Inland Fisheries

8.2.3.8.1 Bait and its types

Bait

It is a kind of ‘lure’, fixed on the hook, used for attracting the fish and then hooking it with the hook.

Types of baits

1. Live bait: It is a natural organism fastened to the hook. The most common baits are small sized fishes, worms, insects, crustaceans, molluscs, frog etc.
2. Paste bait: Rice flour, Gram flour mixed with finely grated cheese, wheat flour added with a little honey, boiled rice mixed with mustard oil cake powder etc. are used to make the paste. The best way to keep the paste on the hook is to cover the barb and the shaft in such a manner as the barb is not covered with a thick layer and that it can pierce through the flesh of the fish, as soon as the fish bites. Several fishes (mainly herbivores) are lured by ‘paste baits’.
3. Gram bait: Gram seeds are threaded on the hook (at least 3 on one hook) to bait Mahseers.
4. Artificial baits: Certain kinds of artificial baits are used when others fail. They may be spinning baits (aluminium painted body revolving around a bead head), plug baits (an imitation of a living fish and made of plastic or wood and painted in different colours), and artificial flies (imitation of an aquatic insect).