I'm about to start fishing a new lake and am wondering how much bait is a 'normal' amount to put out for a day session.
(5 acres, very weedy + lily pads, carp 20-30lbs + some tench/roach).

Saturday will be a reasonably long one (05:00-20:00) but I quite often do 07:00-18:00 as well.
I'm trying to gain confidence in my bait and looking for a good starting point that I can tweak as needed.

For Saturday I'm planning on taking 500G Cell 15mm (+ Cell Pop-Ups) all in Cell glug and nothing else. Is 500g enough to have any hope of catching?
I know I could probably catch with just a hook bait and a PVA bag but that approach hasn't gone amazingly well for me so far hence the change in tactic.


Also, would it be normal to put all the bait out at the beginning of the session and don't touch the rods all day or should I be chucking it out throughout the day and regularly recasting?

In reply to Post #1
Just fish for a bite at a time on days. If you put too bait in at the start you could just write off your whole day's fishing.

Once it's in you can't take it out!

Another option if your local try and get down night before... Bait a couple of spots with a couple of handfuls ready for when you get there in the morning. That way You won't have to make too much of a disturbance during bite time in the morning

In reply to Post #1
Being in the right place is far more important than quantity.
I've had my best session on one particular lake just using a few pellets at a time around my hook bait.
I normally use some freebies supplemented with something else, both fed in slowly.
Probably around 1/2 to 1 kilo in the summer, but it depends on activity.

In reply to Post #1
Little and often mate.If you seesign of fish move onto or fish to them. What are everyone else on the lke doing, fish the opposite to them

Same as guys have said below, mix it up as well across your rods. Maybe have a single bait rod, PVA bag rod and one with a stringer. I would watch the lake all the time and be ready to move if necessary and possible, at any signs of fish, I would also drip in a bit of bait like a match fisherman if you do take a static approach different hookbaits, sizes and colours etc. Maximise your chances and work for it, any bites will then be well earnt through your effort whereas others might sit behind rods alternatively.

Good luck 👍

In reply to Post #5
All very helpful so far. Interesting that everyone is saying little and often.
I've been watching a lot of Korda videos recently and they keep talking as if putting the bait in scares them off and they always seem to put it all in at the beginning.
But I too noted that this seems to contradict the match angling style. They also contradict themselves sometimes reffering to 'ringing the dinner bell'.

I'm still interested on how much bait people get through on average in a day session.
For some context, last year I didn't even get through a single 1kg bag (and wasn't particularly successful!). 'Little and often' can mean different things to different people. If I know what a 'normal' amount of bait is to get through in a day, I can still feed little and often, but have a rough idea on how much I should expect to get through doing that.

Location is of upmost importance, even on a 5 acre lake.

With regards to bait, my experience (there will definitely be more experienced anglers on here than me), is to see how the day plays out. Some lakes on certain days require the little and often approach, other days it goes in by the kilo. If they are having it then give it to them, although I find this way to likely happen more over a sustained period not a day session. But it has been done in a day.

Weed doesn't just represent a rig presentation problem to anglers, it's also is a safe haven and a big food source for carp. I love fishing in weed, the canadian, anyway. On one water I usually out catch everyone else in 3-4 hours fishing, who are trying to find clear spots for a whole day. Don't be scared of it. Just fish sensibly. I tend to try and drop the lead among this weed.

In reply to Post #6
All depends on the angling situation mate. There is no one single answer, no such thing as "normal".
If it's a heavily stocked water you can get away with almost anything (the dinner bell theory). If condition are good for feeding get some bait out there but don't go mental. Start with a kilo (I literally grabbed that figure out of thin air). If conditions are rubbish go with singles and zigs, or maybe just pepper a few baits out with the stick/catty, until activity suggests you should be doing something different.
On a lower stocked water you don't want to be making any disturbance during the day imo. Try baiting the day before or pre-baiting long term if you can get away with it.
If you're catching fish then put more in, if you're not then worry about location/presentation instead of bait imo. The carp will tell you what you need to do if you look hard enough.

Edit: To give you an example of how hard it is to answer your question, last year I used 160kg in 12 weeks, fishing just one day session a week. None of that went in on the days I was actually fishing. So in theory that works out about 2 kg a day, every day, or you could say I was using ~13kg per session fished, but in practise I was actually fishing singles lol.

More helpful advice below. I would call about 6-8 boilies every hour or less little and often, depends as mentioned on the lake stock and on the day findings though. I would crush or chop some baits to maximise food signals, and if nothing happened relocate at the cost signs of any fish elsewhere.
If you can take the time to watch the water for an hour before you set up then all the better, especially if you are there from 5am when fish might be showing themselves ready for a feed. Keep an eye on any changes in weather and winds etc, they may move with the sun on the water and wind throughout the day.

If you can prebait consistently this is the single biggest advantage imo.

In reply to Post #7
Well this is a very refreshing answer in regards to the weed!

Have been a little concerned about it tbh. I'm sure there are clear spots but from my walk-arounds, it would appear that pretty much the whole lake is covered in it; and if not that, lily pads.

I don't have much experience finding spots; I'm yet to even work out 'feeling the lead down'. I'm going in with 2 naked chod rigs so I can have confidence that the bait will be presented even if I do make awful casting decisions...

In reply to Post #8
All makes sense.
In regards to pre-baiting, I guess you're baiting various spots around the lake?
I'd be gutted to be pre-baiting a swim all week and then get there on the day and someone else is in the swim!

Also are you taking into account current fish activity when pre-baiting or are you putting bait in a certain place where you want the fish to go (regardless of whether they already go there now or not)?

It sounds as though you're going to be fishing the same venue regularly? If so it sounds as though you have a very similar fishing situation to me.

If so what's worked well for me is to change my mentality completely, I probably put 90% of my bait in as I'm leaving. Simple logic is that I'll be back in at most a week, so fish will have fed over my bait fairly recently. Do that long term and you build confidence etc. With regards to 'spots' for me what's worked well, especially on a lake of that size, is to have about 8 - 10 spots that cover the entire lake that you're putting bait on regularly. Then when (as others have said) you're being mobile and moving on to the fish, you should have a spot in the area that you can put at least one rod on.

Other than that for me it's about minimal disturbance. Most often when I first arrive in the morning I'll fish singles or a PVA bag and not disturb the lake until 'bite time' has passed. I may be tempted to put a little in with a throwing stick around lunch time with the hope to get them feeding early evening before I leave.

In reply to Post #10
I'm yet to even work out 'feeling the lead down'. I'm going in with 2 naked chod rigs so I can have confidence that the bait will be presented even if I do make awful casting decisions.

This needs to be addressed before any issues with bait imo mate. A chod will not present anywhere. It will present over most bottoms, but not anywhere. The amount of bait you use means nothing if you're not presented so that is where you should focus your efforts imo.

A single hook bait presented well is a million times more effective than a well baited rig that's hung up in weed.

In reply to Post #13
Yep, definitely. That's why I've decided to just take a single bait for the moment.
Last year I was spending a lot of time changing baits when things weren't working where in reality, I probably need to focus more on presentation etc.

In reply to Post #14

In reply to Post #14
There's loads of good advice in the posts below and i'll just one other thing as i don't think anyone has mentioned it.

It sounds like you're new to carp fishing - so try and talk to some of the other anglers if there are any about. At worst they tell you nothing that hasn't been mentioned here....at best someone takes the time to help you out with feeling the lead down, finding spots, what bait work, what areas the fish get caught from etc, etc.

As several have mentioned - theory is one thing, being there and seeing the lake and situation is sometimes quite different.

Hope you catch and start to build some confidence.
Matt

I can use any amount from a single kilo of bait to 5 or more.

That 5kg may be 4kg of Vitalin, pellets or particles or a mix of them, and a kilo of boilies, and possibly a bag of dog biscuits.

This is dependant on how many rods you can use as well, as I would fish slightly differently between two or three rods.



The first thing I do is have a good look around, looking for fish before even getting the gear out of the car.

Three rods:
If they are showing obviously, then I set up on them, and fish just a stringer or bag. If they are not showing then I pick an area. One rod will still go out with just a stringer or bag, and another with a hi-attract hi-viz pop-up.
The third rod would have me baiting up with a fair bit of the groundbait, away from the others, and then fishing on top of that.

If it is a two rod water the heavy baiting rod will not be used, and I play it by ear on the other rods. If nothing after an hour or two I will pile it in to see if that brings any action.

No matter what, during the day I would be firing in some dog biscuits to see if I can get them onto the surface. If they do then a quiet rod (or both) is reeled in, and I go surface fishing.

In reply to Post #16
Yep, fished since I was a kid but new to carp fishing. Stopped fishing for a few years but wan't to get back into it and spend some more time outside.

I actually can't believe how many questions I've had. I work in IT where everything is matter of fact (e.g. if you do this, this will happen) so my OCD brain is blowing up with all these ifs/buts/maybes.

Did a lot of course fishing last year as well but definitely going to focus on carp a lot more this year. Learned a lot already so even though I might not have caught an awful lot I'm still feeling confident that I'll get there eventually.

In reply to Post #18
cross reading this along with the post lockdown thread, it would seem that chucking in a load of bait right now is a waste of time and money. Loads of anglers on the banks chucking loads of bait in. not point adding to that really

I'd be looking at the water for any signs of activity, maybe trying to get into areas that look less fished but possibly on 'patrol' routes. a few freebies around your hookbait in a good margin spot could be just as effective as a kilo of bait in the same kind of areas as everyone else...

There's been some really good advice on this thread.
The only thing i can add is that a good analogy to use with carp fishing is to think of the whole picture as a combination lock.
Each thing you get right brings you one step closer to unlocking the combination.
So: location, bait, bait application, presentation, rig, rig mechanics, time of year, time of day/night etc. all play a part, and the challenge is getting all those factors (and perhaps some others too) correct to unlock what works.

If you need to find the answers to the above you have to find out what works on the particular venue you are fishing, by either trying different approaches yourself and/or asking other successful anglers on there.

Putting bait out on fish can be the kiss of death on some venues, but it can also be like ringing a dinner bell on other venues.
I would always advise caution with the amount of bait you use on a new venue in the beginning, when you are fishing you are trying to catch them, not feed them up.
If you want to feed them and get them used to your bait it's best to do that when you are not fishing so they gain confidence in getting a free meal without a trip to the bank.

Least is best.

Put it in as you leave and pre-bait if you can allowing you to fish lightly baited on the day.

I only do short sessions and mainly use particles. I pretty much exclusively fish the margins, the key for me is to bait as many likely looking spots as possible, i would usually use a palm full of bait in each with a couple of visible baits over the top. Im not trying to hold feeding fish in one spot as a lot of bait isnt conducive to quick bites. I then just keep checking the spots until i see signs of fish, or can see the visible baits have gone. For me its best to only use small quantities.

In reply to Post #18
hahaha OCD. I too work in that god foresaken industry.

I pacify my OCD being precise with my casting. I've changed my approach a bit this year and going back to my course style of fishing little and often approach with bait.

Was out last weekend and some guys were spodding the wassits out of the lake just because the bailiff said they love a bit of grub. Thanks for letting the fish in my swim


I use pva bags mate just to keep things simple purely down to not getting much bank time and need to get a bit of bait in from the off.

Good luck fella

ATB