The Traditional Fisherman's Forum

I would consider anything a fish eats that lives in the river or pond as a natural bait and anything that falls in or on the water as a terrestrial bait.
The best time to use a terrestrial bait to its full potential is when the river goes into a flood,especially a flash flood or when fishing a pond with a feeder stream that's in flood,that doesn't mean a fish won't eat a terrestrial bait at anytime,after all they do see them but they don't work as good.

My favourite ever wild natural bait catch was a lovely Rudd of around 1lb on a dead cranefly I managed to get onto an 18 hook one October a few years ago. I was fishing a still water and took all of the shot off my quill float and just let both rest on the surface. I’ve since purchased a few cranefly imitations and have caught river roach the same way, though never again on a pond.