There’s something about shallow fishing that hooks you as much as the fish. It’s visual, fast paced, and aggressive. When they’re queued up shallow, nothing comes close for plenty of bites. But it’s also one of the easiest tactics to get wrong, especially when you’re using the wrong bait.
Too often, anglers treat shallow fishing like a one-bait method. Keep feeding and they will come, but that’s not the case, the best shallow anglers adapt. They understand how different baits fall through the water, how fish react to them, and when a switch can turn a slow session into a special one.
In this article, we’ll consider five of the best baits for shallow fishing. Each offers something different for presenting and feeding them to catch fish shallow, and if you know how to use them right, you’ll catch faster, more often, and for longer.
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Pellets
Pellets are the go-to bait for shallow fishing on commercials. Uniform in size, dense enough to make a noise on the surface, and tough enough to take a slapping or a jigging, pellets are the perfect bait for this.
The common sizes, 4mm, 6mm and 8mm all play a part in shallow fishing. On the pole, 4s and 6s are perfect for F1s and carp, while 6s and 8s are ideal for pinging further out, especially for pellet waggler fishing, or targeting bigger fish.
But it’s not just about what you feed, it’s how you feed it. Pinging little and often can keep fish interested in the upper layers, while a proper rain of pellets can draw fish in and get them competing hard. ust be careful, feed too little and the fish may drift off. Feed too much and you risk dragging them down to the bottom.
On most commercials, fish are tuned into the clatter of pellets hitting the surface, it means food, and when you combine that noise with the noise of your rig slapped on the surface, it can be deadly.
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Maggots
This classic fishing bait lends itself to fishing shallow, not only does it catch everything that swims, but the humble grub sinks slowly to help draw competing fish up from the bottom.
Maggots can be hooked or banded, used dead or alive and the constant rain of maggots will help draw fish into your swim, especially on difficult days. What you will find with maggots is that smaller fish will feed above the larger fish so it pays even though you are getting bites, if the fish are consistently small try going a little deeper, you will often find the better stamp are picking out the bait that makes it past the smaller fish.
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Casters
Casters shallow have become the go-to bait on heavily stocked F1 venues, and it’s easy to see why.
When fed, that crisp outer shell creates a satisfying plop on the surface, grabbing the fish’s attention, but it sinks far slower than a pellet, giving you a longer window for bites as the bait flutters down.
That slow descent is key, as fish compete for each falling bait, it’s not long before you’ve got swirls and boils just inches under the surface. And when they’re in that mood, they’re easy to catch.
You can use this behaviour to your advantage with a well-timed slap of the rig. If you’re fishing a jigger, an overshotted rig, or a fixed shallow rig, keep a tight line to the hook and the fish will often hook themselves.
Hooked or banded, casters work best when fed little and often. Once you’ve dialled in the rhythm, you’ll find your catch rate increases. Get it right and the bites come thick and fast, often within seconds of the bait hitting the surface.
PICK THE BEST FLOAT FOR FISHING SHALLOW IN THIS EXPERT GUIDE.
Worm
When fish wise up to the usual shallow baits like pellets, maggots or casters, a worm section can often be a great hookbait choice. You can attract the fish with standard feed, but swapping to a small section of worm on the hook can bring bites when nothing else will.
Worms leak attraction, and the natural amino acids in their body juices are a magnet to hungry fish, and because they look and behave differently to your loose feed, a worm section makes a great change bait, especially for picking off the bigger or warier fish.
One of the best ways to use worms shallow, is to chop it finely and mix it with a little soil or ground bait to create a slop. Fed carefully, this creates a hanging cloud of scent and attraction in the upper layers, which can hold fish in the peg and spark competition, without the risk of overfeeding. Once they’re drawn in, the worm section on the hook does the damage.
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Meat
Cubed luncheon meat, cut to similar sizes as pellets (4mm, 6mm, 8mm or even 10mm) make a brilliant hookbait and feed for shallow fishing. Thanks to its fat content, meat sinks more slowly than you'd expect for its size, which makes it ideal for encouraging fish to rise in the water.
Much like casters, meat gives you both the noise on impact and the slow fall through the water column. That combination is often more effective than pellets, especially when fish are sitting just under the surface and want a softer, more visible bait.
Carp, F1s and skimmers all love meat. On pressured venues where the usual shallow tactics stop working, a switch to meat can be a real edge. Try feeding small cubes but fishing a punched cylinder on the hook. This gives you a standout hookbait, and it can be hooked direct or hair rigged depending on your preference.
Meat also takes on colour and flavour well, so if you're looking for a subtle edge, adding a soak or dye can help your meat hookbait stand out even more.
WE HAVE COMPILED THE BEST MEATS BAITS FOR CATCHING FISH ON ANY VENUE!
