In this modern day of hi-tech baits many anglers have long forgotten about the effectiveness of bread, in its many guises, bread as a bait has accounted for more than its fair share of specimen roach, chub, tench, bream, carp and pretty much every other species of coarse fish you care to mention.

If your new to fishing and want to try bread or have been fishing for more years than you care to mention but have for what even reason not fished with bread as a bait for a long time, read on for tips on how to fish with bread as a bait, an extremely cheap but highly affective bait on the hook or as feed.

Bread punch

What is bread punch? Well, quite simply it is a compressed pellet of bread which is “punched” out from a slice of fresh bread using a tool called a bread punch. Your local tackle shop should have a selection of bread puches available but my tip would be to steer clear of the plastic punches and opt for a punch with a brass head which in my opinion are much sharper than the plastic versions. These will come in a number of different sizes so that you can match the size of the bread punch to the size of hook you will be using. Read my review of the Drennan Brass Head Bread punches which are in my opinion the best bread punches on the market.

To use, make sure you select a fresh slice of bread, the fresher the better, lay the slice on a hard even surface and push the bread punch down with a twisting movement in to the bread, then to transfer the pellet from the punch to the hook simply push the point of the hook in to the slot on the bread punch head and gently pull the hook down and away. The bread punch is now ready to be used. Don’t forget that when bread comes in to contact with water it will swell up, so expect the bread punch to swell to a size at least twice as big as the original pellet, this is why making sure the size of hook matches the size of the pellet as you dont want the pellet to swell up and mask the hook point, ultimately losing you fish. I use bread punch mainly on size 18 to 22 hooks.

If you suffer from the punch coming off the hook, especially on the cast, try microwaving a few slice of bread for a few seconds, roll over them with a rolling pin and then wrap them individually in cling film to ensure that they stay fresh. This way you will find that the pellet that the punch produces will be compacted tighter and less likely to fly of the hook on the cast.

Bread flake

To fish bread flake I once again favour using sliced bread (make sure it is fresh), tear a piece of bread from the middle of the slice lay the hook on top of the piece of bread and gently fold over and squeeze the bread on to the hook shank, this gives a large “flake” below the shank that leaves the hook point exposed. Do not be tempted to squeeze the bread on too hard as once the bread swells up in the water it will mask the hook point and you will most likely end up bumping off fish on the strike. Match hook sizes to the size of flake you are going to be using, for carp, chub etc I often use a size 8 or 10 but for roach I’ll probably be using a 12, any smaller and it get more difficult to fish bread flake without it swelling up and masking the hook.

Bread crust

Here’s one for those of you looking to catch specimen sized fish, especially carp and chub. Bread crust is most often fished on the surface and due to the fact that bread crust is naturally very bouyant it lends itself to this style of fishing very well. I deffinately prefer unsliced loafs for this as you can tear off a piece of bread to what ever size you require. Once you have torn off the size of crust that you want, gently push the bend of the hook up through the crust, making sure you don’t split it, otherwise it is likely to come off on the cast and then once the hook point is through rotate the hook through 90 degrees and push it gently back down in to the crust. Once the crust has been out in the water for short time it will quickly take on water and the hook will pull through the crust on the strike. Crust doesn’t just have to fished on the surface, it can be fished on a leger rig, with the length of the hook length dicatating at what depth the crust is being fished at (as the crust is natuarly buoyant it will float towards the surface and be tethered down by the weight of the leger and the hook length.

Bread paste

Bread paste involves a little more work, take a few slices of bread which are a few days old, put them in a bucket with a few inches of water and leave them to soak for a while. Then squeeze out the excess water and start kneeding and squeezing the slices together, adding a little water if required until they become one big lump. Place the lump in a freezer bag to stop it drying out and then simply tear of a piece of paste from the lump and mold it around the hook. You can experiment with adding flavourings to the water or even grated cheese when you are making up the paste which often helps bind it together easier.

Liquidised bread

Liquidised bread is what is refered to once slices of bread have been put through a blender. It’s easy enough to prepare, take a handful of slices of bread and put them through the blender, I use fresh bread because it maintains some of its moisture once blended and can be squeezed together in to a ball for feeding without needing to add water. Put the bread slices through the blender for a short time and the mix will be coarse, put them through for a longer period and the mix will become much more fine. Put the bread in to a plastic bag to transport to the venue to ensure that it doesn’t dry out before you get there.