elmoputney

When I said that I meant it, what I actually bought was 28lb BS Katran wild carp camo😱 I used this 21lb before and quite liked it but I think in 0.43mm thickness it should be pretty tough and still cast OK.

Most companies are just making pop ups tbh either bright alternatives or match the hatch. Most just made from a typical pop up mix, there are only a small % I would class as specialist tbh. As for colours I would very much say they are water/subrate/fish dependant tbh and it's about using the right one for the right situation. I like washed out pink as a colour also. But my biggest commons have been on yellow, also I have caught numerous pike on yellow pop ups which also ties in with the theory that commons are slightly more predatory than mirrors and hunt using their sight to feed more. Might be coincidental but I can't poo poo it as a theory.

Made a couple of 1 egg mixes with the AA Baits super buoyant fishmeal pop up mix, my sausage gun was perfect the last couple of times but I think this mix just expanded a bit more, so the sausages came out a bit big and I ended up with some pillows and odd shapes, but never mind flavour wise they are pretty banging one is scopex, black pepper and bergamot and the orange ones are banana scopex, black pepper and bergamot. They are very buoyant though, and one is holding up my rig nicely next time I will make some matching wafters and I'll have made enough hookbaits to last a life time.

I nearly always used a 13mm or a 15mm with a size 4 although now I'm a home roller they seem to vary in size so will use a size 4 for whatever size I pull out the tub 😂 I use a size 4 trig hammer xt btw which is a pretty big hook. I wouldn't worry mate will be fine.

Why do you want to complain about the line?

I feel like I've heard that story before somewhere. Could you find out what it was and what level please 😂

Thanks Nick what I meant when I asked was what % would I need when adding to my basemix to make a matching pop up? I know it's not going to be exact and basemix dependant I was just looking to see if I could make a food bait pop up with it. AI isn't perfect but it can be a good tool, I've made loads of basemixes from scratch with it just for fun and I would be happy using some of them.

Do you think 10% added to 90% basemix would be enough make a hookbait buoyant though? Or you do you think that means max inclusion alongside other ingredients? I can't help thinking if you could make match the hatch pop ups with 10% everyone would use that tbh.

Yeah I think with egg albumen it would have made them less soluble and firmer but yeah I've learnt I'm not going to bother with cork dust,the AA Baits wafter mix seems pretty good so will use that if I need bright or alternate wafters but tbh i will probably just add some pop up mix next time to my basemix to make wafters. Keep it simple and all that. Is 50% sodium caseinate not too high? I just used Copilot and it recommented 20% max? I know it's AI but it does seem quite useful for stuff like this? I know it also might be wrong though 😂

Maybe keep at least one on a yellow all year then, is that "the big common" 😍 I do kind of agree with the give them a choice kind of hookbait still though. Maybe just tone it down a bit later on in the year, and go for something similar but different if that makes sense. At times I've done quite well on the brown proper jobs. Something a little different but not greatly. Also I've never been one to use the same hookbait on all 3 rods, so I can't ever be conclusive about it 😂

I think that was his go to for a long time but the underwaters have definately made him question it a bit.But I can't speak for him. Thing is Kev without a camera we probably won't know half the times we get done or a carp won't take a bait. We can only go onthe ones we catch. (or not 😂) so the more you use a bright or match the hatch one the more you will catch on them 😬 Another thing I gleaned from a podcast was to change hookbait colour depending on whether you were targetting a mirror or common. Now when I look at my big common captures they have been on a yellow pop up. Maybe to catch the bigger mirrors I need a match the hatch or duller bait. The theory was that commons are more sight feeders than mirrors. Again Just a theory but I might use more match the hatch type hookbaits this year as I want to catch the big mirrors.

Something else that sticks with me is Elliot Grays description of what he wants his hookbait to achieve and that is to give the fish a choice of whether to take it or not. He makes his hookbaits a blatent pink pop up or wafter and by making it the most clearly visible highest attraction bait in the swim. The fish then has the choice. I can see these pop ups doing the same sort of job.

I've not used them myself, they do seem to catch some decent fish though if you look at the catch reports. Now I am making my own bait I know I will probably get into making up some "specials" with coatings and crusts etc at some point, and can see how the process they use makes them the price they are. They seem well thought out IMO and have learnt it's not usually the bait that is the reason for not catching it's usually location, application and procrastination are the main factors for blanking.

I should talk about my recent failure with pop ups 🤣they looked and smelt nice I wanted to try and make some super buoyant match the hatch type pop ups, so I went with 50/50 mix of base mix and polaris, then added 10% cork granules, my flavour combo was banging btw 5ml scopex, 20 drops each of black pepper and bergamot essential oil. Very happy with that. But they didn't really pop up that well and also after 12 hours in water they went soft like a pellet 🤣 I have since bought some AA Baits super buoyant fishmeal pop up mix and my next batch will use the same flavour combo Do any of you add egg albumen into a pop up mix? I think my last mix needed it but I've gone off cork dust so will just be using the pop up mix next time(although I have read this mix can take up to 30% regular base mix and still pop up so will experiment) Just as an FYI I've now made a couple of mixes of the AA Baits Tropaminamino boilies and now they are dried they are still quite soft and smell like a proper carp catcher, I'm starting to really enjoy the process of baitmaking, need to get set up to upscale it a bit but I'm going to have bait no one else is using and that's exciting to me.

Sounds like it could be a great app. Love the sound of the photo part, I would say I'd test it but I don't get much time to fish or catch enough to make full use of it 🤣