You will often see tubs, tubes, and jars of baits made of a variety of materials that attract different kinds of fish. Blood bait for catfish is one of the most common kinds, but you'll find other similar baits for saltwater and other freshwater fish. All such baits have some kind of fish attractant, like blood, mixed with a material that forms a paste that will hold it together and help it stay on the hook. Some even have special hooks made with plastic tubes to hold the paste on them.

Kinds of Specialty Bait

You can find tubs of dough in various consistencies with a variety of special scents mixed in. You can also make your own dough baits, and some people develop special formulas they guard like top-secret military files. One of the simplest doughs to make is the breakfast cereal Wheaties mixed with strawberry soft drink. You make a small ball of this dough and put it on a hook for carp and catfish.

Blood baits and stink baits for catfish are common, too. They come in tubes, tubs, and jars, and some have natural materials like cheese or blood in them, while others are artificially flavored with everything from garlic to anise oil. Some are so strong you won't want to open them in an enclosed area or put them on a hook without wearing a glove.

Some other baits that fit this category are not really bait at all. Canned peas and whole-kernel corn make good bait for a variety of saltwater fish as well as catfish and carp in fresh water. Bream will hit whole English peas, and trout seem to really like miniature marshmallows. You can also use commercial fish food, which works better than anything else for fish raised in hatcheries and released into the water, because they're used to it. Trout will eat anything that resembles a food pellet if raised on it, and the pellets themselves make good bait.

Cheese baits, which are dough baits with a cheese smell, attract trout when a small ball of it is put on a hook; it may look like a food pellet or a salmon egg to the trout. Other dough baits with all kinds of flavors ranging from garlic to fish attract many kinds of fish in both salt water and fresh water.

How to Fish Specialty Bait

Dough balls are usually fished on the bottom for carp. A small short-shanked hook is best, and you should hide the whole hook in the bait. Make a ball or a egg-shaped pellet and form it around the hook and shank, hiding the whole hook in the bait. Fish it without weight if possible or use a small Split Shot or Egg sinker if you need weight to get it to the bottom and hold it there. Fish it on a tight line and hold on.

Cheese baits and food pellets for trout and other fish can be cast on a light outfit with no weight and drifted with the current for best results. Make a ball on the hook and cover it as much as possible. If the current is too strong to fish without weight, add a Split Shot and fish it under a cork.

Be sure to check out the hooks made for these baits. Some have teardrop-shaped plastic holder covering a treble hook. You squeeze the bait into a slot in the holder and it slowly dissolves in the water, attracting the fish. Some hooks have a metal spring around the shank that helps hold the bait on the hook. You need some kind of special hook for the softer paste baits, especially the ones that come in tubes.