# winter carp bait



## dinkbuster1

hey there carp guys, whats the best bait to use for these cold water carp? years back all i used in warm water were wheaties, corn, cornflake/jello/sweet potato/anise doughballs. never used boilies on hair rigs


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## The Kernel

A single kernel of corn should see you right.


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## PAYARA

As Mark has pointed out,sweetcorn is a great winter bait.
I have always found bread to be excelent as well,and I tend 
to use it somewhat more than corn in the cold water as It is 
highly visable,where corn is not as visable unless baited up
a bit,which dosent do 'alot' of good in cold water?


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## RiverRat

Highly over-flavored maise ,sweetcorn and few other hook baits work best for me(I prefer to NOT to use boilies at all).
I add very strong flavors to my hook baits and a few other additives and keep them in 2 oz-8 oz plastic jars in the fridge when not in use.
Ive been catching very well this winter on baits prepared during the summer...there are many natural preservatives available and i highly recommend them if keeping baits for a long period of time.

Color of a bait in CLEAR water does matter to a point, but in stained river water....flavors are key..i dont care if the bait is yellow, green or black in these conditions...i only worry about smell(flavor).

I do chum, mostly with Sweet corn because its soft and small and has a great strong scent...i also chum with "method" mixes because the small particles dont fill up the fish and it keeps them looking for more food.

Scott


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## Buckeye Bob

Great info guys....me...a small single homemade high attract Pineapple Banana pop-up boilie packed in ball of high attract Buckeye Blend. Ya can't go wrong with bread or corn ever though.


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## Buckeye Bob

dinkbuster1....you mentioned using anise flavor....McCormack's or Durkee's Anise extract (found in the baking section of the grocery store)....used with sweetcorn is hard to beat during cold water times.


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## RiverRat

Bob, i said in my post that i DONT use boilies, I guess it all comes down to CONFIDENCE....cause i have caught on boilies in the past when waters warm and fish are easy, but i dont feel confident with them in winter.
I know you catch well on yours and I have seen it.....i guess unless you start selling Buckeye Bob boilies in the future, i'll have to stick to what i know best(particles).
I just dont like the manufactured ones out there and dont think i want to go to the trouble with making my own just yet? Maybe in the future though?

Now if you do start selling your boilies...put me down for 20 lbs. of Pine/Ban. from your first batch.

I'd sure like to talk to ya sometime about FLAVORS, i have some that i think would work VERY well for you in your boilies as they have been working wonders in my particles. And i'd sure like to talk to ya about some "Euro" flavors that i know you use or have info. about.

Scott


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## Buckeye Bob

Hey Scott....I don't plan on marketing them anytime soon but have been known to give away a few bankside time to time. Only problem is sometimes folks hold on to them forever and when they finally get around to using them alot of the "good" stuff has evaporated or aged to the point of being ineffective. But I always carry a small spray bottle of "refresher" to bring em back to life.  Always enjoy talking flavors with folks bankside...see ya on the bank.


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## RiverRat

Yea i remember a few years ago when i talked to ya bankside below Pike Island dam that late fall, i got a chance to "smell" test some of your awesome baits....i think thats want got me started on the FLAVOR addiction.
After that i couldnt get over how great those baits smelled compared to the many "other" boilies ive sampled.
I then went on a flavor hunt and started out like most do finding McCormicks alcohol based flavors at my local Kroger store. I went through all thier flavors and started to catch very well on certain ones....i have been dabbling in flavors from a few dozen companys and im hooked on them.
I know some guys get hooked on certain things when it comes to carp fishing...could be certain rods, reel or baits...im addicted to finding the next greatest flavors to try out..so far its increased my catch rates and PB size to levels i never thought at first i could reach.

With the latest addition of 18 flavors being delivered by my friendly UPS man(Jim) on friday..im now over 70 flavors deep and have a great pattern of flavors for certain waters..even certain stretches of the same water/river ive found the "go to" flavors and caught very well.
I thank you for that Bob, ever since that first "taste" ,if you will, of flavors ive pushed to find others that work well on carp for me on my waters.

"alot of the "good" stuff has evaporated or aged to the point of being ineffective."
I couldnt agree more...there are a LOT of things to be added to a bait or flavor to make them even better....i know i do my own version of "corked bat" to hit home-runs myself. Even if some has the same flavor i have, i know their bait is still totally different then mine. Ive fished next to one of my partners using the same "flavor" but the catch rate at the end of the day shows a big difference, even when fished not even 10 ft. apart...lol...just ask Jake, hes been on the receiving end of that one many a times..lol.
He'd ask, what flavor ya catching'em on...i tell him, and he switches over, but still only catches here and there while i still haul...lol
I did that same thing to him one time while we were whitebass fishing, we were both throwing 2" white grubs( or so he thought)...after i had crushed him enough , he finally broke down and said, what gives man?? We are using the same baits casting to the same areas....i finaly told him about the "juiced" grubs i had been using...after that he put one on and he started to catch one every cast too..
Scent plays a bigger part than most will ever know, not just with carp!!!!!




Scott


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## RiverRat

Bringing this back to the top:

I have caught 56 carp since Dec. 5th in water temps. down to 36 degrees(avg. 39) so far this winter, fishing with Dave & Jake..sometimes all 3 of us in the same swim, baits only 20 ft. apart max.
I have been using primarily 3 flavors of sweetcorn....two of them have proven to be the deadliest when fished as a "sandwich" style....kernal of flavor X, then kernal of flavor Z, then one of kernal X again..#6 Ashima RDS2's with short hair-rigs, only long enough for 3 kernals of flavored sweetcorn. I have been using LONG hooklinks of about 12"-14", with maximum of 1/2 oz. egg sinkers.

They were using mostly(and Dave still does), a few kernals of PLAIN sweetcorn directly on the hook . I caught very well using HIGHLY over flavored sweetcorn flavored with QUAILITY strong flavors that have proven over the last 2 winters to me to be the best producers. Jake mostly fishes flavored baits now(hes a College guy, doesnt take long to learn)...hince his rapid pick up in his winter carp numbers..Dave has caught on flavors too, but still mostly fishes plain sweetcorn, he IS one of the luckiest anglers ive ever had the pleasure of fishing with..thats the only way i can explain his success with plain corn this winter....lol. 
Can it be my LOCATION thats the key to my catches?.....hard to say that when the area we all fish is maybe a 25 yrd circle of the same depth. I just think the carp like my baits better.... .

I myself have had limited success with plain during winter...its best for ME during hot summer time carpin when catching is EASY....but i still catch 80% of my carp all year long on highly over flavored baits no mater what the water temps. location or water im fishing on.

Scott


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## BuckeyeFishinNut

What River Rat speaks is the truth, but that will change when we remake all the flavors before spring. I have caught some nice fish on plain sweetcorn this winter but I have also caught a nice share on flavored. I think the stronger flavors sometimes get fish that aren't feeding aggressively to come check your bait out. We really dont chum much because you dont wanna fill the fish up, so you got to use something to get their attention. This past year we went through a ton of flavors trying to figure out what ones worked and which ones were duds. Some work great in some areas and other are worthless in other spots. Anymore, it seems like for every 10 flavors we buy 3-4 will produce fish real good, 2-3 will produce some fish here and there and 3-4 will not do well at all. I just write it up as trial and error. Not every lure you buy works everywhere, or even works at all. Its all part of the process. We have a good rotation of baits now that we have alot of confidance in. Some are winter baits, others are summer baits, some seem to work only on the Ohio river, and some seem to work everywhere. All ya can do is get some and try and see what happens for ya.

Jake


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## Buckeye Bob

Great points Scott and Jake....HIGH attract seems to work best for myself year round....and as Jake talks about using lures....sometimes a color change even with the same flavoring and concentration will trigger a bites. Bright yellow seems to work best most of the time...but, on occasions a florescent hot pink or florescent orange has stopped me from getting skunked. Then again...sometimes nothing works


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## RiverRat

Bob, great point..i do add food coloring to some of my baits to give them a certain color....which types of colorings do you use, ones made for boilies or ones for human food?

Thanks,
Scott


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## Buckeye Bob

RiverRat said:


> which types of colorings do you use, ones made for boilies or ones for human food?


I use dyes specifically made for boilies....Richworth and The Boilie Shop being the best I've found. But....looking forward to checking out Richard's dyes (Lonestar Baits)....he works in dyes...and if he is selling the red dye he used to use in his boilies...I'd say he'll have some great dyes.

For dying corn though...I use Pro-Cure corn and bait dyes...especially their "Killer Korn"...here's a link to their page...scroll down to see their products...it also toughens it up. Used their products for years in curing salmon roe when I lived in Alaska...great products. 

Pro-Cure Not a bad idea to view their other products throughout their website either...  just might find some other very useful bait aides.


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## PAYARA

Bob,how good is that Pro-Cure corn sent?I was talked into
buying several large bottles of their stuff about 4 yrs ago.
I smelled great in person,but I haven't had really great
results on the their flavors though.I don't know if its
anything but a lack of confidence,or some other factor.
Anyway,I bought the Corn,2 kinds of Anise,And Carpspit
which of course was aimed at carp.The stuff has a real
interesting smell.


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## Buckeye Bob

Greg...I can't say I've tried those items. I was always impressed with their roe cure..it's the only one I'll use and my son who still lives up in Alaska...continues to use it....so I tried their dyes. 

The things I can vouch for are the Kokanee Killer Korn dye (doesn't dye maize very well due to the hard shell) but, great for sweetcorn. And the other one that has impressed me and caught lots of fish was their Chartreuse corn dye...the two times I've used it in a very clear water quarry...the carp loved it. Having used these products....I've got a lot of confidence in them...but, haven't tried the ones you asked on...I was looking for dyes and they have fit the bill.


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## PAYARA

Thanks alot Bob


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## RiverRat

Thanks Bob for the link and info.

Scott


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## Lewzer

> you mentioned using anise flavor....McCormack's or Durkee's Anise extract


 Do you use the extracts which are usually ethanol based or the anise oil? I find the actual oil to be superior to extracts (more expensive too).


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## RiverRat

Lewzer...i find that in COLD water Alcohol based flavors work good because of the fast dispersment of flavor into the water from the bait. In winter you want the bait to "leak" out the flavor to get carps attention.
I do much prefer OIL based flavors for the bulk of my flavoring and the thicker flavors break down slower, normally scent hugs the bottom or the river/lake bed, flavors lasts longer in the water too.

IMO,
Scott


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## Buckeye Bob

Lewzer said:


> Do you use the extracts which are usually ethanol based or the anise oil? I find the actual oil to be superior to extracts (more expensive too).


For the same reason Scott states....winter/cold water - alcohol based....warmer months...oil based are ok. Alcohol also mixes with water...oil doesn't. So even in summer for the most part since I primarily use high attract baits...I use alcohol based flavors as it disperses farther and quicker.


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## PAYARA

Dont forget that carp have a really hard time digesting
oils in cold water.


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