Carp fishes are a species known for being omnivorous, except one. And its name says it all. We are talking about grass carps, which mostly survive by feeding themselves aquatic plants. That is the reason why grass carp was first introduced in many regions across the world.
Aquatic Plants and Weeds
The rapid growth of aquatic plants and weeds can be a massive impediment to the whole ecosystem underwater. More than being the energy source and carbon storage, dense plant growth underwater can turn into a nuisance. Thus, the grass craps were added into the water bodies to spawn. It was the natural way to control the overgrowth of aquatic plants. However, people gradually understood that grass carps could be delicious and great fun to angle. The journey of people considering grass carps, a fish worth angling, was long, but the scenario has changed now. That too, for the better.
Things You Need to Know About Baiting and Baits for Grass Carp
Topic Specified
As we are talking about grass carp angling, that automatically brings us to the baits. And as you have already guessed by the title, we will talk about the best bait for grass carp. But before we talk about bait, to be more precise, baits, let’s talk a little about the nature of grass carps regarding their food.
Nature
Remember, these are not some 2-3 years old children who will run away seeing vegetables and anything green on their plates. These are specimens that have massive appetites, that, too, for aquatic plants and weeds. Also, grass carps eat a lot every single day. That makes luring them difficult as they could be already full when you are baiting them. These fishes are known to eat three times their body weight. So, yes, it could be difficult to lure them, but as they eat a lot, the scenario could be on your side too. Especially when you are baiting them with something very different that is not available in the reservoirs they roam around and inhabit.
Making Them Familiar to Your Bait
Baiting the grass carps in hot weather is particularly easy. You will notice them close to the surface of the water, not necessarily in search of food, though. They could randomly roam along the water surface, exhibiting the dorsal fin to the spectators. However, the reclusive nature of these fishes makes them too cautious. They are easily spooked, and with a mere flicker in the water, the grass carp you laid your eyes on will disappear. So making them familiar to your bait is the only way not to scare them. Thus the importance of chumming.
Chumming
To chum is a trick to make grass carps familiar to your baits. They will treat the bait as something edible and not treat it like a forbidden fruit. You will have to take advantage of them, considering the bait as something that is not a danger and their lack of alertness. Whatever your bait is, just randomly throw an ample amount in the water body or the specific portion you thought have grass carps available. Do it for a few days if needed. The grass carps will get familiar with the bait, see no danger around it, and later on, that lack of inhibition towards it will help you lure them towards your fishing hook.
Best Baits
To attract, to chumming, to lure, to angle, you will need the bait. And trust us when we say even lettuce could work to draw a grass carp due to its big appetite and simple eating habit. However, here we are talking about the best baits. And the purpose of best baits is to lure a grass carp sooner, in no time. What are those baits that attract grass carps the most, let’s discuss them one by one?
Corn
We all saw that coming. Corn has to be the easiest, most inexpensive, and most used bait to catch all types of carp fishes. And grass carps are one among those types which love corn. It doesn’t matter if it’s maize, sweet corn, or canned corn. You can simply get two shop-bought sweet corn can and empty one by throwing all the corn in the water body for chumming. And use the other can to hook corn to the fishing line and bait. Or get maize or corn from the market. That option is way more inexpensive, but you get a large amount. To prepare them for baiting, you will have to soak the corn and boil them until soft. Not too soggy, but perfectly tender. Soak the corn in normal water for a day, 24 hours at least. Then the day you are willing to angle, just throw them into boiled water and cook the corn till soft.
Ledger Rig
And here we have to mention that the grass carps are better caught by ledgering. Catch them at a distance, staying nowhere near. The carps will not notice any human around, thus no reason to be spooked and escape. This is also a prime reason why chumming is so essential. The grass carps don’t come close to you, prick the bait, take the bait hooked on the fishing hook, and you get to catch carp without spooking and alerting them.
Nuts
Other than different types of corn, grass carps are lured with nuts as well. You can either use mere peanuts as bait or use the prevalent tiger nuts. Like sweet corn, tiger nuts have a sweet taste to it, too, like sweet potatoes. You will have to soak the nuts; both nuts have the same preparation process. Soak them a day prior to cooking. After soaking them for 24 hours, then cook them for half an hour. Increase the taste by adding some sea salt. You can do the same while cooking corn too.
Some Other Favorites
Grass carps also love boilies, hemp, soaked bread, and dog biscuits. Not as available or inexpensive as the corns or nuts but very luring to the grass carps. So, if you fail to get the carps through nuts and corn, you can try these distinct ones, which might work sooner than you thought.
Frankly, most of the anglers’ targets are never grass craps. There are exceptions. But generally, it is not the angler’s favorite. That doesn’t mean you should also skip your idea of angling grass carps. They are large in number in different fisheries near you, so angling them will be more fun and encouraging than any other fish species. Use the best baits and apply all the techniques to catch grass carps and hone your fishing skill.
