09.02.2023

How To Create The Ultimate Pop-Ups to Catch Carp

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Categories: Tactics

Single, high- attract hookbaits play a large part in many carp anglers’ armoury, especially during the latter part of winter and going into early spring… With so many types, colours and flavours of single, bright pop-ups now available on the market, its tricky to stand out from the crowd when fishing this tactic. We have the solution for those who want increased attraction and that little edge of others on those busy venues…

More Attraction = More Bites 

The colour of your hook baits can play a huge part into drawing the carp’s attention down to your baited rig, but sometimes, it may not be quite enough. Every man and his dog seem to be chucking out a brightly coloured pink, yellow hookbaits these days and at times, when the weather and angling pressure is really against you, you may think that nothing can save a blank, but that’s where you’re wrong… 

The way to enhance your pop ups to the next level is with the addition of liquids (flavours) & powders. Now through the winter period, a Northern Special is a go-to pop-up for many; they are a fantastic, highly visual, and potent hookbaits, but to complement them and create even more attraction it is worth giving them a little ‘prepping’ with a small amount of the matching hook bait booster liquid. 

Applying the Hookbait Booster

When applying the booster; less is more, because if you overdo it, you will affect the buoyancy of the pop ups, so add a little bit at a time and allow the pop ups to suck it in and dry out before re-coating. We would where possible, recommend letting them dry for around a week, if you can leave the lid off the hook baits it will help them firm up again, inturn making them more buoyant.

After infusing the pop ups with the matching liquid, apply a second layer but this time, don’t allow it to fully soak into the baits, as the finish you are looking to achieve is a ‘tacky’ to the touch pop-up. This will take around 24hrs to get to this stage, and you will know when they are ready as the majority of the liquid will have been drawn in, with a very light coating still present on the outside of the baits. Now you are ready to move onto the powdering stage.

Applying the Powder Attraction 

Now it is time to apply a light dusting of Fructose Concentrate. This is an extremely potent fruit palatant which complements the Northern Specials range perfectly. We have three mains sweet, enhancer powders in the range and each one compliments different ‘profiles’ better. Lactose powder is creamy and suited more for Live System and Dairy Supreme ranges, Fructose is ‘fruity’ and Ultrasweet is, as you can imagine, incredibly sweet! The options are endless, and it all depends on the finish you want to achieve. 

Once you have added this powder, give the pot a good shake and the hook baits will look like little sweet bon bons, oozing with attraction and lightly coated in a dusting, a little bit like icing sugar. Again allow them to sit and cure for a number of days and they will crust onto the hook baits ensuring the breakdown time is prolonged. The key with any hookbait process is within the preparation; patience is key and taking your time to get the perfect finish will result in more effective, slow- releasing pop-ups!

If you use the pop-ups straight away, the powder will wash off too quickly, if you leave and repeat the hookbait process for longer, more of the attraction from the liquid and powder will be drawn into the hookbait itself; this will create a steady stream of attraction once the bait has been introduced! Some of our anglers prep their hookbaits a year in advance for the following spring and this is no doubt an edge, especially if the venue you fish is silty or has a lot of smelly debris on the lakebed.

For other hook baits such as the Elites & the Live System range which are also fantastic winter options, the process is the same, using the matching booster liquid but this time using either the Lactose Concentrate B+ or Ultrasweet instead, as these go hand in hand with those pop ups ranges. 

Are Boosted Pop-ups Suited to Fishing over Bait?

When using supercharged hi-attract pop ups, they are generally suited to single hook bait fishing; but this doesn’t mean they cannot be used over beds of bait. By boosting the hook baits with liquids and powders, you are trying to stimulant a feeding response and attract the passing carp to drop their guard on your single hookbait and opposed to creating a feeding response.

These dedicated powders are designed to trigger a ‘feeding’ instinct from the carp and in a situation where your hookbait is the only ‘food’ so to speak, this can be a very effective tactic at enticing bites during even the trickiest times of the year.

Choosing the Right Rig for The Job 

There is minefield of different rigs out there currently, but there are a few that suit the use pop up presentations and, single hookbaits better than others. The chod rig; a forgotten classic really, it went through a stage in being used by most anglers, but in recent years it seems to have fallen out of fashion. 

It is the perfect presentation when you are casting into unknown territory, it never tangles and if you position your beads on the helicopter presentation correctly, the chances are you will always be presented, no matter what it lands over. So, if you see a fish show in an area you haven’t cast a lead in before and you want to guarantee you’re fishing then a choddy will certainly be the go-to. 

Next up is the hinge stiff rig; this is an all-time classic big fish rig, and has similar properties to the chod rig, apart from the fact it has a boom section, so it’s less effective for fishing over intense detritus and thicker weed. The scenarios where the hinge is most effective is generally over silt or low-lying silkweed, where you want slightly more separation between the hook and the lakebed than what a conventional pop up rig would give you, the hooking potential is far greater on a hinge, due to the fact of having that boom section which is always wanting to pull the rig down into the fishes mouth. 

Finally, a Spinner/Ronnie presentation, this is probably most anglers go-to at the moment; it’s really versatile and can be fished over clean bottoms and over low lying debris like the hinge, the speed of how quickly you can take the hook off and put a new one on really helps in the winter time when those feeding windows can be so short, making the most of the time your rods are out can certainly be key. 

 

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