The Right Baits For The Right Conditions
One of the biggest misconceptions in the carp and cat fishing world is that old cliche, “the bigger the bait the bigger the fish.” This may at times hold true, though rarely is big always better.
As a child I grew up watching and learning to fish from my grandfather and father, both to this day hold various fishing records in the state of Pennsylvania. My grandfather invented a lure called the Kinzua Killer, which is generally a very small bait, which he used to catch very large fish. Anyway lets talk about little baits for carp and catfish.
As mentioned above sometimes bigger baits will do the job, though in my honest opinion using something familiar to the carp in catfish in any body of water is much more important than worrying about the size of your bait. When I say familiar I mean a bait that is naturally found in the water system you are fishing and matching that that natural bait with conditions that exist.
Ill give you a fine example of what I’m talking here. One of my favorite big catfish and carp baits, is a little worm that is found along the mud flats of the Susquehanna River. I’m not sure if they can be found anywhere else in the country, though this is just an example to a point I am trying to make.
These worms are generally smaller than a night crawler, though they are very effective. They have a green color to them and stink to high heaven. They stink so bad that I recommend using gloves to hook em, or your hands are going to stink for a day or so no matter how many times you wash them.
When the river is in a rising stage these stinky little worms are flushed out of their holes and in turn carp, catfish and other fishes move in to gobble them up. Its a natural process that happens many times throughout the year. Remember I mentioned something about existing conditions? This is a perfect example of matching bait with condition. While fishing these tiny green worms during these conditions its impossible to keep more than one rig in the water. Of course you will catch a fair share of smaller catfish and carp, though you will also catch a large number of large, picture worthy fish!
small green worms, used to catch big catfish and carp
So the main objective of writing this carp and cat fishing article is to get you thinking outside of the box, I dont want you thinking about the size of your bait, instead focus matching conditions and using baits that fit into those conditions, no matter what the size.
Do yourself a favor, give it a try, break away from that stink bait you boiled up in your basement and try going natural! Try matching the best natural baits for conditions that exist. Discount size and color, go with something that is natural food to the fish in your water system at any given time or condition. If you do I think you might just be surprised at the results.
