Do Carp Like Almonds?

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Carp are known for being greedy and eating almost anything. One food they especially love is nuts! However, nuts are met with some controversy as fish can struggle to digest them and it has been known to cause the death of a few fish.

So, do carp like almonds? Yes, carp do love almonds but they are not as commonly used as other nuts when it comes to carp bait. They have been known to catch some big sized fish on many occasions over the years in magazine features.

Now, let’s take an in-depth look to see what ways you can use almonds or almond flavouring to help you catch more carp and find out whether it is a good bait.

Contents

Should You Leave the Skin On?

Almonds are brown on the outside, but if you peel off the skin you have a yellow/white colour underneath. Therefore, it’s up to you how you want to present it and use the nut in whatever way you feel is right for you.

My theory is that if you peel the nut a bit, then the oil content of the nut comes through more which might attract the carp over. What’s your theory?

Almonds As a Hook Bait

Almond is only really used on the hook as carp bait. However, it can’t really be hooked itself as it’s a very hard nut.

You, therefore, have 2 ways to use almonds as a hook bait. My preferred way is to use a bait needle or drill to put a hole through the nut and use it on a hair rig. This ensures that it stays on the hook really well.

The other way is to use a bait band and put this around the bait.

Whichever you prefer is all down to personal preference.

What About Almond Flavouring?

Almond flavourings are available in concentrate formats and these are a great additive that can be added to ground bait, spod mixes, pop-ups or whatever takes your fancy. This will give your baits a nice deep, nutty flavour that also has a bit of sweetness to it.

There’s a great concentrate available here, which can be added to your baits here. Just be warned, it’s powerful and you don’t need to add a lot. Hopefully it’s the smell the carp have been looking for.

Groundbait

During my research, I tried to find if there was a groundbait available to purchase that was already flavoured with almonds. The only premixed one I could find was “Almond Bream” by M&M Groundbaits. If you buy it and try it, please let me know you get on with it.

Spod Mixes

If I was adding almonds into a spod mix, I would personally chop some up into smaller particles, and add a few larger ones just so there is a mix of different sizes. You could also add concentrate into the mix if you didn’t want to add whole nuts.

Pop-Ups

You could create your own glug to dip your pop-ups into.

Micro Pellets

I am a big fan of micro pellets and 4mm pellets in my fishing, especially when being used on the method feeder. You could add some concentrate into the water when soaking your pellets and give that a go. It could give you that real edge over the other anglers and help attract those crafty carp into your swim.

Final Thoughts

We all want to catch more carp and big carp, and if almonds give you the edge on the water you are fishing then that’s great. For me, it’s not one of my go-to baits or even one I have used that much. I just feel there are better nuts to use, such as tiger nuts.