up and getting the consistency correct for any mix takes a little practice and experience in actually doing it, just like making bread dough does.

If your mix is not pliable enough to be moulded because it is too dry, carefully add a mixture of the liquids you have already put together. If your mix is too wet, add more dry powders. Now your bait is ready. If you want to make boilies, usually you would roll your baits into small balls or random pieces and boil them in water for a few minutes a handful at a time, then dry on paper or towels, then bag-up to store in the fridge or freezer.

This recipe and bait making procedure is about as simple as you can get but by definition is the most labour intensive way and there are many short-cuts you can make! Also such carbohydrate baits are a very long way from maximum of carp bait design by exploiting those vital fish senses, but they work on most waters in most carp fishing situations. Often when used in larger quantities these cheap baits can be very effective, usually for limited periods of time, for carp of all sizes.

This is a bait that can get you some big-time beginners luck in your carp fishing, and even get you thinking just how much better you can make your baits; and I know you will be extremely surprised! It will cost you very little to multiply your catches for life when you find and utilise the right bait information (just look a little further...)

By Tim Richardson

By Tim F. Richardson

Now why not seize this moment to improve your catches for life with: "BIG CARP FLAVOURS AND FEEDING TRIGGER SECRETS!" "BIG CARP AND CATFISH BAIT SECRETS!" And "BIG CARP BAIT SECRETS!" And more; visit: http://www.baitbigfish.com - these unique homemade bait making and enhancing fishing secrets guides are proven cutting-edge tools for success for anglers just like you now in 46 countries!

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