How to hook bread for surface fishing

Bread can be very effective for catching certain types of fish like sunfish, shiners, and carp. When using bread there are times that you will need to fish bread at the surface to get a bite. If you ask the question of how to hook bread for surface fishing you are not alone. This guide will explain this simple method of getting your bread to float to get a surface bite.

How to hook bread for surface fishing? Using a thicker white bread can give you the proper surface when fishing with bread at the surface. We take a larger piece of bread and only compact the middle and leave the outer edges as it. This allows two things to happen. It gives the hook the ability to stay within the bread center and hide the hook while the outer edges provide enough buoyancy to keep the bread floating.

Why would you want your bread to float when fishing?

There are certain fish that prefer to eat at the surface depending on the conditions and time of the year. A great example of fish that love to eat at the surface, especially bread is carp. There are times when we fish for them and they only will take bread when it floats at the surface.

This could be due to a lot of trees that bloom and drop berries that float. Depending on the location floating a piece of bread is the only way to get a fish to eat.

What types of fish will eat bread that floats?

There are certain fish species that you can target with bread. Here is a list of some of the most popular fish species that would eat bread that floats at the surface.

Carp: Carp can get large and depending on where you live there are different species of cart that you can target. Here in Southern Florida, we get a lot of grass carp. These fish will eat vegetation, berries when in bloom, corn, and bread.

Sunfish: Sunfish are known in all of the United States to eat bread, insects, worms, and small minnows amount another small larva that lives in the water columns. Sunfish when comfortable will eat bread from the surface aggressively along with eating bread that sinks.

Wild Shiner: Wild Golden Shiner loves to eat bread both at the surface and in the water column. In our opinion shiners eat a little better when the bread sinks because they are very wary. When you try and catch the shiner use small pieces that slowly sink.

Why kind of fishing line is better for floating bread at the surface?

Light line is best when wanting to surface fish. For those that use monofilament lines use lines under 8lbs test as the lighter the line will not display the top of the water and float.

The best possible line if you want to float bread for surface fishing is unquestionably braid fishing line.

Line in 2 and 4-pound diameter not only can cast extremely far but will float better than monofilament line.

What size hook is best so your bread will float?

When choosing a hook size when wanting to hook bread for surface fishing you need to scale down your hooks so they are light enough to keep from pulling the bread under but still strong enough not to bend or get compromised when fighting a fish.

Today’s hooks are extremely strong and lightweight and are capable of catching large fish as long as your drag is set properly.

How do you hook bread for surface fishing

When fishing with bread at the surface you want to follow a few simple steps. They are as follows:

• Use the crust of the bread along with the white part of the bread. This will allow you to still ball up the white piece just large enough so you can hook the bread while the crust keeps the bread floating.
• Hide the hook in the bread for better results. When you slightly ball up a small section of the bread you are going to use that will be the part you want to hide your hook in. This will allow for better casting and hiding the hook from the potentaal fish that may eat your bait.

Get fish to eat at the surface with bread

Before you even start to fish with bread at the surface you should chum the water with bread. Take small pieces of bread and start to throw out pieces to get the fish coming to the surface. Some of the bread will sink as it starts to absorb water. Those will bring up fish from the bottom to the surface.

Prebaiting the surface is a strategy that will make fishing the surface with bread way more successful than if you don’t chum first. This method works great on carp and sunfish like brim and other species of fish that eat bread.

Disadvantages when using bread at the surface

Hooking bread for surface fishing is not difficult and other are many advantages to this. However, there are some shortcomings with this method.

For one, you cannot really fish this method in any swift-moving currents because the bread will come off the hook much quicker. You need to fish this method in still waters of lakes, ponds, and canals where there is no current.

Two, you usually only get one shot at casting out the bread and floating simply because over some time the bread will absorb water and sink. or it will disintegrate enough that the hook pulls out.

Final thoughts

Knowing how to hook bread for surface fishing is an excellent way to get fish to come to the surface to eat. Not only is it an easy and low-cost way to catch fish bread is always easy to get and use.

Remember to chum the area first for best success before you even hook a piece of bread.

When you are ready to hook the bead remember to use the crust as part of the bread because it’s more buoyant and will result in the bread floating for longer periods of time. Use braid and lighter hooks for best results as they will provide even more floating ability for the bread.

If you have not tried bread for carp or other types of baitfish you should give it a try you won’t be disappointed.