Some of the most popular carp baits include ingredients like corn, jello powder, bread, chocolate, eggs, flour… But none of these are found naturally in the water. So why do we use them, and what do carp actually eat in the wild? I usually like by baits to match closely with what the species eats naturally. I wondered if this information would help me to catch more carp. Here is what I found!
Here’s What Carp Eat
Vegetation
Vegetation such as algae, aquatic grass and plants. You can often find carp swimming through or right along the edge of vegetation.
Insects
Insects and terrestrials like grasshoppers ants and spiders can end up in the water where they become a treat for carp and other fish. There are many flying insects like mayflies that hatch from the water and also make a good snack.
Worms
Worms like earthworms can be washed into lakes and rivers with the rain. During heavy rain, earthworms will come out of the soil and get washed away. But there are also aquatic worms like bloodworms and other fly larva that live on the bottom of lakes ponds and rivers. Carp will sift through silty bottoms in order to filter out these small worms.
Crawdads
Crawdads are a favorite of carp. They get a lot more protein and energy from eating a crawdad than they do from a tiny bloodworm.
Mussels and Clams
Mussels and Clams are another carp favorite. If you see a lot of shells along the banks then it’s a good sign that carp are eating them. Many people don’t realize that carp actually do have teeth. These shell crushing molars are found deep in the carps throat.
Freshwater Shrimp
Freshwater shrimp can be found climbing on vegetation. They are much smaller than crawdads, but still provide a good source of protein.
Berries and Fruits
Berries and fruits are often found along lakes and ponds. They can fall naturally into the water as they ripen, or they can be dropped by birds. These are full of sugar, and carp love to eat them! These trees and bushes also act like an automatic chummer. During the right season, carp will gather around these trees waiting for more food to drop in.
Leeches
Leeches are found in most bodies of water. And just like worms, they are a good source of protein. Fly fishing anglers will often use flies mimicking leeches to target carp.
Aquatic Beetles and Other Bugs
We often don’t realize how much life there is in the underwater world. If you turn over rocks, or look closely at vegetation or a handful of silt, then you’ll see all sorts of worms and bugs. Carp will eat any of these. In fact their mouths are perfectly designed to filter food out of the silt with out having to eat a mouthful of mud.
Why Do Carp Baits Work So Well?
Interestingly, very few of the food items listed above are used in the most popular and productive carp baits.
So why do these baits work so well?
It’s because carp aren’t necessarily looking for a specific food. Rather, they are looking for protein and energy. So the best carp baits focus on sugar and high protein.
Corn fits very well to what carp look for in food. It has protein, sugar, and is easy to find.
Bread works well because it has protein and sugar. And also because people often throw bread in the water to feed ducks.
A pack bait made of grits and Karo syrup is another high protein high sugar attractant.
In the UK it’s also popular to use Spam as a carp bait because it is high in protein.
I’m not going to go through every carp bait, but you get the idea. Carp like to eat foods that are high in sugar and or protein.
If you are interested in learning more about carp baits as well as some recipes, check out this page on carp bait!
Why Do Carp Eat So Many Different Things?
Carp are mostly opportunistic eaters. They need a lot of food to maintain their big body size and so they are constantly grazing, eating whatever is eatable.
As I mentioned above they are looking for energy. They are hardy fish and are able to survive in all sorts of conditions. In Japan I’ve seen carp living in roadside ditches and rice paddy canals.
How Will Carp Find My Bait?
This is actually pretty interesting!
Have you ever wondered why carp have those Fu Manchu like whiskers around their mouth? This sounds kind of weird, but they are actually like tongues on the outside.
Carp whiskers are covered in sensors that allow them to taste things before they put them in their mouth. This means your bait better be tasty if you want a chance of hooking one.
They also have these sensors on their fins. Imagine being able to taste with your hands… Not something I’d want. But these help carp to find food like worms and other bugs living on the bottom.
So nature has made carp mostly bottom feeders. Almost all carp baits are designed to be fished on the bottom.
Why Pack Baits Catch More Carp
My favorite way to catch carp is with a pack bait. Pack bait is not only packed with sugar, but is designed in a way that works well with the way carp taste and eat.
Pack baits are designed to break up in a pile on the lake bottom, with your hook bait right in the middle. When a carp comes along, they see and smell the pile of pack bait first. Then they go to investigate.
They are able to exercise caution by carefully tasting with their barbels (whiskers), and eventually start taking some of the particles into their mouths.
Once they become comfortable with the pack bait, then they’ll start eating bigger pieces like corn (if you are using corn as your hook bait, then you should also have corn mixed into your pack bait). Eventually the carp will pick up your hook bait, and you catch him!
Where Do Carp Look For Food?
Carp look for food near vegetation, stream inlets, and silty bottoms. Most aquatic life is found in water that is less than 20 feet deep.
As long as the shallow water isn’t too cold, the carp can be found there looking for food. This makes carp fishing a great opportunity for bank anglers to get into some big fish!
What Do Carp Eat In The Different Seasons?
Summer
Summer is when carp eat the most. This is the time of year that the water has the most amount of food for carp to eat.
Carp also prefer warmer weather and are more active when temperatures are warm. This is their chance to stuff them selves and prepare for the winter ahead.
Fall
When things start to cool down, so does the carps activity. Many of the bugs will go into hiding while they wait for warmer weather in order to pupate.
Plants will start dyeing as they receive less sun light. But not everything is gone yet. Crawdads will still be active at the beginning of fall as well as leeches.
This is a time when fish are looking to put on as much weight as they can for the winter.
Winter
When winter hits, the food supply drops greatly. Crawdads go into hibernation, vegetation and algae dies, insects and terrestrials hide out.
Carp become cold and less active. They will still cruise around and eat what they find, Some bug larva and insects like hellgrammites can still be found.
When fishing during the winter, most anglers will try to avoid over chumming as the carp have less of an apatite. Hook baits will also be downsized.
Since carp will be moving around less, you may want to use a bait that doesn’t break down as fast. Pack baits made of rice or oats can usually last a while. Boilies can be used as hook baits and can last days.
You may not have as much action in the winter, but you can definitely still catch them.
Try to find the warmest part of the lake. Sometimes this will be the north bank, or near an inlet of warmer water.
Spring
Spring is when everything starts coming back to life. Carp can again be found in the shallows looking for insects and crawdads.
Vegetation and algae will also become abundant.
The difficulty with spring is the spawn. Carp will spawn in the spring and that is the most difficult time to catch them. They aren’t interested in food at this time.
Not every carp in the lake will spawn at the same. Some will start and finish earlier than others. So you can still give it a shot. Just don’t expect as much action as you would in the summer.
If you’d like to learn more check out this page on carp fishing!
