Pack Bait and Ground Bait

Common carp swimming away after landing and safe return to the water

Before I started carp fishing I had no idea what the term ground bait or pack bait meant and why it’s important.

Ground bait can be made from various types of organic materials including bird seed, bread, Panko, oatmeal, corn, corn meal, cream corn, grits, hemp seed, molasses, Jell-O, and vanilla (and on and on). There are also many versions and varieties of pre-made commercial ground bait mixes that can be purchased and mixed with water for convenience.

A common mixture (and one I use) includes oatmeal, cream corn, and some type of flavoring (some use vanilla). For flavoring I’ve used R & W Carp Juice available online and in stores and Booster from World Classic Baits, which I purchase online.

Instead of oatmeal, bread crumbs are also popular choices. I switched to bread crumbs last year.

I add a cap full of flavoring/scent mix into a can of cream corn and stir it up well. Then I add two cups of dry oatmeal or bread crumbs to a large plastic container and add the can of cream corn.

I mix the oatmeal and corn very well and then add more oatmeal to dry it out a little. 

This took some trial and error to learn correctly. If it’s too wet, it won’t cast well; and if it’s too dry, it won’t pack correctly and stay on your method lead, method spring, or other type of cage you may be using to deliver the bait to your favorite carp fishing spot. 

Not knowing how to fish with ground bait, I went online and watched videos that discussed it, demonstrated it, and theorized about doing it correctly. I asked questions on fishing forums, read online magazines and talked to so guys I know who have been avid carp fishermen for several years. 

The main strategy goes like this…you attract carp into the area with the scent and flavoring and that gives you a chance to entice the carp to consume the bait and get hooked by consuming the hookbait.

I have learned that this style of fishing takes patience. It can take a while for carp to arrive into the area you are fishing. I wait 60 minutes and then repeat the process again. 

Caution is warranted using this strategy because if you over feed the area, the carp may be content to eat your ground bait and avoid your bait and hook. 

Likewise when using too little ground bait it can take a long time to attract carp into the area. 

Pack bait is just ground bait molded around a lead before casting.

It does require some trial and error experimentation to develop a method that works for the particular fishing spot and personal tastes for how you want to approach the task.

I've made an improvement in my pack bait strategy over the years that I think is effective. I add boiled field corn to my mix. A couple of handfuls worth is sufficient. Maybe it's because I don't prebait in advance, but I seem to get more bites with the field corn added.