Carp Fishing Baits - Maize

Carp Fishing Baits - Maize

Carp fishing baits do not often come much simpler than maize, readily available from many outlets, cheap to buy and very easy to prepare. But the best bit about maize is that carp just love eating it.

Maize has been responsible for thousands of carp captures all across the UK, it very often produces results when other baits fail, even heavily pressured carp find it hard to resist a bed of well prepared maize with some of the most popular and prolific carp waters producing some of their best fish to carp fishermen who know the qualities of maize as an attractant and hook-bait.

A word of warning for those who have never used maize for their carp fishing quests before and intend to start using this wonderful bait;

MAIZE MUST BE PREPARED PROPERLY BEFORE USE, POORLY PREPARED MAIZE CAN CAUSE SERIOUS PROBLEMS, OR EVEN DEATH FOR THE CARP.

How To Prepare Maize

Maize is a simple to prepare, but it is critical that it is done properly, so we have included the following instructions for those carp fishermen who are new to this bait.

Maize has a very tough outer skin and it will never fully soften up even after preparation, but it will have swollen to its maximum size which is exactly what we need it to do so that it becomes safe for the carp to eat. If it was fed to carp unprepared, this swelling will occur in the gut of the carp and could cause serious digestive problems and possibly death.

First soak the maize for between 24 and 48 hours, this soaking is then followed by the boiling process. Boil the maize for approximately 30 - 45 minutes. This boiling process will slightly soften the bait and it is this process where the magic of maize begins.

During the boiling process the maize will start to release its natural sugars, which the carp find irresistible, when boiled, empty the maize and its hot water into a suitable plastic bait bucket, place the lid on the bucket, being careful not to fully seal it, leaving a small gap in the seal allows the steam from the water to escape and not build up pressure.

Store the bait in a dark, cool shed (not in the sun) and use it within 3 days.

Prepared maize can be frozen for later use as long as you allow plenty of time (12 hours) for it to fully defrost, but personally i prefer to use it freshly made while it is still releasing its irresistible carp attracting sugars.

Carp Fishing Using Maize

When fishing with maize it is best to lay a small bed of maize and hemp in your chosen swim and then fish over it with maize hookbaits. For an added advantage you can place 2 particles of real maize and one particle of artificial maize on your hair, making your hookbait very light and very easy for the carp to suck up into their mouth.

If you find nuisance fish becoming a problem, use a scattering of boilies over the maize and hemp and fish boilie hook-baits.

Maize is a truly great carp fishing bait, it is brightly coloured, full of magical carp attracting natural sugars, contains high levels of energy boosting carbohydrates, it is easy to prepare and use, and it costs very little.

But best of all the carp very often go mad for maize!!!