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Skill School – Hooking Baits
Get the most from your hook baits by rigging them correctly.
So, you have a great hook bait and the perfect hook to match it, you’ve baited your swim to perfection and a big bag of fish is on the cards. However, there is one more crucial element that’s stopping you from having a red-letter day and that’s hooking or rigging your bait correctly. This is one of the key basic skills that will improve your catch rate so we’ll run you through four popular baits and show you how to hook each one correctly.
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1.)Maggots The correct way to hook a maggot is through the thick end ‘between the eyes’ but be careful not to damage it or it won’t give you that enticing wriggling action. You just need to nick the hook point through and this goes for fishing with two or more maggots. There are other ways to hook them but this is by far the most popular and successful way.
2.) Worms Firstly you need to locate the worm’s saddle, which is simple. This is the darker ring slightly below its head end. This area gives your hook better purchase and allows the worm to wriggle enticingly.
If using half a worm you should hook in the tail section and let the scent ooze out of the other end. Make sure you use larger hooks when worm fishing; a size 8 is perfect for a whole lobworm.
3.) Hard Pellets Banding pellets is the easiest way to present them. All you need to do is nip a bait band onto your hook and stretch it over the pellet. Nowadays you can buy pellets, like the one pictured, that are shaped to fit bait bands, making it easier for you to keep them on your hook.
4.) Boilies The invention of the hair rig revolutionised fishing and propelled the boilie into being one of the most popular baits around. They catch all manner of fish and are best fished using a hair rig, which is a length of line that comes out from the shank of the hook, leaving the hook point fully visible for optimum hooking.
Step.1 Push a baiting needle through your boilie of choice. Match the boilie size with baiting needle size so that you don’t split the bait.
Step.2 Thread your baiting needle onto the hair of your hair rig.
Step.3 Slide the boilie along the needle and onto the hair.
Step.4 Slip a boilie stop through the loop of the hair and push the boilie tight against it.
