Best Carp Bait For Spring: A Total Fishing Carp School

Spring is, without a doubt, probably my favourite time of year to fish. The fish are waking up, and starting to actively look for food. At the right times during spring, they can still be picky, whereas at other times, they will be utterly ravenous, and it will seem like no matter what carp fishing bait you put in front of them, will get you bites. 

However, one thing is certain, get your location and baiting right, and you will get bites. 
Below we will briefly cover some of the baits our staff here at TFT all favour in the spring, as those carp begin to wake up! 

Boilies

Boilies will always be a huge firm favourite when it comes to spring fishing. Their ability to resist nuisance species, carry liquids, and also enable you to discreetly bait up with a catapult, or throwing stick lends itself to a mobile approach, which can be perfect when the fish are becoming more mobile, and you need to follow suit. 
The ability to flick a choddy or hinge stiff link up and a light spread of boilies can be a deadly spring tactic. 

Boilie-wise, in the spring, with the water temperatures still low, I would still favour a lower oil bait such as a Sticky baits Manilla, with a creamy aroma and very easily digestible. In addition, I can glaze these with the cloudy manilla liquid, or opt for the manilla actives, which emit a dissable attractive layer. A small white manilla pop-up over the top is perfect as it stands out over all substrate, whether that is still decaying matter, silt, fresh weed growth or gravel. 

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High attract pop-ups

Spring is, without doubt, a time of year, when a bright single hook bait can really come into its own when cast to showing or feeding fish. With no loose feed to fill them, or a bright bait to catch their eye, oozing feed stimulants can result in an almost aggressive response, where the carp will just snatch at the bait. 

The beauty of a high attract baits, are you are never committing to a spot or swim fully, which is great if you are unsure where the fish are, and you might want to cast around actively searching the fish out. 

Once found, if you are fishing over bait, then they really are a great edge, as a bright bait is often like the cherry on the cake principle in that is often one of the first baits to be taken. 

The hi-attract range from mainline is brilliant for this, as they offer a huge range of flavours, and colours, and are also mega buoyant, meaning you can boost these a bit further with extra liquids or additives, such as the mainline bait sprays or the Korda goos to really take these to the next level. 

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Korda Goo

This should, by now, require no introductions, such is the popularity of the Korda Goo range. If you are not familiar with the goo, then you really need to check it out.

You can add it to just about anything, be that soaking hook baits, (pop-ups, wafters, plastics, foams), injected into solid bags, glazed over a PVA stick, or a little squirt into your spod/spomb before you cast out, giving that halo over your bait, and flooding out attraction. 

They come in a Supreme (Bait smoke), which is the thinner of the two liquids, and is ideal for soaking baits in, or injecting into bags, whereas the Smoke (Power smoke) is much thicker, and is more suited to being applied to sticks, zigs or forming more of a crust over baits to almost dissolve off. 

The range of flavours is huge, with different flavours being available in both the supreme and the smoke, giving your more versatility and even more attraction. 

My favourites are the pineapple and the isotonic, combined together, over some pineapple or blackcurrant pop-ups, for a really zesty attraction, or the pink almond, over some Mainline milky toffee pop-ups, with the almond smoke applied after two or three glazes with the almond supreme, and then left to dry. 

Proven spring winners on both. 

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Particles

Particles definitely play a massive part in my spring finishing, as they are a great method not just for getting bites, but also getting some groundwork in for later in the spring by cleaning off spots as the fish become more on the feed. 

Sweetcorn, or a few crushed tigers, and a balanced tiger nut over the top can be a great method when the fish are still a little shy, and not quite on the feed for a heavy bed of boillies. They are highly digestible baits, so you can't really over do it, and so as a result, the fish will not become filled up on them whilst temperatures are still low. 

Alternatively, as mentioned, particles such as hemp, tares, partimix, etc, are a great way starting to pre bait if your lake allows, enabling you to get fish regularly visiting an area or to clean off spots, that might have some light weed, or detritus from the winter period on them. 

The smaller food items will keep the fish occupied and take longer to clear you out, so regularly returning to the spot between sessions, and progressively cleaning the spot over time and baiting up. 

The Dynamite baits particle jars are perfect for this, as they are all pre-sealed, and fully prepared and safe for the carp to eat. Many brands, including Nash, CC Moore, and Mainline, all offer pre-prepared particles in jars. 

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Zigs

And lastly, on our list, but certainly not one you should use as a last resort, zigs. I know so many anglers who are almost terrified to use them or will only resort to them, as an absolute last-chance resort and not fully commit to using them.  Zigs are deadly in their own right, and certainly, a tactic I will often start with on days when it's high pressure, and bright conditions and, in turn, bringing the fish up in the water collum. 

I would not be deterred by depth either, being happy to use 2-3ft zigs in shallow water or alternatively adjustable zigs in really deep water. 

To the subject of bait, the best baits are often a piece of foam or cork. However, you can use a small pop-up; however, these do tend to lose a little buoyancy. For added attraction, I do soak my zigs in a flavour. Mainlines Zig sweet, Korda's goo or a bait spray of your choice is fine. Ideally, you simply want something that will linger and can penetrate into the foam/cork and won't just wash off after a few hours. 

And for those of you who are a little unsure about setting them up, and tying them, there are a host of pre-tied zigs or zig kits available. 

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So there we have it, a very brief rundown on the different carp baits for spring. This was only brief, so if you would like more information, or looking for a bait bundle, drop our team a message, and they will be more than happy to help. In the meantime, be lucky, and tight lines.