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Have you ever heard of using chili powder or oil as part of your fishing bait? You might have seen it in some commercial groundbaits and wondered why fish would be attracted to chili-flavored baits.
You might be surprised to hear that anglers have been adding spices like chili into their baits for over 40 years, and there must be a reason. So let’s take a detailed look from an angler’s viewpoint.
Join me as we dive into the topic of fishing with chili, why it’s so effective, and how to use it while you’re fishing.
Do Fish Like Chilli Powder?
Yes, oddly enough, fish do like chili powder. You might be surprised to hear that they are actually attracted to a large range of spices, but why? Let’s ask ourselves, what is one of your first tactics to get fish to eat your bait? The answer is that we often use bait that smells good enough to make them bite the bait; it’s a key part of fishing!
When you add chili to your bait, it gives off an aroma and a color that fish can see clearly, drawing them to your bait a lot more quickly.
Fish have a very complex palette, and their taste system, which includes the roof of their mouth, gill arches, barbels, and taste buds, all play a major part. Their taste buds are covered in tiny sensors that can differentiate between sweet, salt, sour, and bitter taste.
You might be interested to learn that carp have a sense of smell that is 1000 times stronger than a dog’s sense of smell. This means fish such as carp can quickly pick up a scent, although it takes longer for the smell to diffuse through water than it does through the air.
How Do You Use Chilli Powder In Fishing Baits?
makes it a more versatile option.
The most common way of using the powder in your baits is by adding the ground form as an additive to a premade bait mixture.
The powder form will then mix well with the moisture of your bait mix and, with a dash of water, infuse your bait with the chili powder’s taste, aroma, and color.
You don’t always have to use it in a powder form; another option is to make a liquid paste by adding the powder to water. You can also add sweetcorn or maggots to the paste and soak them overnight.
How To Fish With Chilli Powder
In all honesty, chili is probably the most popular spice that coarse anglers use, and yes, they do use other spices too.
Chilli powder is a proven winner and will attract multiple fish species very effectively.
When using chili powder, you should add it directly to your groundbaits, boilie mixes, stick mixes, particle mixes, and spod mixes and stir it up. You can also add a little touch of water to ensure it’s mixed in properly and the aromas transfer well.
You can use chili powder in your baits all year round as it is just as effective at attracting fish and getting them to eat in winter and summer.
Adding Chilli On Your Hookbaits
When adding chili powder to your hook bait, mix it with warm water and stir it well. Once you have made a paste, add your bait, such as sweetcorn and hemp, to the mix and let it soak overnight. The long soak will allow the bait to absorb the chili’s fish-attracting abilities.
One excellent tactic for catching carp and barbel is by soaking luncheon meat in chili; both species seem to love the taste of some spicy meat.
When added to your meat baits, such as luncheon meat or hot dogs, it can also significantly affect your catch rate. Cut up your meats to the size you place on the hook, place them in your bait box, add a teaspoon or so of chili, and leave overnight before you go fishing.
Adding chili to maggots for several hours to allow the flavor to penetrate their skins will entice most species.
Using Chilli In Hemp And Tares
I often add chili powder to my particle baits, especially hemp, and tares. If you prepare your own hemp and tares, add chili powder to the water before cooking; alternatively, you can add some dried chilies. Add one tablespoon of powder or three or four dried chilies to the water.
Roach and chub love hemp and tares, but adding chili to them can make the difference in catching even more, especially in the summer.
Fishing With Chilli Oil
Adding chili oil to any stick mixes, particle mix, PVA mix, and your groundbait can be a game-changer. The release of the oil through the water and around your hook baits really attracts most fish. As the oil drifts through the water, this is intercepted by fish cruising around and can attract them down to your baited area on the bottom.
Chilli oil is more expensive than using powder. So just a few drops are required as it is more concentrated. In my experience, there is no difference in the results! You can buy chili oil at a supermarket for a more reasonable price than at a branded carp bait store.
What Other Spices Can You Fish With?
If fishing with chili powder is so effective, wouldn’t it stand to reason that other spices would work well too? This is undoubtedly the case; anglers have added a range of spices to their baits for years.
If you think about a standard mixture of ground bait, it contains some very dull ingredients such as fishmeal, bread crumbs, cereal, bran, or cornmeal. This has nothing exciting about it and nothing that will attract fish to it from a distance, so why not experiment with spices to make it more appealing?
Check out my in-depth reviews of fishing with garlic or adding and using anise oil as an effective part of your fishing bait.
Be Careful When Handling Chillies
Always ensure you wash your hands thoroughly when handling chilies in any form. Touching your eyes or other sensitive body parts without washing your fingers can be a very unpleasant experience; where possible, always try to use soap.
Spicing Out
Thanks very much for reading my article. I hope you found it helpful and know how to go fishing with chili powder and oils.
I would highly recommend using spices in your bait any time of the year, but I’d suggest using a range of spices and mixing them together to create a smell and taste the fish are not used to. This will give you an advantage over the other anglers.
Please share this article with your fishing buddies, and check out the large range of other fishing bait articles that will help you catch more fish and get you more bites.
Steve holds a special place in his heart for the mighty Carp and the elusive Tench
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