Baits for carp
Carp baits: sweetcorn, boilies, pellets and tiger nuts
Carp feed on the bottom and come to prebait. Sweetcorn and boilies cover almost everything, pellets and tiger nuts add variety on pressured waters.
The lure groups
What for, in which size and colour, and how to work it.
Sweetcorn
All waters, beginners, float fishing and ledger rigs. Cheap and effective, catches silver fish too.
- Size
- Two to four grains on a hair or on a size 6 to 10 hook, maize pre-cooked.
- Colour
- Yellow is the classic, tinned corn sweet and soft, maize firm and longer lasting.
- Retrieve
- Prebait the spot with a handful, bait on or just above the bottom. If silver fish pester, change to a boilie.
Boilies
Targeted carp fishing, overnight sessions, waters with silver fish.
- Size
- 14 to 20 mm on a hair, 20 to 24 mm for big carp. Pop-ups over soft bottom.
- Colour
- Fishy or sweet, colour by bottom: dark on a light bottom, light on a dark one. White and pink as trigger baits.
- Retrieve
- Lead-clip rig with a hair, prebait the spot. Line tight, bite alarm. On a take the carp often hooks itself against the lead.
Pellets and particles
Fishing ponds, summer, quick bites by day, pressured waters.
- Size
- Pellets 8 to 16 mm, particles such as hemp and wheat as feed, tiger nut 12 to 20 mm on a hair.
- Colour
- Not relevant. Fishmeal and hemp smell strongly.
- Retrieve
- Method feeder with pellets around the bait, or a PVA bag on the lead. Recast every 20 minutes until the spot switches on.
Bread and floating crust
Summer, carp at the surface, small ponds and park lakes.
- Size
- Thumb-sized piece of flake or crust on a size 6 to 8 hook.
- Colour
- Not relevant.
- Retrieve
- Free-floating at the surface, line degreased and slack. Strike only when the bread has gone.
Through the year
- Spring Shallow warming areas, sweetcorn and small boilies, little feed. Mind spawning time in May and June.
- Summer Best time, carp feed hard. Night fishing at edges, by day floating crust and pellets.
- Autumn Carp build reserves, big boilies and plenty of feed at deeper spots.
- Winter Sluggish fish in deep holes, little feed, small bright pop-ups and corn, long waits.
Rules of thumb
Little and often beats a lot at once. A full spot brings no bites.
Edges, weed margins, overhanging trees and bubbles on the bottom show where carp feed.
Carp are sensitive. Unhook on the mat, quick photo, back in the water if you are not keeping it.
Quick questions
What is the best bait for carp?
Sweetcorn to start and for almost all waters, boilies for targeted fishing without silver fish, pellets and tiger nuts on pressured waters. In summer floating crust catches at the surface.
How big should boilies be?
14 to 20 mm for most waters, 20 to 24 mm for big carp and against silver fish. In winter smaller and as a pop-up.
Do you have to prebait for carp?
Not necessarily, but it helps. Little and often on one spot with corn, hemp or crushed boilies. Too much feed fills the carp up.
Next
Lures for other species
Lures for other species
Everything here is a rule of thumb from practice, not a guarantee. Lures are named as a group, not as a brand. Sizes are guide values.
In Germany, closed seasons and minimum sizes are set by each state and can be stricter for single waters. All German rules by state, with the legal source. Outside Germany, the local rules apply: licence and agency by country.
Know more?
Additions, photos of your catches or a mistake in the text: write to us and we will gladly credit you as a helper.
Send a tip