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 All
of the pop up range can be whittled and shaped using a sharp
blade to suit a particular job in hand. I would advise to
remove only thin slithers at a time and you should end up
with a very smooth clean cut surface to the bait.
I would advise mounting
an 11mm
pop up on the hair prior to whittling/shaping, as piercing a
7/8mm slither may prove difficult, and the bait may split if
your needle is to large or when you pull the hair material
through the bait.
Fragments of an
11mm
pop up are ideal for popping up/balancing small (10/12mm)
bottom baits.
As a general guide
1 x 11mm
pop up will balance 2 x 14mm
bottom baits, for the perfect snowman presentation, and as
you may of guessed one half of a
11mm
pop up makes a nice top knot for a single 14mm bottom bait.
Don't forget you can
pinch a split shot onto the hair just behind the pop up, or
you can insert some soldering wire into the pop up to
counteract its buoyancy.
 The
13mm pop up range can be whittled down and shaped like a
piece of maize, to be used on its own or mounted under a
piece of real maize and
 fished as a pop up or balanced bait.
This new range of pop ups
will work a treat for all you
choddy & zig
riggers out there. I made the 13 millers with
chod
type rigs in mind.
 I have found that the
best way to cut one of my pop ups in half is to use a sharp
blade.
Failing that I will push
a baiting needle twice though the centre of the pop up, and
then use a sharp blade to follow the line of the pilot holes
made by the baiting needle to cut the pop up in half.
 Prior to tying a firm pop
up on using floss, I will use the side of a baiting needle
shaft to form a shallow groove indentation around the
central body of the pop up, into which I will tighten the
floss. Doing this will ensure that even the most animal long
range casters out there, won’t be fishing with a hook only
presentation.
Counterbalancing Pop Ups
(a guide to
the pop ups performance)
I have carried
out some tests to see what weight was necessary to
counterbalance the buoyancy of my pop ups. The tests were
carried out by passing a looped braided hair through the pop
up and securing with a small hair stop. Split shot was then
added to the hair until the pop up reached a state of
neutral buoyancy. The following is the result of my six
tests:
1/ 1 x 11mm
pop up took 2 x No 4 & 1 x No 6 split shot.
2/ 1 x 13mm
pop up took 3 x No 4 & 1 x No 6 split shot.
3/ 1 x 15mm
pop up took 3 x No 4 & 1 x No 6 split shot.
4/ 1 x 15mm
Mega Buoyant pop up took 5 x No 4 split shot.
5/ 1 x 12mm x
17mm Mega Buoyant pop up took 5 x No 4 split shot.
6/ 1 x 10mm x
15mm pop up took 3 x No 4 split shot.
To test if the Proper Jobs
are suitable to be used on your chosen presentation/rig, I
would suggest that you thread a cork ball onto some hair
material and secure the cork ball with a small hair stop.
Then add the appropriate amount of split shot (as specified
in the performance chart) to the tail end of the hair
material and test the buoyancy of the cork ball in water. If
the cork ball floats you must whittle bits off the cork ball
until it reaches a state of neutral buoyancy. Then transfer
the whittled cork ball to your rig (as the cork ball will
now have the same buoyancy as the size of pop up you matched
it to using the performance chart) and check for yourself if
the buoyancy is suitable for your needs.
TERMINAL VIEWS
Are you a rig person (I
am).I think as a general rule pop up rigs are more efficient
hookers than bottom bait rigs. Pop up rigs can leave there
users more in control of the mechanics of the hooking
arrangement.
Now you must bear in
mind, that when I say pop up rigs I am not necessarily
talking about a pop up rig which is raised any more than
25/30mm above the lake bed, and I generally refer to this
method as a low down pop up rig, which has done me proud on
many waters including silt pits, producing several carp to
forty pounds plus.
 I can remember reading
many years ago, that it was thought that the size of the
hook being used had to balance nicely with the size of the
bait being used ( for example: a 10mm diameter bait = a size
10 hook or a 16mm diameter bait = a size 6 hook and so on ).
Now this in my view is understandable when bottom baits are
being used. But it has
NO
place when pop ups
are the order of the day.
It makes me smile when I
see anglers using little tiny hooks (size 10 or smaller),
fishing weedy lakes which hold forty pound plus carp.
Now confidence plays a
major part in my view and if you are confident using small
hooks long may you continue to do so.
Now to me the most
important element of a rigs design is
IT DON'T TANGLE
and the next most important element is
AS MUCH UNBALANCE IN THE
BUSINESS END AS POSSIBLE
without compromising the tangling issue, and this unbalance
is easier to achieve using the larger hooks sized between
4s-8s inclusive, with 6s being a pretty good all rounder.
It has been my experience
that the sizes of hooks mention above have a much better
chance of finding a secure purchase than a tiny hook, when
the weight of the larger hook is partly negated by the
buoyancy of the pop up being used.
Also you must bear in
mind that I am writing generally about fishing in the UK for
carp weighing from 10-50lbs.
Storage Details
Note:
All
baits have gone through a lengthy air drying process and
they have had no proprietary preservatives added to them and
because of this it is important to look after them with a
bit more care than baits which have had a proprietary
preservative added to them.
Even though the pop ups do not have a proprietary
preservative in them some have natural sweeteners or salt
added and these items will act as a preservative to a degree
as will the preservative qualities of the flavours as well.
Keep all baits
sealed within the container you received them in at normal
room temperature and avoid rapid fluctuations of temperature
as this may cause condensation to form inside the tub.
Keep all baits
out of direct sunlight
Do not keep
baits in the fridge or cool box/bag as condensation will
form inside the tub causing dampness which should be
avoided.
If you should
be out fishing on a damp/miserable day and you are concerned
that some damp air may have got into the tub of baits I
would advise to sprinkle a small amount of Rock Salt into
the tub of baits as this will absorb any moisture present
(Tip: I sometimes keep my pop ups packed in rock salt as
carp seem to love the stuff).
If for any
reason the pop ups should be left out in the rain for a
short period of time tip the pop ups out into an air drying
tray (or similar) and leave in a warm room for a couple of
days to dry and fingers crossed they may be okay.
Basically what
I am saying is follow the above guidelines and keep the pop
ups in your tackle bag/rucksack and they should remain in
good condition for more than one year (some of my friends
are still using a tub or two of proper job pop ups some two
years or more after receiving them and still catching).
Glugging
Guidelines
Glugging the
pop ups over a long period of time will marginally affect
their buoyancy because as a general rule glugging solutions
are denser than water (some friends of mine have had some
proper job pop ups soaking in a solar pot shot for up to a
year now and they say that they have not noticed any
significant loss of buoyancy during this time).
Do not use
fish oils as a glug (as a dip “Yes”) because they will go
rancid over a very short period of time.
As a general
rule most off the shelf glugging solutions act as an
excellent preservative and baits/pop ups can be left in them
for very long periods of time.
If you make
your own glugging solution using a water based and or fish
oil product please be aware that the pop ups may have to be
kept in the fridge between sessions (and in the cool bag
when on a session) and the overall life expectancy of the
pop ups may be greatly reduced.
Please be
aware that if you like to critically balance your pop up (a
pop up which sinks so slowly under the weight of the
counterbalancing shot/putty it seems to take forever to
touchdown on the lake bed) using a heavily glugged pop up,
when the denser glug solution leeches from the pop up, the
pop up will become lighter (more buoyant) and it will rise
from the lake bed leaving its user fishing straight off the
lead. I think it pays to marginally over weight pop ups of
this nature to overcome this potential problem.
Note: The
containers I use to contain the pop ups are not leak
resistant so it would be wise to transfer any pop ups you
intend to soak into a separate leak proof container.
Finally
If you are ever fortunate
enough to have reached a state of mind where you have
absolute confidence in your bait, bait application and rig
designs and all you have to worry about is putting your bait
somewhere, where that big kipper will find it.
THAT’S
A GREAT PLACE TO BE
BE CONFIDENT |
