Cheese

• Trout like cheese, bread, garlic and sugar. Each of these trout-food recipes can use every one of these ingredients in different combinations, depending on what you have in your pantry or camp-cooler. They all need a base though, and cheese can be one of the main base ingredients. It can also be used by itself. You can use the most expensive imported cheese, or you can use imitation cheese. Your success will probably hinge more on how well the cheese adheres to your hook than how good you think the cheese might taste or smell.
  
  

Bread

• Bread, cornmeal and flour are potential base ingredients for trout food. Bread can be soaked in water to create a thick mash. Cornmeal and flower can thicken it. You need a consistency that's dry enough to press together and stay together under water. Your bread-mash mixture can include a variety of sugars, such as corn syrup. Peanut butter can be added. Sardines are sometimes used in a paste form. Bright food color is added as an attractor to catch the trout's eye. The bait isn't mimicking anything natural; it's just intended to provoke an impulse.
  
  

Marshmallow

• Spreadable marshmallow or small marshmallows can also be used as a base. A pickle-like process can be used, adding color and strong flavors to the marshmallow base. You needn't stick to just one. Try several varieties, each in its own baby jar: sardine, peanut-butter, and marshmallow-cheese in a variety of red, yellow and day-glow green colors.
  
  

Garlic

• Of all the additive ingredients, garlic seems to be among the most popular. It's thought that the smell of garlic in the water travels farther than other smells. So, the more pungent, the better. You can add a couple tablespoons of pre-minced garlic, but freshly pressed garlic should get a lot more attention as it's much stronger.