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Carp style pop ups

Paul Boyle

Paul Boyle

Senior Member
Dont like the idea of using carp style stuff so lets call them Barbal pop ups:).

Ive been watching a few carp guys :rolleyes:on Youtube using Barbal boilie pop ups for carp,never used them myself but im looking to do so this coming season.As you may have seen they come in all colours ,shapes and size's .

Has anyone ever used them ?

Thoughts please (before the men in white jackets come and take us all away)

Paul(41 days to go )
 
I think pop ups are only useful in still water. Even in a strong tow on a lake they sometimes seem ineffective for carp. It would be very unnatural for a bait to hover above the river bed in a fixed position in a flowing river don't you think?
 
Stuart Morgan used pop ups glued to a long shank hook on the Closer Still DVD. He put a shot on the line above the hook so it sat just off the bottom and hooked the fish in the bottom lip. He said it was the only rig he knew where the hook entered the fish's mouth before the bait! Seemed to work very well.

Stephen
 
Geoff - don't discount the use of pop-ups so readily for river fishing as they do have their uses.

At the back end of last summer I experienced a couple of hook pulls which got me thinking. Why?

At the time the level was as low as it could possibly be and the flow - SLOW.

I figured it likely that fish were not so confident taking a bait and had the luxury of a bit of 'examination' time. A standard bait would be 'glued' to the river bed and not lift sufficiently in this feeding situation giving a poor hook hold. To counter this I stared to fish KD rigs.

http://www.korda.co.uk/rigz/?id=8

This involves using a pop-up critically balanced with a shot on the hair. (The bait is therefore virtually on the deck) Whilst I didn't use a curved hook I was using the variant knotless knot i.e. whipping a couple of times to trap the hair then 'folding' the hair out of the way and continuing to whip down the shank of the hook. This initially solved the problem. Then the rains arrived etc etc., however, come the 16th if the levels are low I'll probably be using this rig again. :D

Steve
 
as mentioned,pop ups can be used to make a balanced bait..ive had plenty of river pigs on a snowman rig too...

luke
 
I've caught plenty of barbel in years gone by while carp fishing with pop ups 12" plus off the deck.
 
Yep, was fishing in an outflow from a power station and the carp were always in there, just wanted a bait in their face so to speak and caught a few Barbel upto 9+ you could see them take the bait.
 
Geoff Blakesley said:
I think pop ups are only useful in still water. Even in a strong tow on a lake they sometimes seem ineffective for carp. It would be very unnatural for a bait to hover above the river bed in a fixed position in a flowing river don't you think?
Click to expand...

Perhaps Geoff

Unless spooked i dont think most barbal will care if a bait on the deck or an inch off it.Boilies are not a natural food source but as carp do barbal will also hoover up baits.I have used Maize and pop up corn before and this has given excellent results.

Thanks for the replys.

Paul
 
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Paul,

Don't be put off by people telling you that a bait hovering off the bottom would seem unnatural to the fish. We had years of people saying exactly that in the carp fraternity, while the believers just carried on quietly catching shed loads on them. It is now almost universally accepted that they are just another method that works at times, and not at others...how familiar does that sound :D

If you are still worried about the principal of fish seeing them as unnatural, think of it this way...the eyes of a fish are on the side of it's head (pike excepted), which means that when they are close enough to the bait to examine it closely, they can't...'cos they have a blind spot directly in front. So...unless they sidle up and view it sideways on, which I doubt they would do...they can't even see that it is not sitting directly on the bottom:rolleyes:

When they locate the pop up by feeling with their barbules...which is how they actually find their food ....they would probably not distinguish between this and an item of food naturally popped up on silk weed, or suspended on streamer weed, debris or whatever. In fact, I would immagine a fair proportion of their food is quite naturally NOT sitting neatly on the bottom when they pick it up.

Think out of the box fella...these are not people, they are FISH :D

Cheers, Dave.
 
David the rivers that I fish on flow
'they would probably not distinguish between this and an item of food naturally popped up on silk weed, or suspended on streamer weed, debris or whatever' -
my point is it does not suspend - it is carried downstream - but I fish yorks rivers.
geoff
 
Geoff Blakesley said:
David the rivers that I fish on flow
'they would probably not distinguish between this and an item of food naturally popped up on silk weed, or suspended on streamer weed, debris or whatever' -
my point is it does not suspend - it is carried downstream - but I fish yorks rivers.
geoff
Click to expand...

Geoff...in my opinion, the answer to your objections to pop ups is in your own post's.

You claim that the flow in faster running rivers would make them ineffective, because it stops them from 'popping up', or being suspended.

Firstly, I do not accept that as necessarily being true, because the current in rivers is HUGELY reduced on the bottom, where the bait will be. It can even be non existent in certain circumstances, despite the raging torrent on the surface.

Secondly, even if it were true, the only effect that it would have would be to lay it flat, thereby transforming the pop up to a standard bottom bait...which is what you use anyway...so what have you got to loose by trying it :confused:

If people insist on refusing to try new ideas on the premise that in theory...in their mind at least...they probably won't work...all I can say is...good luck :D

Cheers, Dave.
 
I have many faults david - one of which is folowing my intuition:-

''''''You claim that the flow in faster running rivers would make them ineffective, because it stops them from 'popping up', or being suspended.''''''

No david - my point is they would hover several inches above the river bed - if the shot/putty is heavy enough- and would oscillate about this position in a very unnatural manner-whereas a free bait wouldmove downstream with the flow- but hey if it it works for you go for it
geoff
 
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I don't think that we can always predict, with certainty, how something behaves - referring to river pop-ups. Common sense will give us an indication, but experimentation is always worth a try.
 
Your right Jim, thought about pop ups a few times. I can see the point on shallow rivers, but deeper rivers there is always more flow at the surface with regards to the bottom, what about depressions too? Also think of a tidal river when it stops, now that could be a winner, you just never know until you try it...
 
I will test it out on my local rivers Jim and let you know how it behaves- although freestone rivers are often the colour of drinking chocolate and driving through like a train. What point are you making about tidal rivers jon?
geoff
 
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Geoff Blakesley said:
I have many faults david - one of which is folowing my intuition:-

''''''You claim that the flow in faster running rivers would make them ineffective, because it stops them from 'popping up', or being suspended.''''''

No david - my point is they would hover several inches above the river bed - if the shot/putty is heavy enough- and would oscillate about this position in a very unnatural manner-whereas a free bait wouldmove downstream with the flow- but hey if it it works for you go for it
geoff
Click to expand...

Hi again Geoff,

The scenario you are describing could only occur if the anchoring shot was placed quite a few inches from the hook, with the rig actually completely exposed to the fast water. In most instances a pop up would be used with the anchor 1" or less from the hook, and in some modern versions on the hair itself, between the hook and the bait.

The type you are describing are more properly called short zig rigs, and I would only even dream of using one of those in virtually still water, for the very reason you give. So you aint wrong there mate:D

The reason most people use a pop up is so that either the hook is suspended JUST off the bottom, keeping it free of debri and in the perfect position for instant hooking on pick-up, or to create a ballanced rig whereby the hook and bait shoot unexpectedly easily into the fishes mouth when it sucks it in, causing momentary confusion and inducing the fish to bolt.

Cheers, Dave
 
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