5 Essential Tips For Carp Fishing With Worms
Used correctly, worms are arguably one of the greatest carp baits of all-time and have become a real phenomenon in recent years. In this short article, we explore exactly how you can use worms in your angling...
A bait many anglers start their fishing life with is worms. But as we progress up that ladder towards bigger and heavier fish, it is often a bait that gets forgotten. What a mistake this is! In fact, in the last 5 years or so, anglers on the big carp scene have quietly realised just how much of a phenomenally effective bait worms are and have used them to unbelievable effect. Places have literally been taken apart on them, we mean total carnage and non-stop hauling. Sounds good, right? Here's 5 tips for using worms in your carp fishing...
WHEN IS WORM TIME?
Worms can be an effective addition to your fishing at all times of year, but they come into their own in the autumn and winter months. In the autumn in particular, carp can become very preoccupied harvesting the remaining sources of natural food (bloodworm), to the point where they almost totally ignore man-made baits. In this scenario, worms are a serious edge.
Being attractive to all species of fish, winter is also a good time to use worms specifically to target carp in mixed species lakes. This is because the movement and activity from nuisance species will likely have slowed down, so you won't be getting too many false runs and indications. In addition to this, worms are also highly visual and more importantly, easily digestible, which makes them the perfect winter feed.
WHAT TYPE OF WORM?
There are two main types of worms you're likely to use in your carp fishing; Dendrobaenas and Lobworms. 'Dendras' are those most commonly used for feed mixes and hookbaits. They are a smaller and thinner than 'lobbies', making them easy to chop up into varied sizes.
Large and juicy Lobworms make a great single hookbait, particularly if you're going stalking. The carp can't miss them and they are very resilient to the attentions of smaller species. They are also very good when flossed on above your hookbait as tasty chunks.
GET CHOPPING
One of the best methods for applying worms to your swim is to finely chop them into your bait mix. This can be done with specialised Worm Cutting Scissors like those more commonly used in match fishing. This process allows all the important and fish attracting amino acids that are inside the worms to leak out into the water quickly, pulling all fish in from far and wide.
When carrying out this cutting process, you want to do a little at a time, and time it just before you plan on putting them out. You'll soon realise how important this is, as worms turn rancid and pretty unappealing very quickly.
Try to chop the worms into different sizes and don't completely pulverise them into a mush. This will ensure your bait mix is alive and wriggling, whilst still oozing those all important attractors.
You can mix your chopped worm with anything you fancy, but a fine boilie crumb (like that created with the B8M8) or groundbait is a good option for carrying the small pieces to the bottom where you want the carp to feed. Those juicy aminos will also soak into it a treat. Other popular worm feed combinations are casters, for that extra crunch, and of course maggots, for the extra colour and movement.
BEST WORM RIG?
You can add worms as a topper to any of your favourite rigs by simply flossing them on above your hookbait with the aid of The Cool Tool. This can be done more securely with our Tweakers Eyed Bait Screw, which will ensure if the worms get taken off by nuisance species, you still have a boilie hookbait screwed on.
A simpler and sometimes more effective way to fish only worms, however, is to make use of our Wormurai Sprig Stop Kit. These special 'Stops' can be fished as a straightforward Hair/Blowback Rig. Simply, add the Sprig Stop before tying a longer hair that usual and you'll have as secure a worm rig as you can imagine.
If you are worried about the attentions of other species, you can always add our Revibed Imitation Worms. They stink, but fish love them and can't tell the difference! These 'fakes' can also be good for keeping the real thing away from nailing themselves on your hook, potentially lowering your chances of a clean pickup.
KEEP THEM CONDITIONED
We buy our worms from Willy Worms. They come in multiple types and sizes, supplied in woven bags of soil to keep them fresh and allow a good flow through of oxygen. In the winter months, these will last several weeks in these bags, particularly if you keep turning them.
If transferring them into a Splash Camo Bucket, ensure some air can get in too. To feed them, add in some scrap vegetables, leaves, moss and newspaper clippings. After this process, try to store the worms in a cool environment, and ensure nothing else like flies or maggots can get at them. They will turn very quickly if any start dying, so keep a regular eye on them.
A final note, and a bit of a strange one, is to try to keep different types of worms separated. For whatever reason, Lobworms and Dendrobaenas don't keep well together. Maybe the big boys bully the little ones. Either way, you best break them up before a fight starts!
So that's worms. A fantastic bait for carp both big and small. Keep them fresh, chop some up and give them a go!
Journalist Chris Haydon joined the OMC Family in the spring of 2024, after six years working for the UK's number 1 fishing publication, the Angling Times. He is a keen Coarse and Carp Fishing All-rounder, fishing in the South West region, including the famous Cotswold Water Park.
