Homemade groundbait: recipes for carp, Prussian carp and bream

What you need

• Base: breadcrumbs (ground dried bread) and cornmeal, roughly 3 parts breadcrumbs to 1 part cornmeal, plus sunflower meal or cake and ground biscuits.
• Particles: whole maize and hemp, soaked and cooked; maggots, chopped worms, small pellets.
• Binder and colour: more cornmeal for a sticky groundbait (for flowing water); molehill soil for a heavy, dark groundbait in winter.
• Flavours: sweet in summer (vanilla, honey, sugar), neutral or salty and sparing in winter; too much flavour puts fish off.
• Utensils: a bucket, a 4 mm groundbait riddle, a large pot for cooking the particles, containers with lids.

Baits

• Cooked corn: the cheapest particle for carp, Prussian carp and bream; put grains from the same pot on the hook.
• Cooked hemp: the small seeds keep fish in the swim for a long time, especially bream and carp.
• Maggots and chopped worms, added at the bank to the portion for the feeder, bring movement and a natural smell.

When to fish

• In summer, groundbait can be richer and sweet: the fish eat a lot.
• In spring and autumn, medium amounts, with more particles than crumb.
• In winter, a little groundbait, fine and dark, with maggots or bloodworm and no strong sweet flavours.

Where are you fishing

• On still water, make the groundbait loose so it breaks up quickly on the bottom in a cloud.
• On rivers, make it wetter and stickier (more cornmeal, soil) so it reaches the bottom intact.
• On mountain waters, salmonids may only be fished with artificial lures, so groundbait has no place there; on private lakes, read the rules: some ban certain groundbaits or limit the amount.

Step by step

1. 1

   Prepare the particles. Soak the corn in cold water for 24 hours and the hemp for 12 hours, then boil the corn for 30-45 minutes, until it's soft inside, and the hemp for 15-20 minutes, until the seeds split.

2. 2

   Mix it dry. Put the breadcrumbs, cornmeal, sunflower meal and biscuits in a bucket and mix well, with no lumps.

3. 3

   Dampen it gradually. Add water a little at a time, stirring; the groundbait is ready when a squeezed handful holds as a ball but crumbles under light pressure.

4. 4

   Let it absorb the water. Wait 10-15 minutes, add a little more water if it has dried out, and pass the groundbait through the riddle so it's even.

5. 5

   Add the particles at the bank. Add the corn, hemp and maggots only to the portion you're about to use, not to the whole bucket.

6. 6

   Feed in moderation. Start with a few balls or full feeders on the same spot, then little and often: you can always add more groundbait, but you can't take it back out of the water.

Common mistakes

• Uncooked or undercooked particles: raw corn swells inside the fish and harms it.
• Groundbait that's too wet, which sticks together like dough and no longer breaks up.
• Too many or too strong flavours.
• Too much groundbait in cold water, when the fish are eating little.
• Particles fermented too long, smelling of alcohol or mould.

Frequently asked questions

Step-by-step guides

• Groundbait and recipes: All-round feeder groundbait (bream, Prussian carp)
• Groundbait and recipes: Particles: prepared maize and hemp
• Groundbait and recipes: Prussian carp groundbait for cold water (winter / early spring)
• Groundbait and recipes: Method mix (carp, big Prussian carp)
• Groundbait and recipes: Homemade boilies (basic recipe)

Fishing for carp by county

Other fishing techniques

• Feeder fishing
• Carp on the method feeder
• Carp on boilies
• Prussian carp on the float
• Bream on the feeder
• Ice fishing
• Spinning for pike
• Zander on the jig
• Perch on the micro-jig
• Trout on spinners
• Wels catfish with the clonk
• Spinning for chub
• Asp on crankbaits
• Barbel on the feeder
• Tench on the float
• Fishing from a boat
• Pike on fish baits
• Perch on the drop shot
• Fly fishing
• Catfish from the bank