The Traditional Fisherman's Forum

I went into Aldi yesterday and they sell 30 cooked cocktail sausages for £1.50.
It occurred to me that they might be a good bait instead of Spam or Pepperami for barbel, chub etc. They should be easy to hook and firm enough to withstand the cast but soft enough not to mask the hook point and could be flavoured with garlic or curry.
Has anyone tried cocktail sausages for bait?

I tried some of the Sainsbury's ones and they have so little meat in them they floated.... I think their Swedish meatballs make a better bait, caught carp on those

I have bought them to eat as a snack, (not much taste) but not used them as bait. I will certainly try them on a hook when I get the chance, I think they will make a good bait when flavoured!

Aitch wrote: ↑Wed May 13, 2020 10:15 am I tried some of the Sainsbury's ones and they have so little meat in them they floated.... I think their Swedish meatballs make a better bait, caught carp on those

If they float then maybe they could be used as floaters for carp or they could be 'popped up'.

you can use putty on the line or tungsten sinkers to pin them down.... I think eventually they'd sink as they took on water but the ones I used floated from the off

I tried using them about 10-15 years ago, along with Campbells meatballs and the square sausage meat (raw) you could buy in those days. Had a few barbel and chub on both, and the sausage meat, I would lightly fry and then cut up. Cannot say that I caught more, but the sausage meat made a nice bite on the side when I got peckish.

I have also tried diced beetroot, bought a big catering tin, diced beetroot in vinegar, and after giving them a couple of washers to remove the vinegar, took those, laid a carpet of beetroot, fished with 3 on a hair. Never got a knock, where normally I might have had 4 or 5. Put that down to perhaps the vinegar smell. But then some people use cleaned (washed) cockles from jars. So might have been a bad day.

Similarly, had a few mediocre days from Brockwast Sausages. A few new East European foods I want to try this year, just waiting until I can get out and go to shops, which will be after my next medical on May 29th hopefully.

I've used hotdog sausages many times. 'Sausage sizzle' and 'frankfurter' flavours are pretty much the same thing and both smell of hotdogs, it remains one of the very best barbel flavours.

The only problem with hotdog sausages is their softness and any attempt to whack one out just leads to free offerings. However, if you leave then in some crumb, ground pellet or similar to draw some moisture out of them and let the sun dry the skin, they are far more resilient. There are ways and means of hooking soft meat too, maybe for another discussion.

Cocktail sausages will doubtless catch barbel and chub Snape, but as has been said, if they are really cheap and full of bran, they will float making loose feeding challenging. I doubt though that they would be buoyant enough to hold hook and line in position for floater fishing.

Any sausage or meat that is hookable is 'bait'. Supermarkets are full of potential. You used to be able to get a big fat sausage wrapped in plastic that was some sort of garlic sausage. I don't think I'd ever eat it but I caught stacks of fish on it. Some dog foods are sold similarly packed I believe

Frankfurters, if sliced and fried develop a skin and hold together much better in my honest opinion
Lidl sell a thin kabanos sausage that is about a yard long that makes great hook bait, it tastes pretty good too.

Outside of Kabanos - and pepperoni types of cured sausage - all other sausage based baits are best prepared either as a paste or boilie my preference is paste - you can experiment with the eggs to bind this also offers some protection from smaller fish - you can also add extra spice - a good cheap one being mild/medium chilli powder. It’s been a winner for an age and will no doubt continue to be so. Low content meat products can be bolstered with sausage meat if desired.

Polony is a good meat bait, if you slice it into half inch thick chunks and use a large punch (10-15mm) and hair rig it is usually a good method for Barbel and Carp, or mounted on the hook for Chub (never seem to do well on hair rigs for Chub)