Thread: Corn for Bait

It's very underrated as a bait. I use it mostly for carp, but I got a ton of trout on it this summer. Bluegill and catfish love it, too.

It's the perfect size for gills. I usually put one or two kernels on a #12 or #14 fly hook. A small jig hook would work well, too.

I fish it under a float about 90% of the time. For carp, cats and trout, I fish it right on the bottom. For gills, I usually fish 6" to a foot off bottom. Occasionally, I will forego the float and just fish it with a weight on the bottom.

If someone (me) was going to fish off the bank somewhere for bream and didn't know how deep it was how would you start off fishing it? On the bottom with a leader? Or start off under a float and throw it out to a fishy looking spot and if no bites in 10 or so mins raise the float a foot or so?

Originally Posted by smoothlures

If someone (me) was going to fish off the bank somewhere for bream and didn't know how deep it was how would you start off fishing it? On the bottom with a leader? Or start off under a float and throw it out to a fishy looking spot and if no bites in 10 or so mins raise the float a foot or so?

I fish like this all the time. The first thing you have to do is plumb the depth. To do this, guess the depth of the water to start and adjust the depth of the float accordingly. For example, I pick a spot on the bank and (based on the slope of the bank), I guess the depth to be 5'. I then set my float (always a waggler) 5' from my hook. I add enough weight around the base of the float so that 1/2 to 1" of the float is sticking out of the water. I then clip another split shot onto my hook and cast the rig out. If the float disappears, I've got it set too shallow. If the shot on the hook does not register at all, I know it's set too deep. I then adjust the depth of the float in 6" or 1' increments till I find the EXACT depth. After I've found the exact depth, I cast around and look for any drop off's. I recently picked up one of the portable Hummingbird sonar units which are great to use on new waters. This helps a lot, but you still need to use the float method to fine tune the depth.

After I've determined the depth and found any drop-off's, I chum to draw in the fish. Maggots are unbeatable for gills, but corn will work, too. The key phrase to remember when chumming is "little and often". Chumming is an art, not a science, and most people screw it up by throwing in too much bait. In warm weather, I'd probably chum 5-6 grains of corn every 5-10 minutes -- less in colder weather. Based on how the fish respond, chum more or less.

Hope that helps.

Great info, thanks a lot.

Carp seem to like it alot--never caught no perch with it,caught some catfish,but i think its mostly just premium sucker fish bait.

I dont want to hijack this guys post, but do people actually eat carp?

No one that I know of eats them. They're just fun and pretty easy to catch on light tackle cause of their average size.

They have them in some of the lakes and rivers around Washington. I've seen Asians keeping them, but most everyone else just throws them away or buries them for fertilizer. They are considered a trash fish and they're one of the few fish that it's legal to fish for in WA without a fishing license. It's legal to take them in any way that doesn't involve firearms, explosives, poison, or electricity, so people can spear, net, or bowfish for them. It used to be illegal to return a carp to the water, though I'm not sure if that's still the case.