Baiting Equipment

How to Choose Baiting Equipment

Catapults suit pellets, particles and boilies at short to medium range, and pouch shape decides what each one throws well. Cone and multi pouches hold about ten 18mm or sixteen 15mm boilies, while match pouches take a small pinch of pellets.

Elastic strength sets the range, with light elastics for close feeding and heavy ones for distance. Elastics listed run from about 2.2mm up to 3.2mm thick or more.

Groundbait catapults have a wide, open cup that throws a squeezed ball without breaking it apart. They suit feeder and bream anglers as much as carp fishing.

A throwing stick flicks boilies out one at a time, and its curved head spins each bait to add distance. Bores listed run from 18mm to 29mm, and each stick takes boilies roughly 1mm to 3mm smaller than its bore.

Carbon sticks are light, with the ones listed weighing roughly 50g to 92g, while plastic sticks cost less and shrug off knocks. Longer 120cm sticks throw further but take more practice than 80cm to 92cm models.

A spod is a weighted rocket you cast and retrieve to drop a load of bait over a spot. Hinged designs close in flight and open on hitting the water, which cuts bait loss on the cast.

Size sets how much goes out per cast, with one large spod listed carrying about 120g of pellets or more than twenty 20mm boilies. Empty spods weigh around 60g to 65g, so a stiff spod rod and braid make long sessions far easier.

Spod and marker braid sits alongside the baiting tools because most anglers fill a dedicated spod reel with it. Braid barely stretches, so you can clip up and hit the same distance cast after cast.

PVA dissolves in water, letting you cast a parcel of free bait right next to the hook. Mesh comes in widths from about 14mm to 37mm for sticks and bags, and 60mm for catfish, while solid bags listed run from 50 x 100mm to 140 x 90mm.

Keep PVA dry, as wet hands or water based liquids start to melt it before the cast. Fast and slow melt versions are listed, so you can match the melt time to your fishing.

Loaders, plungers, funnels and gated needles speed up tying stick after stick on the bank. An airtight pouch or PVA station keeps the whole kit dry between sessions.

A baiting pole carries a spoon of bait out over the water and tips it on the spot. Kits listed reach 15m to 18m, with spoons holding about 0.5kg to 1.2kg of boilies.

They let you bait tight to snags or across narrow channels with no casting at all. Extra 1.5m sections lengthen most kits.

Prodding sticks feel the bottom for gravel, silt or weed in the shallows. Marker poles of around 6.5m stand in the lake as a visible target for your casts.

Spod stations hold bait buckets at a comfortable height for loading, with one all in one model standing 100cm tall. Some have corner fittings with a 3/8in thread that take banksticks or rod rests.

Distance sticks pushed into the bank let you wrap your line and count the wraps to a spot. That puts the spod and the rig at the same range every time.

Baiting Equipment Budgets

Prices run from a pack of PVA bags to a 15m baiting pole kit costing around a hundred times as much. Most anglers spend far less, as catapults and plastic throwing sticks sit near the bottom of the range.

Extra money buys lighter carbon throwing sticks, tougher catapult frames and pouches, and longer, stiffer baiting poles. With PVA, the dearer systems mostly add loaders and storage rather than different mesh.

Baiting products listed come to 204, with 21 given a full eTackle review. For the bags, mesh and loaders worth buying, see our best PVA bags and mesh guide.