I assume you want to catch more big fish like most anglers. This big powerfully revealing article will give you a taste of just how much better you can make your baits produce fish because you really can make your homemade or readymade baits far more addictive – so do yourself a very big favour and read on right now because you do not know what you are missing!

OK so you use readymade carp or catfish baits and are happy enough – or are you?! It is always my belief that when fishing against established readymade baits that extremely well designed homemade baits can easily out-fish them – with intelligent fishing. This is something I and countless others have done repeatedly and this can be done by anyone as you will see!

The fact is that the readymade bait field-testers given new baits to try invariably get the very best result precisely because they are the very first to use this bait on a water. In making your own baits or adapting or manipulating readymade baits to make them different to the original versions makes them new baits – so gives you a tremendous edge over anglers still using the original versions that fish can easily get wary of very quickly after being hooked on them!

The best time to get the best results on readymade baits approximately 99 percent of the time is before the herd gets to use that readymade bait on a water. I mean if you were using baits over-flavoured with Chocolate Malt flavour like I was 25 years ago, or were using squid andronone and other extracts in your homemade baits years ago like me (made without any requirement for eggs,) then you will see that such latest creations from bait companies are far from new!

Another example is when I fished my converted Grange bait at Dream Lake 1 fishing against the son of Mainline bait boss Zenon Bojko who was using the bait called Active 8 before it was made available to the public. I will not say what I did to my version of the Mainline base mix I exploited here but I made it active in different ways and changed a few of the characteristics of the bait including the taste, aroma, flavour, shape, size, colour, texture and buoyancy and solubility of the bait – all to very great effect (the first fish came while setting up!)

In scanning so many fishing forums it is very obvious that the average angler knows about as much about bait design and how baits impact water and fish as they in all likelihood do about the physiological internal impacts of nicotine on the human brain and nervous system. You might think many more anglers would know details about this because so many anglers have been conditioned by direct and indirect subliminal messages in films, soaps, adverts, movies etc to smoke because it is supposed to be cool. But nicotine is the most addictive substance to humans – even beyond new generations of crack cocaine and the like.

You might also think that a gigantic proportion of the angling fraternity would have the vision to realise that the average angler is not actually giving fish bait in order to feed them, but to maximise numbers of bites achieved by making baits irresistible whenever fish sense their presence in their environment. It seems many bait-makers think that feeding fish is more important than catching them!

So many anglers think that fishing baits like boilies cannot be addictive – why is this?! Just how many anglers using fishing forums are neuroscientists with experience in fish not just humans?! Just because a fish does not jump into your landing net straight after you cast out simply means the fish are aiming not to be supper for a predator they have come to associate with familiar food items and no wonder bait is of any use if you fish ineffectively without the thought that carp truly deserve!

Did you know that the impacts on our bodies and minds of the pheromones from a summer walk through an average deciduous wood in the southern counties have ultimately the same internal effect on health and vitality as half the pharmaceutical drugs on the market? This is not me saying this; just one of the leading scientific minds taking part in the TED conference recently; remember that very many drugs originally are inspired by plant substances right (think of good old Aspirin for example!) Unfortunately people are getting gradually out of touch with science in general through not keeping up their education as science moves on so very fast. The area of genetic manipulation of foods such as wheat and soya should really be of interest to anglers as well as the increasing growing of plants for fuel – many of these are great in carp baits as very effective cheap energy sources in baits.

The fact is that 100 years ago we could sit at home and most of us would have understood how most of the things that surrounded us worked – and even how it was designed. The art of DIY repairs and modifications to home appliances etc thrived. Even I as a kid took apart record players and later cassette players to adjust them internally. But today with the rise and rise of so much more advanced technology a growing number of people do not have a clue how most of the things that surround them work. They do not value insights into how they were originally conceived, developed and refined to reach the finished designs that are frequently made by dirt cheap labour forces in Asia and elsewhere and bought by western consumers less and less from the high street chains and more and more via the world-wide-web. All this change relates to fishing baits too because food has to be caught, sown, harvested or extracted right! Even genuine vanilla which is the most commonly used flavour in the world is commercially-available due to someone hand-pollinating these orchid plants.

Years ago it would have been simple enough for a beginner to put on a piece of bread paste, or dig up a worm and use that. But these days an instant carp angler can expect to be bombarded with all kinds of ever more technologically exotic bait names that blind them with science and further induce new generations to give up on figuring out how their baits work and just use them to maximum effect even! Over the past 5 years full-time my aim has been to de-mystify carp, catfish, barbel and other baits; hence my present bait ebooks written to help you catch more fish!

Important relationships between bait substances soon become apparent with enough research. For example between different forms of betaine and amino acids, and between Talin and flavour components for example, or between salts, sugars and milk components and beneficial microoganisms and so on. This information and much more can all improve your catches most especially in tough times – and against better more experienced anglers. I only know this because so many of my readers use this information in their own creative ways and achieve this.

The fact remains that with the knowledge of what baits contain and why you can very seriously improve your catch results consistently – for life (note that knowledge is for life!) It is just the same as the difference between playing the guitar hero game and dreaming of being a rock God – and being a dreamer all your life. The irony is that my guitar teacher was a professional session player with big-name record companies 16 years and even played the odd stadium and other big venue gigs, yet he explained to me that he is no good at all when playing guitar hero! The power of getting direct knowledge from someone who has been there bought the T-shirt and done it is invaluable as with any teacher in any endeavour. If you made the effort to buy a well chosen guitar, take regular lessons from a well chosen tutor and developed your unique skills, then one day you really could become a rock God – whether in the local clubs or with rather larger audiences of TV or the web etc. Ultimately it takes commitment to get extremely good at anything and instant success by simply buying the latest wonder readymade bait is no guarantee of success for years to come – that comes with self-education and experience!

Most of us already know to whatever degree that proteins in carp and catfish baits etc are a positive thing in terms of bait success but did you know that amino acids as in proteins are addictive? By definition they are addictive simply because life cannot exist without them!

In North Korea when the last famine hit, thousands of school children died from malnutrition – they just withered away over the months from various deficiencies including those as a result of lack of essential amino acids. In such a hard-line communist country where forgetting to even dust the pictures of the leaders framed on your living room wall is a crime, such things as enough food come low down the list of priorities; communism at its very best – yet again (corruption from the top as usual!)

One ingredient sure to make your fish take notice of in your baits is soluble keramine protein. Its (free) soluble amino acid profile is tremendous! It is an excellent big fish edge and you can use it as powder or use it to make unique liquid foods just as you might by using pure betaine of soluble fish protein products etc (for more countless more edges see my bait secrets ebooks deals!)

Keramine is outstanding for big carp and giant catfish but why not source some squid liver oil perhaps and mix it with high PC liquid lecithins for a spring bait this year alongside keratine?! Again visit the Willisworms Formula-Carp bait section to get hold of keramine and keramine meat extract and so on (very few bait companies sell it!) Revealed in my unique readymade bait and homemade bait carp and catfish bait secrets ebooks is far more powerful information – look up my unique website (Baitbigfish) and see my biography for details right now!

By Tim Richardson.

About the Author

Now why not seize this moment to improve your catches for life with these unique fishing bibles: “BIG CARP FLAVOURS FEEDING TRIGGERS AND CARP SENSES EXPLOITATION SECRETS!” “BIG CARP AND CATFISH BAIT SECRETS!” And “BIG CARP BAIT SECRETS!” For these and much more now visit: http://www.baitbigfish.com the home of the world-wide proven homemade bait making and readymade bait success secrets bibles!

April is a month of activities. The Robins begin to show and the songbirds begin to sing signaling the coming of spring and the end of winter. For the hunter it means strutting gobblers. For the angler it means warming waters and the beginning of a great season of great fun and fresh fillets.

Most anglers I know begin to prepare their crappie poles and sharpen their jig heads for some deep brush jigging or spider rigging some tuffies along some creek channels leading to known spawning grounds or sunken stake beds. This is a great time for some cruising crappies but it can be just as good for channel cats as old man winter loses ground.

This time of year can be deceiving as the air temperature rises the catfish angler can’t wait to get on the water. The problem is that the water takes a while to warm even with bright sunny days and warmer weather. The important thing with early spring cat fishing is water temp. Finding the warmer water on any lake will be the focus and just a few degrees can make all the difference.

Look for temp changes in shallow coves. The larger the area of shallow water the quicker it will warm providing great catfish action. Water 1 to 4 feet is a great place to look as the springtime sun is drawn to the dark bottom of the lake causing the water to warm quicker in these areas. I know it is tempting to fish deep when the water temps are so low but catfish do feed in these shallow areas as the water begins to warm. The warmer water definitely stimulates the cold blooded cats causing them to prowl but an even stronger motivator is the food found in these shallow coves in the spring.

In the winter there is a natural die off of fish that occurs and if your lake has shad, which most successful catfish lakes do, then the amount of food floating below the surface of the lake can be extraordinary. This die off provides catfish with a much needed food source to begin the spawn that is nearing with the warming of water. Instinct will prevail and the catfish know that these wind swept coves have trapped lots of dead fish from the winterkill and they do take advantage of the natural occurrence.

Wind to an angler can be a nuisance or a great ally. In the case of early spring cat fishing wind is your ally. Not only does wind help mix the water and help to warm these shallow coves but it also tends to push these dead fish into these coves. The important thing is to find the combination of large shallow cove and a wind that blows directly into this cove. If the wind is not blowing directly into the cove then try to at least locate a side wind and fish the bank being lapped with the wind blown water.

The choice of bait seems obvious. Cut shad is the way to go for this time of year and does work but I tend to mix it up a little. Most of the fish will focus on dead shad so you definitely want a rig with cut shad but I usually rig a pole or two with something different just in case it stimulates a fish that might be attracted to something a little different. I have to say that sometimes the different bait far outperforms the shad but always have cut shad in the boat, as it will work best most of the time. Some other bait I use is fresh chicken livers and where legal fresh bluegill fillets work great.

First scale the bluegill then fillet. The scales, I feel, trap the smell of the meat and needs to be removed. Some will argue that the smellier the bait the better for channel cats. I can only say that fresh bait has always worked well for me and seems to attract the larger fish as well. I may be wrong but I keep the stinky stuff out of my boat and stick to fresh or fresh frozen. I have caught fish on the rotten stuff but I seemed to waste a lot of time with fishless strikes and smaller fish. Since going strictly fresh the bite action has slowed but the hook-up action on bigger fish has increased as I waste little time worrying with fishless bites and more time fighting nice size channels to the boat. Usually thirty minutes in one spot is all I will wait before searching another cove. Keep moving but do not forget that first cove later in the day as the fish may move up while you search other parts of the lake.

Tackle for Channel Cats is simple but a couple of tricks can really help your success. You want to start with at least a medium or medium heavy rod. I use a heavy rod and the reason is since targeting these larger Channel Cats I have landed several over ten pounds. These big channels can put up a great fight and are many times in the middle of some snarled brush not to mention the twirling these fish do as they near the boat which can put plenty of strain on your gear. If you are like me you will start with your regular gear that you have used for years for those one to three pound fish but after hooking into and losing some of those giant channels that prowl the shallows early in the season you might decide, just as I did, that quality and sturdy gear is important to catching big Channels. Also there are giant Flathead monsters that tend to reside in the same type areas as big Channels and the last thing you want is to tangle with a forty-pound flatty in a brushpile with wimpy gear.

Another well-known trick is the slip sinker. These fish are very sensitive to pressure and if they feel any at all they will drop the bait. I have yet decided whether a free spool is better than tight lining. All my rigs free spool just in case I miss a bite he can keep running until I can get to the rod. If I see the bite I set the hook immediately. I tend not to tight line because I have seen too many dropped bites when they feel the rod without a hook set the hook, I believe, will slip right out when the fish spits the bait covered hook out of its mouth. So experiment and draw your own conclusion. Another lesson I have learned is that bait covered hook. I used to cover the hook with bait for fear the fish might feel the hook and spook. I now leave the hook point uncovered as best I can so that when the fish inhales the bait the point is exposed and even if the fish decides to spit it out there is a better chance the point will find its mouth on the way out.

Terminal tackle should consist of a solid hook and a heavy monofilament leader with swivel at the top. Above the leader should be a single bead and then a slider for your weight. These sliders are inexpensive and are slicker than just a slip sinker on your main line which tends to abrade your line causing premature breaks. You main line should be heavy mono or braided line. I choose mono for my leader to give some stretch at the hook and also withstand the abrasion effects of heavy brush a little better than braided line. This is another trick learned the hard way. Braided line is strong for its diameter and allows me to get much more on my reels while still using thirty to fifty pound test line. The braided lines will not hold their strength however with the slightest abrasion so check it often.

I use an octopus style hook in the 7/0 size range. I prefer to set the hook hard on these big cats so I choose the octopus over the circle as my choice in hooks. There are several hook makers out there that offer the octopus style hook. Mustad, owner and Gamakatsu are my favorite and provide excellent made hooks.

Early spring cat fishing may not be as popular as some of the other fish out there but with a little patients and trial and error lessons learned you might find a new and exciting early spring activity for yourself and family. You might even find yourself alone in your new endeavor and have all those shallow coves to yourself and enjoy some great fishing fun as well as some great fillets for the table. Good Luck!

Check out my website for some fly fishing info

Authors website

http://www.ramblingangler.com

About the Author

I grew up running the streets of Nashville Tennessee. I always loved the outdoors. When I was 13 I moved to Lynchburg Tennessee and hunted and fished almost daily. It was a great time. I went to Alaska and fished and hunted before moving back home to hunt the whitetail deer and catch crappie, catfish, bass and bluegill. I also loved wading the same creeks that Bill Dance waded as a kid dipping crawdads for black perch and smallmouth bass.