Hook Baits
A variety of baits that can be used on the hook to catch a wide range of fish species. Most of these are also used a loose feed that is fed into the swim to attract fish, and encourage them to feed on the bait on your hook.
Maggots are the easiest bait to use, and will catch just about any fish that swims, but as pellets have risen in popularity in recent years, partly due to the stocking of commercial fisheries with pellet raised fish, but also because of their convenience, they are fast overtaking the maggot as the most popular bait.
A wide range of pellets is available in various sizes, flavours and colours. Where fish are used to them, these will catch most species.
All types of worm will catch fish, and these can be collected yourself or purchased from fishing tackle shops.
Bread in all its forms will catch fish, including Bread Crust, Bread Flake, and Bread Paste made by wetting and then kneading some bread from the centre of a loaf.
Luncheon meat is a good bait for Carp, Barbel and Chub. You can either buy it from the supermarket, or buy specially flavoured luncheon meat from fishing tackle shops.
A wide range of commercial boilies are available and your fishing tackle shop will be able to advise you of local preferences. The larger sizes are used to catch large carp, while the smaller sizes will catch a variety of coarse fish.
Sweetcorn, either from a tin or frozen is a good bait for many coarse fish species.
Hempseed is widely available either in cooked or uncooked form, and is an excellent bait for many species. It is most often used loose fed to attract fish, other baits such as maggots or pellets being used on the hook.
There are also a number of other seed and nut baits available.
Ground Baits
A wide range of commercial groundbaits are available from fishing tackle shops. These are used to create a cloud or bed of feed in which fish will search for food items.