Can you catch fish with bread? Absolutely you can. In fact, we anglers refer to them as bread balls.
Not only will we teach you how to fish with bread balls, but we’ll also show you another method called dough balls.
In addition, we’ll provide more information that you think you might find helpful in fishing with bread.
Contents
Bread Balls
Here’s what you do:
Step 1
Take a small piece of bread – most kinds will do fine – white is a good choice. The piece shouldn’t be more than 1″x1″.
Step 2
Form the Bread Ball – Take a hook and place the bread around the bend. Press the bread with your fingers until it becomes firm and fully attached to the hook.
That is all you need to make a bread ball.
Dough Ball
Another variation of the bread ball is a dough ball.
It is a little more complicated to make a dough ball but not by much.
Here’s How:
Step 1
In a one+ cup, container add equal parts flour and chunks of bread. White bread works well for the base.
Step 2
Add to your flour and bread mixture about 1/4 cup of water two tablespoons at a time.
Step 3
In conjunction with step 2 -mix your water, flour, and bread mixture. Continue to add water until it makes a thick paste.
Step 4
Add the dough to the hook – Take a glob of dough and form it around the hook. The dough should be firm so that it will hold onto the hook while you cast or swing your bait out.
Tip: for both bread balls and dough balls, if you find that you lose your bait quickly, you can wrap the dough mix in netting.
What Type of Fishing Is This Good For?
Top three species you can target with bread…
- Catfish
- Carp
- Suckerfish
Bluegill and crappie are two additional options
In saltwater, you can target baitfish such as bream with bread balls.
You can also target Saltwater perch and many of the species you find inshore.
Wild trout and bass may or may not eat bread balls.
Those that are stocked and fed commercial food will almost always go after a bread ball.
Their food is made from grains, and they have become used to eating it.
Anywhere where people feed bread to ducks is a good place to try a bread ball as bait.
Those fish in those ponds are used to bread and they will oftentimes strike your hook.
Which Bread Is Good for Fishing?
You can use almost any kind of bread.
Personally, white bread is easy to form into a bread ball or dough ball.
You can also add scents to the bread ball or dough ball by adding flavors to either the bread or the dough mixture before you mix it up.
Suggestions include:
- Sardine juice
- Grape Kool-Aid
- Cream corn
- Corn meal
How do you put bread on a hook?
If you are using bread to form a bread ball, cut the bread into a small 1″x1″ square.
Place the hook on top of the bread and then form the bread around your hook using a squeezing motion with your fingers.
Be careful not to hook yourself. As you squeeze the bread it will compress into a ball and become firm on the hook.
A bread ball is usually good for a cast or two before it becomes too soft to stay on the hook.
A good tip for fishing bread balls is to make them up ahead of time.
What other household food items could one use for fishing?
There are a lot of little tricks to finding bait around your house. Here’s a short list:
- Bacon – Who doesn’t love bacon – perfect for carp, catfish, trout, and bass.
- Whole Corn Kernels – You will need to tie them in netting, but they are amazing for trout, bass, bluegill, crappie, big catfish, and carp.
- Cheese – A nice sharp Cheddar is ideal for fishing baitfish, carp, catfish, and suckers. You will sometimes get trout to take cheese too.
- Hotdogs – An ideal lure for catfish and carp. Any type of fish that hunts for food with their noses will enjoy hotdogs.
- Garlic – A bit unconventional, but garlic works to catch both catfish and carp.
- Chicken – If you are fishing for craps, bait your pots with chicken bones. Chicken is also good for targeting saltwater fish, such as cod and snapper using larger chunks and smaller chunks will attract jacks and mangrove fish.
There are no real rules about what you can use as bait, except it is a good idea to check your local fishing regulations as some baits may be illegal.
Most of these bait ideas came about due to the desire to fish but they have no bait.
Maybe you’ve been on a long camping trip and realized you forgot the bait at home.
Use what you have on hand.
You can forage for bait also.
Insects and aquatic insects are good bait options.
Can You Use Bread to Catch Fish Fast?
You can. Wild fish, those in lakes and reservoirs that are not stocked are less likely to eat bread as bait.
The exceptions are carp and catfish. In a stocked pond or lake, you can catch fish quickly using bread as bait.
In saltwater, bream are addicted to bread. They will track the scent of bread and pretty much hook themselves.
Estuaries and mangrove swamps are other ideal locations to target margin-fish, those that like salt and fresh water.
Mangrove Jacks are an easy target on bread balls.
How Do You Use Bread as Hook Bait?
The art of making a good bread ball is in the strength of your fingers.
You have to mash the bread around the hook until the airy bread reverts to a compact, dough-like, sphere.
Even so, a bread ball is only going to last a short while in the water.
For that reason, you should pack a few with you or be prepared to make them up on the spot.
They are not difficult to make.
You can also use netting to hold the bread around the hook for longer.
