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Best Baits for Fishing Lakes in Summer
With the warm weather now upon us, it is time to consider if your choice of bait is working for the rise in water temperatures. At this time of year, fish are feeding and moving around a lot more in the waters so to get those fish biting we have gathered some of the top fishing baits for fishing on lakes during the summer season.
From something to glug into your swim to soft hookbaits for fishing the surface, be sure to have a collection of bait choices on your side tray this summer. Here are some of our suggestions...
Bread
The warmer lake water means that carp are starting to move closer to the water’s surface so baits that float such as bread are a great choice, especially on more urban venues where local birdlife tends to feed. Not only does rolled up pieces of bread on the hook entice carp but chub love it too! Try adding a little flavouring to the bread whether it's garlic or berries, as this will go down a treat.
Groundbait
Particularly good for coarse and match anglers, groundbait is a winner for feeding carp and plenty of other coarse species. Although you may be intrigued by fine groundbait, these can lead to gill feeding and therefore less hooked fish.
Bream are a big fan of fishmeal based groundbaits which anglers tend to mix in with crushed pellets or particles. Groundbait also binds incredibly well so using with some maize or corn will certainly help.
Corn
Many fish including tench and bream love corn. Its bright yellow colour makes it easy for them to locate in murky lake waters and they will spend a long time in your swim trying to eat up each kernel.
When using corn as a hookbait, try opting for larger, intact kernels. As a soft bait, you may find such mushy bits of corn on the bottom of the tin. Do not let this go to waste as although you won’t be able to thread it as a hookbait, you can blend this up finer into a liquidised sweetcorn that can be added to your spod bait mix. This adds a nutritious cloud to your margin that attracts most match species.
Particle Mixes
Great for targeting specimen carp and barbel, a strong fishy particle mix works wonders in the warm lake waters. Try a half groundbait, half particle mix to get a highly attractive carpet of feed out for those big fish. Another particle mix to try is hemp mixed with casters. Send out your particle mix out on a bait boat so you can leave a carpet of feed further into the lake.
Pellets
This time of year, coarse fish such as bream will be drawn into your swim with pellets, especially high-oil halibut pellets. Try fishing your pellets on a hair bait rig. If you want to make your pellets float, remember to pack your pellet pump and look into expander pellets.
If you do not use all your pellets on a session, do not let those leftover, slightly old pellets from your previous fishing trips go to waste. A great use of these pellets is to crush them up using a boilie crusher to a similar texture to groundbait crumbs. You can grind expander pellets too for success this time of year.
Miniature Dumbell Boilies
For summer, try out some colourful smaller sized boilies. You could experiment with dumbells/barrels or go with the classic spherical boilies. The dumbbell shape is easier to band, bait drill or spike which is something to keep in mind during the busier feeding and bites warmer waters bring. Another benefit of the barrel-shaped boilies is that when hair-rigged, the dumbell shape is harder for a fish to blow back out, in turn, this makes hooking them a lot easier.
Pop-ups
Be sure to have a variety of smaller boilies with you, from sinkers, floaters (pop ups) to wafters as different levels of buoyancy can be a game-changer. With the warmer waters, fish such as carp and moving up the water column so pop-ups are a great choice for surface fishing and float fishing tactics.
As for the choice of colour, many anglers opts for colourful boilies and pop ups such as bright orange as this attracts plenty of species of carp as well as some bream. If orange isn’t working for you, white boilies may be a better alternative.
If you are on a long session or are staying at the bankside overnight, it is best to fish with larger, 12mm boilies as these will last longer in the water.
Maggots Mixed with Crumb
f you are looking for something extra to boost the attraction of your bait from fellow anglers on the bankside, why not try out some fishmeal or salmon crumb to add to your maggots. Simply throw in some crumb to your bait box of maggots before adding them to your chosen baiting method.
The wriggle of the maggots on a hook or in a caged feeder along with the aroma of your crumb will certainly get the attention of a few coarse fish! However, if your live maggots are attracting too much attention from small fish, you can switch to dead maggots as the lack of movement is less likely to make smaller fish interested.
Worms
Although this is another bait that may attract smaller fish, worms can be a successful bait in low-stocked lakes. Tying some small lobworms to hair-rigs which a buoyant fake bait will work wonders in the summer.
Luncheon Meat
