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Hi all, I just wanted to give an update in case anyone was wondering. As you all took time to help me out and give some pointers I thought it was only fair. I bought 2x Free Spirit E-class bank creeper rods. They are 10ft and approx 2.5lb Test curve. They are great rods. So far we have caught carp from 5lb up to 17lb on them. They are so light but feel great quality. They bend lots but feel there is plenty of power to deal with much bigger fish. Thanks again for everyone's advice.

Currently I have been using single sticks as my rods are often pointed different directions. When I do fish a 2 rod water with my 3 rod pod I put the rods on the outer rests. In fact at times even on 3 rod waters if the swim is tight I might choose to only fish 2 rods.

What I do when fishing silty waters is saturate my freebies in a mixture of water and liquid food i.e a hydroslate, this stops them taking on the silt. With those freebies comes the feeding situation (assuming they're put in the right place) which allows you to fish pretty much anything over the top. Regards shallow/deep water and pop ups/bottom baits, I don't think it makes a difference. The buoyancy of a bait (be that highly buoyant or not buoyant at all) should imo be chosen the suit the rig that will present effectively in the given substrate i.e. bottom baits on a clean deck and pop ups over weed or chod with wafters somewhere in between. I use pop ups for 99% of my fishing as I prefer the mechanics of pop up rigs and tend to fish weedy waters.

Sometimes less is more, just saying. All those mixed together could be a repellent. Hope they work for you though

It is some years since I experimented with pop ups and never really found them more successful than bottom baits. That may be because I fish relatively deep water (7 to 10 metres). I can imagine that natural food which does waft around in shallow water will sit flat on the bottom at greater depth due to its reduced buoyancy so fish expect stuff to waft around at shallow depths and not at greater depths. However, as I said, this is pure speculation. I totally agree about creating a feeding situation. My most successful technique is heavy and prolonged pre-baiting with a single bait usually either maize or VERY cheap boilies. Fortunately hardly anyone else fishes the places I do so I do not have to worry about other anglers cashing in on my hard work.

Interesting. What are your thoughts behind that buddy? I am of the opinion that if you can create a feeding situation effectively the hookbait isn't that important. As long as it's presented you'll get takes. It's creating that feeding situation that's the challenge.

You make a good point Yonny. I must confess I am more interested in the academics of the idea than any practical use. Having said that I usually fish in depths of 7 to 10 metres so the idea does have relevance. Another question has popped into my head. Are pop ups more attractive to fish at some depths more than others? I would hazard a guess that they would be more attractive in shallower water but have no data to back up that thought.

I have read this thread with interest. May I suggest that there is one variable which has been ignored and that is the effect of water depth? If I understand the requirements of the op correctly he wants to make a boilie to be only just buoyant. If so you should design the boilie to be the required buoyancy at the depth you intend to fish the bait. The deeper the water the less buoyant your bait will be. I did some tests some years ago and made a very poor quality recording of my experiment. However it will demonstrate the point I am making.

I do that on the outside with 2...looking at the 2 rod cygnet goalpost bar to see if fit my pod...

Or give off a warning signal??? Just playing devil's advocate. I used to fish a silty water & found the lead set up to be just as important as the bait. I caught on bottom baits, snowman and pop ups. I used to soak my hookbaits in Betalin, and previously in other glugs. Although I have to say I did better with bait straight out the packet. I'm now of the mind to keep things simple & am determined to be successful with zigs. On the quicky I did the other week (which was the silty WATER), I cast the rake out to the spot a good few times, within 20-30 mins I had fish showing on both spots!!! (I believe chillfactor advocated this approach a while back) I was gutted packing up early, I firmly believe if I'd done the night I would of had a few. That will be my preferred method for the rest of the year. P. S. No glug etc. on the foam

After a couple of minutes in water the wafters are throwing loads of goodness into the water, that's got to send them wild I reckon

Quality tip mate 👍. Was using a chod style hook and dropping the odd fish. Changed to these and literally every hook holds been nicely in the bottom lip.

Wow some great responses guys and water pressure isn't something I would have even considered tbh , the lake I fish is probably only 9ft in the deeper part though so good to know it shouldn't affect me too much, I am right with you on prebaited spots btw it's certainly my most successful method so far I would assume that a pop up would be more effective in shallower water as it would be more likely to be taken by a non feeding cruising fish if it got close enough to pique it's interest , and also it would be more likely to be sending food signals right through the water column, but mainly you have to think if you have a bowl of crisps right next to you when watching TV , you are more likely to eat those crisps than if you have to go to the shop to buy them first, I always usually like to match my hookbaits with my free offerings emmcee however the lake I am fishing is really silty so I am just wondering whether a more blatant hookbait will get taken quicker and also take on less smelly silt, so in that respect I hope you are wrong but I take your point that it could create a negative taste using too many additives as one may overpower the whole package, I can only try something has to work at some point

In the UK there really is no need to tailor your hookbaits to specific depths imo. There are a few waters that might warrant it (Bundy's etc). But it's good to understand the principles all the same.

Yes very good info but if you want to make and test your own boilies, not everyone has access to a pressure vessel. However with a bit of imagination and the junk found in the average garden shed you can do the required tests.

Good info ref depth/water pressure here too: https://www.properjobpopups.co.uk/water_pressure.php

Korda curve shank, size 4. You won't regret it. 😉