Fishing Bait

Advantages: Saves you tons of money
Disadvantages: Stinks and your wife will nag you

I have been fishing for over 25 years approx and can say the secret to catching the big fish is how you feed the lake or river before you start on a serious fishing expedition. It gets pretty expensive buying your Boiles from your local fishing shop and the more you get into fishing the more determined you are to make the perfect boilie yourself. I did try the pound shop version but can only say I didn't catch one fish all day long so best to avoid ...
...perfect base to mix your own ingredients to and the cheapest way to do it.. Many of the ingredients are cheaper such as pure fishmeal from your garden centre rather than your local fish tackle shop. Ok they might not like to hear that but as you are giving the fish your food free then the cheapest option is the one we would all use. Many people will use the powdered colouring again available at you local tackle shop but the cheap food colorants ... Read review

Advantages: Strong Scent, Readily available, Free
Disadvantages: Soft, Die Quickly

Here is a list of other baits to try fishing with:- 1. Mussels. 2. Cockles. 3. Sand clams (White). 4. Limpets. 5. Winkles. 1. Mussels are found plentiful on roacks either just below the mean highwater mark (a mark even on the small tides that is covered by water), orsheltered gullies. They are a soft bait and care should be taken when opening them because a knife is required and also the shell it self is very sharp when broken. Inside you ...
...set your hook into. When other baits failed i have found that by using these as an extra they are enough to exite the fish into feeding especially Bass. Storage is the same as for Mussels above. 3. Sand clams These are excellent as bait for flatfish, but near on impossible to keep on the hook so an investment in bait elastic for securing them onto the hook is essential, best used when aboard a boat where your bait is lowered to the sea bed, full ... Read review

Advantages: The plain stuff is very cheap. As a whole, this is a brilliant bait!!!!!
Disadvantages: Fattens fish so they look funny sometimes, can get overfed which fishery owners don't like. In fact they are banned on a fair few venues these days.

Pellet huh?? The best bait in the world (only on Mondays), but banned on many fisheries. Why’s that then?? To be honest I don’t really know. I’ve seen it done in a few places but have only really heard the gossipy reasons (from the owners, sisters, brothers, friends, nephew who got it off his dog etc. etc.). One was that it just caught too many fish. Anglers were catching too much, and to compete with each other they were introducing ...
...have been fed on the pellet before they arrived there. Pellet has quite a distinct sound when it hits the water, and the fish really can pick up on it, and remember it as being food. So that’s one advantage to using it (in some places). Once in the water, it lets of a noticeable little oil slick. Not much, but the pellet is full of oils which are supposed to be good for the fish. They spread quickly through the water and attract the fish quickly. ... Read review

Advantages: Cheap (From fishmongers) Useful ingredient in bait 'cocktails'
Disadvantages: Expensive (From Fishmongers and supermarkets) no real use as a stand-alone bait.

Purchase: Squid is a very under-rated bait for Sea-Angling here in Britain, although in continental Europe it is used more widely. Squid is usually purchased in a box containing approx. 1 dozen from the tackle shop. I would advise that you are not tempted to buy it from Fishmongers or supermarkets; firstly it works out very expensive, secondly the squid may have been 'treated' with additives or preservatives, which will deter fish. Use: Depending ...
...after a few 'medicinal' whiskey's)of squid about 1 cm across, loop this onto a size 2 or 4 hook, add half a ragworm (See my article on this subject) to increase the visual stimulus an the scent. If you are using the head and guts then us a size 1 or 1/0 hook, and don't bother with the worm. Do not use the head and guts tactic for float-fishing, about the only thing you'll get will be a cuttlefish (And have you ever tried hooking one of those ... Read review

Advantages: Many species of freshwater fish can be caught using casters
Disadvantages: Keeping them in the fridge might upset your other half.

...carp. This is what makes casters one of the most popular baits available to any angler. Price and availability Casters can be purchased from any tackle shop, the cost varies from place to place, but as a general rule expect to pay in the region of £5 per pint. This is a fair price since it takes about five pints of maggots to make three pints of casters. Alternatively you can make your own. If you have read my other review on ...
...bucket below, leaving all the casters behind. Any dead maggots should be thrown away. This process should be repeated every eight hours, and the resulting casters must be placed in a container in the fridge. The colours of the casters will vary, however you can change their colour so that they all look similar quite simply. On the evening before you intend to go fishing you should wrap all your casters in a wet towel inside a bucket. The next morning ... Read review