Most Successful baits, and what caught on that particualr bait

So what are your baiting successess?

I suppose the main one for me, would be PVA bags, they work the majority of the time for when Lake fishing. I try anything in the PVA bags, Halibut Pellets are usually quite successful, dipped in many different flavour dips, to create usually a horrible smell, but the fish seem to like it lol.

so what are yours?

Carp: Sweetcorn is often a winner
Roach, rudd etc: Maggots
Perch, bream: Worms

You can get big pike with worms as well fists.

It's not a bait, but this is why when I fish for salmon the fly I use more than any other is a Munroe's killer.

I fished a pool down 6 times one morning. The first 4 times as I dropped my fly just behind an overhanging tree on the other side a fish took - I landed all 4. On the 5th time down I tried a Stoat's tail fly - nothing. The 6th time back on my faithful munroe and bang another take but I lost the fish which snagged itself on the roots of the tree. A friend came up and I told him to concentrate on the same spot - he had another fly on and there was nothing. He changed to a munroe and bang - the 6th fish of the morning was hooked on a Munroe and the 5th landed.

It's not difficult to imagine why a particular spot was attractive for fish to stop in at that particular depth of water and so-on - what I never understand is why a salmon, who doesn't eat in the river anyway, can be so particular about being presented with this fly instead of this fly.

Anyway, I always feel good with a Munroe on now.

Jesus, where were you fishing that had that many salmon biting?

River Spey in the 1990's during the summer grilse run - I had 12 fish in 4 days of fishing that year, but I've never been close before or since.

That's the thing with salmon fishing, it's so damn unpredictable. When they're there and they're on the take the biggest fool in the world can't help haul them out so long as he/she can get a fly over them. Like all sorts of fishing though, the better fisherman ends up top rod in the long haul.

sounds awesome barry

That it was - it made up for the fact that I have had lean patches of salmon fishing when I got nary a touch for the first 10 days I spent trying to catch one and another stretch of about 9 days with nothing doing during early 2000's - capricious beasties them salmon.