Making simple fishing baits that really work is very easy. But if you want very consistent success and perhaps bigger fish too, then adding a few ‘extras' to a beginners simple bait is well worth it!

The commonest and easiest powdered or flours based bait that makes a fishing dough or boilie bait, is one made from a 50 to 50 percent mixture of soya meal or flour and semolina. The fresh full fat versions of these ingredients are the best.

Some anglers use maize meal, corn grits, potato starch, ground rice, or even ordinary white flour.

These ingredients are made into a dough using just enough water or eggs or combinations of both. Very often a flavour is used and there is a choice of thousands of these, the ones specifically designed for fishing often are the best for beginners.

Most anglers have made their own dough, paste or boilie baits at some stage, and found that adding other ingredients can drastically improve results. There are many complicated reasons why this happens and knowing these reasons is true power which can really skyrocket your results, especially big fish catches.

Here are a few ingredients that when added to the simplest bait mixes can make all the difference to your catches:

* Betaine hydrochloride.

* Vitamin and mineral supplement.

* Molasses.

* Rock or sea salt.

* Spices in multitudes of varieties and forms.

* Herbs in multitudes of varieties and forms.

* Various oils.

* Essential oils.

* Corn steep liquor.

* Yeast extract.

* Liquid amino acid supplements.

* Proprietary weight gain and body building powders.

* Ground bird foods.

* Milk powders and baby milks and numerous milk products.

* Ground up dog and cat foods both biscuit and canned forms.

* Ground up pet foods like rabbit foods, sheep nuts, horse feed, pig feed.

* Mashed up fresh and canned fish.

* Fish pellets and fish food pellets.

* Mashed meats like sausage meat, pork, chicken, liver, and kidney.

* Pâté like liver, salmon, duck.

* Mashed up prawns and shrimps and many other shellfish.

* Condiments like tomato sauce, fish source, brown source and soy source.

* Sandwich pastes like tuna, salmon, crab.

* Various jams and preserves like strawberry, raspberry, marmalade.

* Sugars like white sugar, brown sugar, black and golden syrup, honey.

* Ground and whole seeds like hemp, sesame, Niger, cardamoms, cloves.

* Nuts ground up like tiger or chufas, peanuts, almonds, hazelnuts, walnuts, Brazils.

* Ground up foods like garlic granules, parmesan cheese powder.

* Some pickles.

* Ice cream sources and flavours like maple, vanilla, chocolate and strawberry.

* Carbonated drinks like ‘Coco Cola,' ‘Red Bull,' cream soda, energy drinks.

* Cake decorations and icing sugar, ‘hundreds and thousands,' marzipan.

* Custard powders especially the highly sweetened and salted ones.

* Various ground-up candies and sweets like peppermints and liquorice.

* Gravy granules of many types, fish sources and other food toppings.

* Sweeteners like barley malt, agave nectar, fruit sugar, and saccharin.

* Flavoured jellies milk shake powders and ice cream mixes.

* Beef gelatine.

This list is massive and shows that so many foods we love ourselves will make a bland and un-stimulating bait far more appetising for the fish! (Most of the more recently popularized fishing bait ingredients are ‘pharmaceutical grade' and very expensive by comparison.)

So using the list above although so obvious, has benefits and frequently the biggest fish will eat a bait that is ‘different' and these baits certainly have their days!

The author has many more fishing and bait ‘edges' up his sleeve. Every single one can have a huge impact on catches. (Warning: This article is protected by copyright, but reprints with a link are OK.)

By Tim Richardson. ‘The thinking angler's fishing author and expert bait making guru.'

For more expert bait making information and ‘cutting edge' techniques see the expert acclaimed new ebook / book:

"BIG CARP BAIT SECRETS!"

http://www.baitbigfish.com