Plant Baits for Fishing: How to Prepare Peas, Corn and Grains for Carp and Bream
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Plant baits are vegetable-based hookbaits — peas, corn, cereal grains, porridge, bread and flour doughs — that many non-predatory fish take readily as a natural part of their diet. Preparing plant bait well is one of the biggest factors in a good catch, because softness, flavour and how the bait sits on the hook decide whether fish accept it or ignore it. The sections below cover each plant bait in turn, from the simplest crumb of bread to steamed peas and cooked porridge, with the exact preparation steps and the species each one attracts.
Which plant baits work best for fishing?
The most reliable plant baits are a short list of kitchen staples that fish recognise and that are easy to keep on a hook. Each suits slightly different species and water conditions, so it pays to carry more than one on any trip.
Plant baits share one practical advantage over animal baits: they are cheap, store well, and can be prepared at home the night before. The key is texture — bait that is too hard slips off the point, while bait that is too soft falls away on the cast. Most of the methods below aim for a firm but yielding consistency, often helped by a little sunflower oil or a binding egg.
How do you cook peas for fishing bait?
Peas are cooked for bait by steaming them so they soften without bursting. Soak the dried peas in cold water for 4–8 hours first, then put them on low heat with just enough water to keep the level even with the peas. Boil for 1.5–2 hours. Once the water comes to the boil, add sunflower oil — one tablespoon per two cups of peas.
The oil gives peas more softness and flavour, and it stops them drying out or turning sour as quickly. Young peas from the current year's crop do not need soaking and should be steamed for only about an hour and a half. After boiling, wrap the peas in a damp cloth so they finish softening in their own heat.
Not every type of pea catches fish equally well. The best results come from sugar peas of a yellow-green colour and medium size, yellow-pink large sugar peas, and grey wrinkled large peas. Keep the cooked peas in a wet rag, and bait the hook so the sharp point comes out between the two pea halves and sits just under the skin — this hides the metal while keeping a clean hooking gap.
Peas baited this way are excellent for carp, bream and ide.
How do you prepare corn as fishing bait?
Corn makes an excellent fishing bait, with young "horse tooth" corn and ordinary yellow corn both working well. The kernel is ready for use when it is fully filled out. To cook corn, boil a few cobs and let them cool down in the same water they were boiled in, which keeps the kernels plump.
Once cooled, take the cobs out of the water and keep them wrapped in a damp cloth. Pick the kernels from the cob, peel off the tough outer skin, and thread them onto the hook. Corn prepared this way is readily taken by ide, roach, rudd and similar white fish.
How do you cook cereal grains for bait?
Cereal grains — rye, wheat, oats and barley — are prepared for fishing in steamed form rather than fully boiled. Soak the grain in cold water for 8–10 hours beforehand. Then cook it in a small amount of water so the grain steams rather than disintegrates, and once it has softened, wrap the dish well so the grain continues to steam off the heat.
Thread several grains onto the hook at once for a fuller offering. Steamed cereal grain is a good bait for roach, bream and other white fish, and pearl barley (perlovka) in particular holds firmly on the hook.
How do you make porridge bait for fishing?
Porridge bait is cooked thick over low heat until the groats break down completely; a water bath gives the gentlest, most even result. As the porridge hardens, work in one chicken egg and a spoonful of sunflower oil, which bind the mixture and add flavour.
Knead the prepared porridge like dough and store it in a damp cloth so it stays pliable. At the water, pinch off pieces, roll them into balls and press them onto the hook. Porridge bait takes bream, roach, rudd and similar species, and its soft consistency makes it a favourite for stillwater feeder fishing.
How do you make bread with peas bait?
Bread-and-pea bait combines boiled sugar peas with an equal amount of wheat bread and one egg, plus a spoonful of sunflower oil. Knead the mixture well and roll it into balls. The egg and oil bind the soft bread to the peas so the bait survives the cast.
Store the balls in a damp cloth to keep them workable. This bait stands in for steamed peas and is particularly effective in winter for bream and ide, when fish want a soft, scented mouthful.
How do you use bread crumb as bait?
Bread crumb bait is the simplest of all plant baits: take the soft pulp from inside white or black bread, roll it firmly, and mould it onto the hook in the shape of a pea or sometimes a small flat cake. Rolling it well stops it washing off too quickly. Bread crumb is taken by virtually all white fish, though predatory species ignore it.
How do you make flour bait (dough)?
Flour bait is a dough kneaded from wheat flour mixed only with a hen's egg — the white binds the dough while the yolk colours it. Knead it to a soft consistency and roll it into small balls. Dough made this way is readily taken by barbel and other white fish.
Wheat flour also kneads well with fresh mutton blood, which turns the bait red. Coloured this way it tempts not only white fish but even perch. All of these plant baits are inexpensive and easy to prepare, so before any trip the angler should restock the varieties suited to the fish being targeted.
