Are you a beginner at fishing and do not know what equipment to use?
Even after more than three decades of fishing, you still don’t know what bait and lures to use?
This table below is just what you need to bookmark! New entries will be added from time to time.
- marked fw: for use in freshwater
- marked sw: for use in saltwater
- unmarked: for use in both
Although some are marked fw & sw, there is no rule against using freshwater bait for saltwater fish & vice versa.
| Artificial | Description |
|---|---|
| Crankbait | built with a lip to make it dive |
| Lipless Crankbait | may come with or without rattles |
| Fly | used by but not limited to fly fishermen |
| Inline Spinner | has a straight profile with one or more spinning blade |
| Jig Head | a weighted lure for fishing in the obstructed bottom |
| Metal Jig | effective for saltwater jigging |
| Pencil | a surface plug usually for walk-the-dog technique |
| Popper | surface plug with a concave mouth to create a popping sound |
| Soft Plastic | can be poured into any shape |
| Spinnerbait | 3 main blade shapes Willow, Colorado and Indiana |
| Spoon | a metal shaped like a spoon |
| Swimbait | multi-jointed fish designed to swim realistically |
| Processed | Description |
| Boilies | fw – boiled paste to form a hard-bodied bait |
| Bread | easy to get & effective for a wide variety of fish |
| Cat Or Dog Biscuit | fw – a quick rinse to soften it before using |
| Chicken Feed | fw – for chumming or mixed with fishing paste |
| Cornmeal Balls | fw – mix equal amounts of water, sugar, and cornmeal. Heat inside a pot till it’s doughy & will hold around a three-prong after cast |
| Dough | fw – add water to flour & knead |
| Fish Pellets | fw – a quick rinse to soften it before using |
| Fishing Paste | fw – mixing a variety of powdery ingredients with water |
| Scents | fw – added to fishing paste or artificial lure |
| Frozen Saltwater Baits | sw – handy when you couldn’t get fresh ones |
| Salt Cured Shrimp/Squid/Fish | sw – curing makes it stay better on the hook |
| Plants | Description |
| Aquatic Moss | limited to a few species e.g. snakeskin gourami |
| Banana | fw – use when ripe for mad barb & common carp |
| Coconut | fw – use directly on-hook or as a flavour enhancer |
| Corn | fw – use directly on-hook or as a flavour enhancer |
| Elephant Grass | fw – for vegetation feeders, like the grass carp |
| Jungle Figs | fw – effective only if it grows near the water you fish |
| Palm Oil Fruit | fw – ferment for 1 or 2 weeks before using |
| Peanut | fw – flavour enhancer for fishing paste & boilies |
| Rice | fw – flavour enhancer for fishing paste & boilies |
| Sesame Seed | fw – flavour enhancer for fishing paste & boilies |
| Tapioca | fw – fermented, for almost any omnivorous fish |
| Tapioca Leaves | fw – for vegetation feeders, like the grass carp |
| Animalia | Description |
| Crayfish | fw – for predatory fish such as bass & pike |
| Cricket | fw – good for catching bait fish |
| Grasshopper | fw – often used for river fishing |
| Earthworm | fw – the universal freshwater bait |
| Frog | fw – catches a wide range of predatory fish |
| Glass Shrimp | fw – a strong contender to earthworm |
| Juvenile Fish | fw – any small freshwater fish such as carp or tilapia |
| Maggot | fw – the young form of a fly |
| Mayfly | fw – lives for a very short time thus not an everyday bait |
| Winged Termite | fw – emits a repulsive odour |
| Grub | fw – found in dead tree logs |
| Freshwater Crab | fw – found under stones in certain rivers |
| Meat | fw – chicken, beef, mutton etc |
| Liver | fw – chicken, beef, mutton etc |
| Intestines | fw – often from chicken, for use as stinkbait |
| Salmon Eggs | fw – for salmon, steelhead, trout |
| Swamp Eel | fw – usually for fishing giant snakehead |
| Saltwater Shrimp | sw – catches a wide range of saltwater fish |
| Mantis Shrimp | sw – to catch parrotfish |
| Rag Worm | sw – catches an array of fish & giant freshwater prawns |
| Squid | sw – catches a wide range of saltwater fish |
| Clam | sw – fish from the surf such as stingray |
| Cockle | sw – fish from the surf such as stingray |
| Crab | sw – parrotfish likes them |
| Mullet | sw – preferably fresh, use whole, cut in strips or chunks |
| Sardine | sw – preferably fresh, use whole, cut in strips or chunks |
| Indian Mackerel | sw – preferably fresh, use whole, cut in strips or chunks |
| Indian Scad | sw – preferably fresh, use whole, cut in strips or chunks |
| Big Eye Scad | sw – preferably fresh, use whole, cut in strips or chunks |
