How To Make Carp Dough Bait

Making homemade carp dough bait is incredibly easy, quick, and works well to catch big carp. There are practically endless recipes to use, but most of them start with the same basic ingredients; flour, cornmeal, sweeteners, and attractants.

Basic Carp Dough Ingredients

The base of most carp dough baits includes:

• Flour: Like most dough, this is the main ingredient to create structure.
• Cornmeal: Adds some texture and flavor, as carp love corn.
• Sweeteners: Different kinds of sugar like granulated sugar, corn syrup, and molasses to sweeten the bait.
• Attractants: Vanilla extract, anise oil, garlic, and other additives.

Step-by-Step Guide to Basic Carp Dough Bait

Basic Carp Dough Bait Recipe

This will be the base for the rest of the recipes.

Ingredients:

• 1 cup flour
• 1 cup cornmeal
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1/2 cup of water as needed.

Instructions:

1. Mix the flour and cornmeal in a bowl to make a thick dough that doesn’t stick to your hands.
2. Stir in vanilla extract.
3. Slowly add water as needed.
4. Adjust with more water or flour as necessary.
5. Add 1 cup of corn syrup, molasses, or granulated sugar into 1 qt of boiling water.

Now you have your dough base, and you can create different recipes from this. All recipes are meant to be boiled, but don’t have to be. When boiling, they will start floating when they are done. They should bounce when dropped.

Now let’s go over some ways you can make your dough bait even better.

Advanced Recipes

Recipe 1: Honey and Cinnamon Bait

Ingredients:

• 1 cup basic dough.
• 1 tablespoon honey.
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon.
• 1 cup of corn syrup.

Instructions:

1. Prepare the dough base.
2. Mix in the honey and cinnamon until it’s fully mixed.
3. Boil 1 quart of water and add 1 cup of corn syrup or sugar.
4. Roll the dough into small balls
5. Drop the dough balls into the boiling water, stir occasionally so they don’t stick together.
6. When the balls begin to float, they are done. They should bounce when dropped on hard surfaces.
7. Store in Tupperware or Ziploc bags so they don’t dry out and get hard.

Recipe 2: Cheesy Garlic Bait

Ingredients:

• 1 cup basic dough.
• 2 tablespoons of garlic powder.
• 1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese or similar.

Instructions:

1. Mix the dough with garlic powder.
2. Add grated cheese and mix it thoroughly with your hands.
3. Follow the same boiling instructions from the previous recipe.

Recipe 3: Spicy Peanut Bait

Ingredients:

• 1 cup of dough.
• 2 tablespoons of peanut butter.
• 1 teaspoon of cayenne pepper.

Instructions:

1. Combine dough and peanut butter preferably by hand.
2. Stir in cayenne pepper.
3. This can be used with or without boiling. If you prefer to boil it, follow the instructions for boiling.

Recipe 4: Anise and Molasses Bait

Ingredients:

• 1 cup of dough.
• 1 tablespoon of molasses.
• 1 teaspoon of anise extract.

Instructions:

1. Blend the dough with molasses and anise extract.
2. Roll the dough into small balls and boil until they float.

Recipe 5: Strawberry Jello Bait

Ingredients:

• 1 cup basic dough.
• 1 capful of vanilla extract.
• Optional tablespoons of garlic powder.
• One strawberry Jello packet.
• 1/2 cup of corn syrup.

Instructions:

1. Add the entire Jello packet and 1/2 cup of corn syrup to the boiling water.
2. Stir thoroughly.
3. Add the dough balls and remove them when they start to float.

Using Your Carp Dough Bait

I like to use a small circle hook with a small sliding sinker, using 15 pound mono line. I will simply cast my bait out, let it sink to the bottom and then wait. It’s that simple.

As I mentioned, you don’t have to boil every recipe, but I like to because it makes the dough stay on a lot better. I would definitely suggest boiling the Jello bait so it gets soaked into the dough balls more.