Paste and Dough Baits
By Alex Clayton · Updated 29 October 2026
A bait built to fall apart on the hook sounds like a mistake. Yet in cold, coloured water a lump of cheese paste earns its place, because it starts leaking scent the moment it settles while a boilie or a cube of meat gives off far less.
Most paste bait advice online is one recipe for one species, with the quantities guessed. This guide compares the main pastes, gives measured recipes for cheese, bread, meat and boilie paste, covers trout paste on stocked waters, then explains how to hook, store and legally fish them.
What Paste Baits Are and Why They Catch
A hookbait that sits in a cold river for an hour without a touch is often giving off too little smell. Paste is the fix.
A paste or dough bait is any bound, mouldable mixture squeezed round the hook. It has no hard skin, so water gets into it straight away and carries flavour through the swim as it slowly breaks down.
Angling Times puts it plainly for chub: in winter, especially in coloured water, a smelly lump of cheesepaste fished stationary on a leger is hard to beat. Beyond chub, paste suits barbel on cold, coloured rivers, a skin wrapped round a carp hookbait, and stocked trout on stillwaters that allow bait.
The weakness is the softness that makes it work. Paste is a poor float bait and a poor long-range bait, because it flies off on a hard cast. The tackle section below covers the fixes, and the fishing bait guide shows where paste sits among other baits.
Paste Types Compared: Which to Use Where
Picking a paste comes down to the fish and the water in front of you. The table sets the five common types side by side, so you can go straight to the recipe you need.
| Paste | Main species | Best water | Season | Strengths | Watch out for |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cheese paste | Chub, barbel | Cold, coloured rivers | Winter | Strong scent, cheap to make | Soft; not for the float or long casts |
| Bread paste | Roach, chub, carp | Stillwaters and slow rivers | Year round | Softest paste, nearly free | Washes out quickly in flow |
| Luncheon meat paste | Chub, barbel, carp | Rivers and stillwaters | Year round | Meat attraction with paste breakdown | Salty and fatty; check fishery rules |
| Boilie paste | Carp, barbel | Stillwaters and rivers | Year round | Wraps a boilie, which stays on once the paste goes | Unboiled mix is stronger, so use less flavour |
| Trout paste | Stocked rainbow trout | Bait-permitted stillwater fisheries | The fishery’s open season | Easy to mould on a small hook | Many trout waters are fly-only |
Read the species and season columns as starting points. Each paste will catch outside its row; the table shows where it is strongest.
If you only make one, make cheese paste. The measured recipe comes next.
How to Make Cheese Paste: A Measured Recipe
Vague recipes are the main reason homemade cheese paste goes wrong. “Some cheese and some pastry” gives a mix that is either crumbly or sloppy. The pastry method below, set out by Angling Times and widely used by river anglers, gives quantities you can repeat.
Ingredients
- One pack of ready-made shortcrust pastry
- 250g to 500g of strong cheese, grated or crumbled (strong blue cheeses suit this well)
- A spoonful of powdered flavour, such as garlic, chilli or tandoori
- A teaspoon of oil (olive, cooking or hemp oil) to help it mix and stop it drying out
Method
- Grate or crumble the cheese into a bowl.
- Roll the pastry out flat on a clean board.
- Spread a layer of cheese over the pastry, fold it over and roll it out again.
- Repeat the fold and roll until all the cheese is worked in.
- Sprinkle in the powdered flavour and the oil, then knead until the colour and texture are even, with no streaks of pastry or cheese showing.
- Bag it, then chill it in the fridge or freeze it until the session.
A stronger variation
Some anglers go heavier on the cheese. One version shared on the Angling Direct community uses roughly half a slab of pastry to about 1lb (450g) of mature cheese and 0.5lb (225g) of blue cheese, folded and rolled in layers in the same way.
Getting the texture right
Make your cheese paste firmer than feels right in the kitchen. A soft mix washes off quickly once there is any pace on the river. In colder water, use a stronger cheese.
This is the standard cheese paste for chub, and the same paste recipe suits barbel on a cold, coloured river. For other chub hookbaits and how they compare through the seasons, see the best bait for chub.
New to paste? Start with the pastry base and the 250g end of the cheese range, then add more cheese once you know how the mix handles.
Bread Paste and Meat Paste
One costs next to nothing; the other brings meat attraction to a soft bait.
Bread paste
Bread paste is the softest and cheapest paste you can make. Blend stale bread with the crusts left on, then work it into a thick paste. One angler’s version on the barbel.co.uk forum binds it with one egg and adds strong, crumbly mature cheddar and a little colouring, each in moderation.
It suits stillwaters and slow rivers, but washes out fast in real flow. For flake and crust, see the bread bait guide.
Meat paste
Luncheon meat worked into a paste combines the pull of meat with the slow breakdown of paste. It is salty and fatty, and some fisheries restrict meat baits, so check the rules before you take it. For cubes, see the luncheon meat guide.
If either paste turns out sloppy, work in breadcrumb or cornflour a little at a time until it firms up.
- Best for: bread paste on still or slow water when money is tight; meat paste for chub, barbel and carp where meat is allowed.
- Skip if: you are fishing fast water (bread) or the fishery bans meat (meat).
Boilie Paste: Rolling It and Wrapping Hookbaits
Unboiled boilie paste is much stronger than the finished boilie. Anglers on the barbel.co.uk forum advise using less than half your usual flavour level when you make paste.
Boilie paste is boilie mix without the boiling. Following the DIY guidance from bait maker DNA Baits, make up your wet mix, then add the base mix about half a cup at a time, stirring until the paste is slightly tacky. Portion it and wrap each piece in cling film so it does not dry out.
The main use is a paste wrap. Mould a thin skin of paste round a boilie on the hair. The paste gives strong early attraction as it breaks down, and once it has washed away the boilie is still there to be picked up.
To make the base boilies, see how to make homemade boilies. For dosing glugs and flavours, the liquid attractants guide explains how much is too much, and the best bait for carp puts paste wraps alongside other carp hookbaits.
Quick comparison against a plain boilie: a paste wrap adds attraction early on, but the paste has to be remoulded after each wash-out; a plain boilie stays put but leaks less.
Trout Paste on Stocked Fisheries
Turning up at a trout water with a tub of paste only to find it is fly-only is an easy mistake to make. Trout paste is a soft dough bait moulded round a small hook for stocked rainbow trout, and it belongs only on stillwater fisheries that allow bait.
In Wales, Natural Resources Wales says there are no byelaw restrictions on baits in reservoirs, lakes, ponds or canals, but fishery owners may set their own rules. Many trout fisheries are fly-only.
Check the fishery’s rules before you travel, either on its website or by phoning ahead. For other stillwater trout options, see the best bait for trout.
The verdict: trout paste is a useful stillwater bait where it is allowed, and the fishery decides whether you can use it at all.
Hooking and Fishing Paste: Tackle and Fixes
Most paste blanks come down to presentation rather than the bait: the wrong hook, too soft a mix, or a buried point.
For chub, Angling Times gives a simple setup: 6lb mainline to a 4lb hooklength, a size 6 to 8 hook, and a leger rather than a float, because paste is too soft for float fishing. Use a thumbnail-sized piece of paste, mould it round the hook with a good length of point showing, and give each likely spot 15 to 20 minutes before moving. Loosefeed is not essential, because the hookbait leaks its own scent trail.
| Problem | Likely cause | Fix |
|---|---|---|
| Paste falls off on the cast | Mix too soft | Firm it with breadcrumb or cornflour, cast gently, or use mesh or a bait band at range |
| Paste washes out in pace | Soft mix in strong flow | Make it firmer and use stronger cheese |
| Missed bites | Hook point buried in paste | Leave the point proud of the bait |
| Paste too stiff in the cold | Cold paste stops the hook pulling through | Tie a size 8 swivel on a short hair at the bend of the hook so the hook pulls free on the strike (an Angling Direct community tip) |
Handle chub and barbel with wet hands, keep them in the water while you unhook where you can, and return them quickly.
Start with the Angling Times setup, firm your paste and keep the point showing before changing anything else.
Storing Paste: Fridge, Freezer and Shelf Life
Paste keeps well if you wrap it and chill it. Wrap each portion tightly in cling film or a sealed bag so it does not dry out, keep it in the fridge for the next session and freeze it for longer storage.
Shelf life depends on the base. Anglers on the barbel.co.uk forum report that paste made from a shelf-life boilie mix can last months in the fridge, while pellet-based paste may go mouldy within one to two weeks. Treat those as rough guides, not guarantees.
Keep bait apart from family food, label it and wash your hands after handling it. Mouldy paste is not a secret weapon: bin it.
Paste Bait Rules: Rod Licence, Byelaws and Fishery Bans
GOV.UK says you need a rod licence to fish for freshwater fish, salmon, trout, smelt or eel in England and Wales, private waters included. Under-13s do not need one, and 13 to 16 year olds need a free junior licence. Check the current price on GOV.UK and see the fishing licence guide.
National rules are included in each set of local byelaws, so check the local byelaws and the landowner’s rules.
In Wales, Natural Resources Wales says there are no byelaw bait restrictions on reservoirs, lakes, ponds or canals, though fishery owners may add their own. Groundbait or feeder bait is not allowed at any time when fishing for salmon, sea trout and non-migratory trout in rivers.
Scotland and Northern Ireland have their own rules, so check with the relevant authority. Wherever you fish, check the fishery’s bait rules before you travel.
Frequently asked questions
What is the best cheese for cheese paste?
Strong, smelly cheese works best. Mature cheddar mixed with a blue cheese is a common choice, and Angling Times notes that strong blues suit a pastry-based paste. Go stronger in colder water. See How to Make Cheese Paste above for the full recipe.
Can you freeze cheese paste?
Yes. Wrap it tightly in cling film or a sealed bag and freeze it until you need it. Let it thaw fully before the session so it is soft enough to mould round the hook. For short gaps between sessions, the fridge is enough.
Do you need loosefeed with cheese paste?
Not necessarily. Angling Times says the leaking hookbait draws chub in on its own, which is why paste suits a roving approach of 15 to 20 minutes per swim rather than building a swim with feed.
What hook size for cheese paste?
A size 6 to 8 hook is the usual choice for chub, with a thumbnail-sized piece of paste and the point showing. Some anglers step up to a size 4 for bigger lumps of paste.
Can you use groundbait on Welsh trout rivers?
No. Natural Resources Wales says groundbait or feeder bait is not allowed at any time when fishing for salmon, sea trout and non-migratory trout in rivers. Stillwaters such as reservoirs and lakes have no byelaw bait restrictions, but the fishery may set its own.