prebaiting not just for carp

This has caught me a lot of fish and its something that I am asked about a lot.

Ok, on the lakes and rivers I fish a lot of the time. I am in the fortunate position of having them on my door step, so I can have the advantage of getting down there every day, so yes I can prebait every day, but this can still work if you can only get down every 2 or 3 days so don’t let that put you off.

First thing location



No point filling in a stretch of river that has no Carp, is it? Or the big Chub you have seen is 3 locks down.




For maximum effect, it is best to find a good feature, or a clear spot in a swim where you know your chosen fish frequently visit. This would be much more effective rather than just throwing huge amounts of bait into an easily accessible, or comfortable swim with no fish in. Ok, that sounds logical does it not? Well I have seen lads fill in spots on the river that I know don’t fish very well. When I questioned them they were under the impression that putting in a shed load of bait would just work. Well the big fish were 3 locks down, and have always been in that stretch, ok it’s a 20min walk, that as always puts people off, better for me I suppose.

If possible, it is also better to prebait at night, especially if the lake or river is a busy one. You don’t want to pile in tons of bait only to find someone else in your prime spot when you return, all that effort and money down the pan. If people can see me, I don’t bait, I just walk round and come home.

Bait, well If I used a commercial bait this could prove to be very expensive over a 3-4 week campaign. This is why I use old loaves blended up into crumb, good old value frozen sweet corn and a few chopped fee offerings of my chosen boilie, just to let them know there is some good stuff in there somewhere. If it’s a gin clear water sometimes a tin of coconut milk will go in to give it some colour.

Another good old fave of mine is Vitalin.




Cheap as chips, it can be mixed with 101 different things to give it your own personal touch. A bit of hemp, a bit of micro pellet and a few chops, the list goes on.

How much feed?

This one causes all sorts of arguments, at the end of the day there is no set amount, you have to look at the stocking of the lake or river, the size of the fish, even the weather, I would go with 1k up to 3k into each swim. The colder it is, the less feed I will introduce into the swim. The more nuisance fish in there(Pre-bait tactics often help to clear swim areas, as often small fish come onto the bait before any Carp. If particles are used to pre-bait the swim then the silver fish can clear a nice patch ready for you to present your carp rigs, and free boilies, for when the large carp find the bait) the more I put in.

Also if you go back and you can see that spot and it has not been cleared don’t put any more in, what’s the point!

While baiting up, if they are areas where you can't see the bottom, you should have marked your baited area quite accurately by using a far bank marker or some other means. This is crucial too, as you will need to know where to cast or else all your effort will have been for nothing.

Another method I have used is the rod I am using I have one of those mini spods.



I clip up and use that to bait, then when I come to fish, off comes the spod on goes a rig and out to the clipped up mark. (You will need to mark it with some tape after this.)

If you have prebaited correctly you will have introduced your bait over a fairly wide area – this is best because you are hoping to attract a mass of fish into your swim, and they will need plenty of room to browse over your feed

Fishing the spot
Right you have now spent lots of time, effort and money prebaiting for your Carp or Tench etc, you ought to know how to fish that peg correctly so you get the most out of it. When you approach your baited swim armed with all your fishing gear, don’t just cast right over the top of your prebaited swim as this could spook the fish that are feeding on the food you’ve introduced. If it’s a margin no problem, you can sneak up and gently lower a bait in, but if your fishing blind, aim to pick off the fish from the near outskirts of the baited area. Just because you’re fishing off the baited area doesn’t mean that the fish won’t come to your bait, because they will. To be honest some of the bigger fish tend to hang back. Also this way if you do hook one of the small ones you can gently steer it away from the prebaited zone, this way you might have a chance of a 2nd or 3rd fish……

To sum up

At the end of the day I do find that pre-baiting more often is always better than only doing it once. However, if you can only manage one visit then maybe introduce more bait a week before going. You want to give the fish time to move in on the bait, and let them feed on it without any pressure from anglers, so if you know a good spot and you can only get down there once before the rivers open fill it in a week before, then make sure your on it first thing at the start of the season, not ideal but this has worked for me in the past with Chub fishing.
But it is the location again, I knew there was a good head of fish in the stretch, and to be honest hungry Chub and Carp can consume kilos of bait if they put there mind to it .

Give it a go, a bit of time spent can reap huge rewards

As always a Stotty disclaimer this may not be 100% factual.. This works for me I never clamed to be an expert just a passionate angler. But prebating has produced for me my biggest fish so far this year, and a fish I chased for 3 years on a lake without baiting, I swiched over to this and caught it and a shed load of other fish so there has to be something in it.
Stotty.........

Great stuff Stotty. A lesson we could all benefit from.

Feel free to correct any grammar or spelling ken

lol, who's going to correct me? lol.

well I assure you its better than me, I get exited and start putting down what’s in my head then I have to take out the bits about the 3 women and the whipped cream and it all gets a bit confusing

very informative stooty
its a tactic thats a lot of angler could use to great success
i know for one its a big part of my armoury like yourself

by Stotty Today at 10:19 am
I get exited and start putting down what’s in my head then I have to take out the bits about the 3 women and the whipped cream and it all gets a bit confusing

thats sound a good read stotty will it be in the private area later

reps left for both

just what was needed .. a quality piece of info for the forum and it's members...


What to some is common sense to others is a new skill...

rep left buddy...

good post mate. rep left for taking the effort

thank you all and thank you Ken for the clean up on it

The ramblings of a mad man can be a bit confusing some times

Top post Stotty, I enjoyed Reading that. Rep left mate