Is fishing one of your hobbies? Do you know what is the different equipment you need and how to make dough bait stay on the hook?
Fishing is one of the best recreational activities you can do with your friends and family. This will help you to see the beauty of nature, with the underwater species and coral reefs. This is recommended for people who are suffering from mental sickness. Fishing will allow you to take care of both your physical and mental health.
The thing is you are able to relax your mind and peace at the same time. Another is that you are able to challenge yourself in catching fish. You will be able to learn techniques and other tips that will help you in fishing. Usually, places offering this kind of activity can help you to learn this and at the same time give you the best scenery.
One of the reasons why a lot of people choose this as their hobby and turn it into their passion is the adrenaline they can get when fishing. Another thing you can get out of fishing is you are able to identify the different types of species. This activity is applicable for the kids as they will be able to explore underwater species. The good thing is they will be able to explore nature at its finest in their younger years.
If you are an angler for many years, then you would know what are essential tools you need to have when fishing. One of the essential tools you need to have is bait. Bait is a luring substance, an artificial food to hook a fish. This could be a dough ball that serves as the bait for your hook. Here is the information you need to know about the dough and how to make this.
Recipes Of Dough Bait You Should Try When Fishing
1. Corn Dough Bait
This is one of the common recipes of dough ball bait you can try when fishing. Specifically, yellow corn and the sweet one flavor. You can try this to attract fish specifically catfish for your next fishing session with friends and family. Here is the formula you can try to make your own corn dough balls as bait.
1- 2 cups of yellow cornmeal
2 quick-cooking oatmeal
1 tablespoon of sugar
1 cup of water
½ cup of olive oil
This is very practical to do and at the same time eco-friendly. You don’t need to spend a lot of money when making this kind of dough bait. What do you need to do with these ingredients? You just need to mix the yellow cornmeal, oatmeal, sugar, water, and it’s optional to put in olive oil. The first thing you need to do is mix these ingredients and prepare a pan and heat this on a pre medium.
You don’t need to heat all the ingredients in a high fire as they will be burnt. After 5-7 minutes on the fire, get the pan. After this, you need to place this on the paper and knead the dough. Make sure that you have extra flour when needing so that you can easily do this and mold the dough. You need to ensure that before placing it in the freezer or in the refrigerator check if the dough is sticky enough.
2. White Cornmeal Dough
This is perfect for you to try, this might have a lot of ingredients but still worth it when you use it as your bait when fishing. You might hook bigger fish and different types of fish with this kind of bait. The ingredients are the following
1 cup of flour
2 egg white
1 cup of white cornmeal
Sesame seed (Optional)
1 cup of water
The first thing you need to do is to mix the flour, sugar, and cornmeal in a bowl. While on another bowl you need to mix the egg white and the sesame seed. There is a standard for this, you need to have a smooth mixture of this two. After that, add all the ingredients to one bowl and add the water as well. You need to ensure that you mix it correctly so that it will never affect its quality in kneading. After that, place the dough on the cloth and flatten its mass to 1 ½ thick.
Prepare your boiling water and put the dough on the water. You can wait for about 3 minutes from side to side of the dough. Remember that you can’t overcook the dough, you need to lower the fire. After 15 minutes of simmering the dough in the boiling water, get this and place it on the paper. You can place it and store it in the refrigerator after the dough gets dry and with the right consistency.
What Are The Other Baits You Can Use When Fishing
1. Dog food
A lot of people may don’t know about this thing. But one of the most popular anglers that they usually use and serve as another food bait is this dog food. Some anglers prefer to use a certain type of dog food as one of the ingredients of their dough balls when fishing. Another is they can also wrap this with corn starch, in a cheesecloth.
There are many recipes for a beginner angler for dog food, however, there is some scenario this dog food becomes town topic. Anglers argue if this is advisable to feed on the fish wet or dry. For beginners in fishing, you are able to attract fish like panfish, catfish, carp, and other types of fish. When you choose to put this on the dough to make bait, it is more practical and at the same time, you can save more money.
2. Raisins
You might not be aware of this, but raisins especially the one which comes from the mulberries and other grape varieties is a bait. This is one of the common food bait if you wish to catch a catfish, whether in freshwater or saltwater. The reason why catfish and other fish like raisins is their smell and the bright color which is very appealing to the fish.
This is perfect to use as your bait on the hook when you want to catch a fish at night time. The time where you can get different types of fish on both freshwater and saltwater.
3. Tiny Marshmallows
You will not expect that a marshmallow can use as your bait. Marshmallow is not only for hotdog partners or toppings on your hot chocolate. Hence, this is perfect to use if you want to catch a trout in fishing. This type of fish is attracted to the soft texture of the marshmallow and the taste at the same time.
Also, you can expect that bluegill, sunfish, and catfish are attracted to the marshmallow. So, if your planning to catch fish like this, then you must try to put this in your artificial bait or make this as one ingredient to your dough bait. Try this today for a convenient way of fishing!
4. Canned Meat/Goods
There are a lot of canned goods available in the market. But, the two are sardines and canned meat. Both of this can be an ingredient in making dough bait, for the sardines you can use the juice to mix it with the flour. On the other hand, canned meat can be put on the hook freely as the smell is a different thing for various types of fish. Such as catfish, trout, and catfish as well.
There are many anglers who use this as their ingredients on the dough balls they are making as their bait. Using this is so practical and eco-friendly as well. You can expect that you can save more money-making bait out of this two.
5. Home-made soap
For those people who do love unscented soap and just one the ordinary one, you can’t just use this for your skin, but the fish as well. Believe it or not, but a lot of professional anglers are using this as bait for the longer run.
The soap is an attraction as well to the different fish especially the catfish. You are able to get a bigger size of this when using this as your bait. If you do love to explore and invent a natural soap then this could be an opportunity for you to grab. You just need to make sure that there is no chemical added on the soap and as well as a scented thing. This serves as your bait in a more natural way. People may not be aware of this, but yes it is true!
6. Chicken Liver
This is perfect to use as food bait for the catfish and striped bass. Usually, anglers are using this kind of food bait in the freshwater, yet this is also suitable in saltwater. What must be the reason why a lot of fish get attracted to chicken liver? This is because of its smell, which is very appealing to them.
If you wish to get the bigger size of freshwater fish then you can try to put a liver on the bait of yours when fishing. You can expect that you can hook a catfish and other types of fish as well.
7. Worms
This must be very common to every angler. Worms are the most popular type of bait, every beginner or professional angler has been using over the century. Worms are natural attractions to the fish, such as catfish, bluegill, and trout as well.
You just need to pick the one which can be found on the farm as it is more appealing to the fish. So, if you are looking for the bait where you don’t need to spend more money this one suits you.
8. Hotdogs
For a lot of anglers, this one is an alternative to worms. When you are far from your home and you want to go on fishing, you go for the alternative one. and when you go on fishing you always have the food with you and this includes a hotdog in your bag. You can use this as your bait to catch fish such as bluegills and catfish.
If your question is what is the flavor enticing for the fish, you can have a chicken, pork, and beef flavor. This is very appealing for the particular fish mentioned above. Another thing you can do with hotdogs is you can make this an ingredient to your dough baits. So, if you are an individual who loves to go on fishing and love to invent to make dough balls, this one is good to start with!
9. Bacon
The role of bacon is not only limited to your favorite breakfast. We all know that this holds a great rank for the people who wants this as part of their plate. Hence, you need to know that you can use this bacon not just as human food but also for the fish in the freshwater and saltwater.
However, there are many anglers who don’t know that bacon is a good bait to start with when fishing. The fat from the bacon produces oil, this oil is very appealing to fish such as catfish and many more. Aside from this, bacon has a good smell for the fish to catch their attention and be on the hook.
10. Cheese
This one is a very common kind of bait you wish to have. You can make this as well as one of your ingredients in making a dough ball as your bait. Another thing about this is you can cut this into small pieces where you can freely put this on the thin cloth.
You can always have the best choice for this, what you need to do is to choose the cheese you want to cut and use as your bait. On the other hand, this might be not a practical way of fishing but when you are able to catch fish, you can expect that fishes are brilliant from this bait.
So, if you are looking for the perfect bait to catch a great fish, you can have this type of bait!
11. Cigarette’s Butt
This one is not that popular type of bait but for professional anglers, this one is part of their hook. According to them, you can expect that you are able to get fish, not just one but many types of fish.
People might think that it may harm the lives of the fish, thus, anglers seem to enjoy it. They are claiming that there is no harm to this, but you just need to be responsible for doing this and making this your bait. You need to make sure that it will not drop off the hook as this will just turn as an additional waste to the freshwater or even to the saltwater.
12. Corn
This one is very common for a lot of anglers. The main ingredient you can use whenever you wish to make dough balls and store them in the refrigerator or freezer. You can store this and use it even after a week. The only problem you will have with this is how to maintain its temperature. The thing is you will be needing the help of a cooler or icebox to store this whenever you wish to use this as your bait.
You can always have the option whether you would choose sweeter cornmeal or the usual one. So, it’s up to you, from your preference!
13. Peanut butter sandwich
This might not be that popular but anglers especially the professional ones can say that this one is effective in catching fish. You can use this as a very convenient type of bait. When you plan to go on camping, you also want to go on fishing. There are many places today that these both activities can do. Campsite offers a lot of amenities for fishing, it can be near on the lake or pond.
When camping you always have sandwiches with you especially if you have kids with you who are always hungry. So, to connect this to fishing this particular peanut butter sandwich can help you catching codfish, catfish, trout, and many more types of fish.
14. Doughnuts
There are no formal studies about this thing, but there are some anglers who are claiming that doughnuts are an effective bait for some experiments done by them. Some anglers are saying that fish are attracted to the sweet taste of the doughnuts and as well as to their color.
So, if you wanna know if it’s effective then you must try this in your next fishing adventure!
15. Gummy Bears/ Candy
There are a lot of anglers who try this one. Gummy bears and cady is attractive to the fish especially the colorful one. This is one of their weaknesses, so you need to take advantage of this as part of your fishing techniques.
Fish are into sweets, so you need to consider this as one of the most effective bait to put in your hook in fishing. Hence, if you wanna try this and you want to ensure that this is effective try this on your adventure!
Why You Should Use A Bait In Fishing (Pros and Cons)
Pros:
1. Bait is much effective
One of the reasons why a lot of people engage themselves in fishing and using bait is its very effective in attracting fish. Some people prefer to live bait and some are just settling for an artificial one. This will always depend on your convenience, you don’t need to think that much about which one you prefer. Sometimes, a bait depends on the location and the fish you plan to catch on either saltwater or freshwater. A bait will help you to hook a fish more deeply and secure it when pulling the fishing line and the rod.
2. Bait is cheaper than lures.
Lures can be that expensive when you buy but this one has the same effect on the bait. The only difference of this is that bait can be alive prey and lures are artificial ones. Whenever you wish to go on fishing, bait is way too cheaper than the usual lure. You can just have a worm as your bait and then your good at catching fish. While on the other hand, if you want to use a lure you need to buy the good one which is equivalent to a good price as well.
Thus, if you want to be more practical then a bait is a good option. Yet, for the people who are looking for an artificial one but for the long term as well, the lure is a good choice.
3. Bait can attract various fish
This is another good reason for you to look for the right bait for your location. You need to first look for the location and know what are the possible types of fish you can get here. Bait can usually attract different types of fish underwater. Another is this can attract the fish far away and widely. Bait will help you a lot in many ways. So, you can just drop your fishing rod and reel then you just need to wait if the rod is heavy.
Knowing the fact that a heavy rod means you just catch your first fish! So, it is important to look for the perfect bait whenever you want to catch a lot of fish.
4. Using bait is more practical and eco-friendly as well.
This one is the great thing about using bait. Knowing the fact that bait can be a candy, worm, bacon, and a lot more. This will not harm nature, and if the bait did not eat by the fish then this will drop into the water and turn it again to nature. Another is when you choose the dough balls as your bait with a variant of flavors, you can expect that you can use this again by storing it in the freezer. You can choose this to preserve anytime you want and you can get this on the freezer whenever you need it already!
6. A good assumption of what are the weaknesses of fish.
Many anglers are committing to their own experiments in terms of catching fish. This will help you in researching things like this. Thinking of a new bait can turn into possibilities. So, exploring the changes can help you to get the best one for a particular type of fish.
If you are an individual who likes to compare things and learn more about baits, you can always experiment and know fish weaknesses to catch them.
Cons:
1. This might be smellier
This is the common disadvantage in using bait than lure in your fishing adventure. For instance, you created a dough for your next adventure. The dough contains dog food, worm, or even chicken liver. You will notice that there is an unusual smell. Making a doing and other kinds of bait might be a mess and at the same time might be a challenging part of fishing. Ensuring that this won’t turn into trouble you need to be much organized in handling things.
However, fish can be attracted to the strong smell.
2. Fishing with live baits or other kinds of baits can be the reason for overharvesting.
This is one of the disadvantages of using bait. A dough ball bait is very effective to use when catching a fish, however, the problem is it could turn to over-harvesting very convenient type. Using baits, you are able to attract even the smaller fish and get hooked on them. This is not a good thing, they will lose the chance to live and grow.
Another is when the bait is way too good, this can attract not just one fish but a lot of fish. And this could be the reason for overharvesting!
3. Bait demands more time in making
When you want to go on fishing especially with your family then you need to not just stick on one type of bait. You need to ensure that you plan and implement it well. The thing is you need to plan the what are the baits you will be using to catch fish. This is also a red flag for some anglers in using a bait, this always needs your time to prepare.
You need to think what are the new bait to try on and how effective is this. Another is you need to ensure that you all have the ingredients before doing this. If you choose a dough bait ball, you need to think of great ingredients to start with.
4. Storage consideration.
Having bait with you in a far place to go on fishing is an extra challenge. You need to think that it will not meltdown before you reach your location. This is also, the reason why a lot of people choose lures over bait, because of storage problems.
Even if you put this in a cooler the temperature from the freezer is never half of this. You need to think deeply what are the alternatives for this, and might cause you trouble on the location if you choose bait when you wish to go on fishing with a circle of friends.
5. Bait is heavier than lures.
There are a lot of lures you can use today which are very lightweight. You can also use this for a longer run in fishing. Bait is much heavier than lure, as it is because there is the variety of lure that every angler are welcome to try and explore. Usually, anglers make their own dough in catching fish, through this they can ensure the quality. However, if you choose a location that is too far away from home and you have a lot of luggage to carry bait is something to carry as well, this may cause a hassle.
Another is during the fishing session, if you choose the kind of bait which is heavier then you might misinterpret it and think that you already catch a fish. You will just pull the rod every time you feel it becomes heavier.
What’s the best season for you to use bait in fishing?
a. When you are just a beginner in fishing.
If you are just a beginner in fishing and you want to have an achievement over it, you need to prepare a high-quality type of baits. You need to ensure that you are able to use the best bait for a certain type of fish. This is very advisable for the people who are not a professional in fishing. The baits can make everything more convenient. You don’t need to worry that much if you are just a beginner what you need to look is research each effectivity of the baits.
b. During the night
A lot of antlers choose to use bait during the nighttime because there are many nocturnal underwater species. Fishies at night time is more active in baits taste and smell. This must be one of the reasons as well why people choose nighttime in dropping their fishing rod and drill.
You can use baits like worms, candy, dough balls, and many more in catching fish such as trout, red snapper, catfish, largemouth bass, bluegill, and white snapper
c. When it is cold outside
Knowing the fact that using bait is a great advantage in fishing as this can make it convenient and possible. Safer instance, you wish to go on fishing during the winter days yet you hate being exposed to the cold weather. Thus, you can always go on fishing on winter days as bait will help you. The main responsible of bait is to enable to catch fish in a faster and easier way. So if you want to make your fishing experience an extraordinary one even if it’s winter try to find the suitable bait for salt water or fresh water location.
d. When the water is not clear or muddy
One of the reasons why most of the people who engage themselves in fishing wanted to learn various types of bait is to use when their location is having unclear water. Muddy water is a problem for anglers as they will not be able to recognize if they already catch a fish. However, if they choose the right yet effective type of baits they will be able to make things more possible and at the same time more convenient. Also, when the water is not clear there will be a chance to misinterpret underwater species if you choose to use a net for fishing.
e.If you are going to catch a not so aggressive and big fish
If you are planning to go fishing in the deep part of the ocean then you will need help from the lures. This tool enables you to catch a more aggressive underwater predator like fish. On the other hand, a bait can help you to catch a not-so-aggressive fish and other underwater species. The thing is you can also catch a bigger fish but this always depends on the quality of your fishing rod. Another factor to consider is your fishing line, you need to make sure that is strong enough to support a heavyweight fish.
Final Thoughts
For successful fishing, both beginners and professionals on the field are always looking forward to the best tools and techniques they can learn and adapt. Fishing is not only a recreational activity but a good way of spending time with nature and also to have a chance in exploring different types of fish. aside from the fishing rod and reel, fishing line, hook it is also important to look for the right bait for your chosen location. A bait will help you to catch a fish in the most convenient way. However, there are pros and cons to using bait in fishing. What you can do is to balance everything that you think will help you in your next fishing adventure either with your family or circles of friends.
The bait is one of the most effective ways, however, this might have a bad effect on the small fish as it may decrease their chance to leave.
So if your planning to go on fishing you better decide on your own recipe for making a dough bait! Also, you can choose to have an artificial one, which is more efficient on your next adventure?
