POP-UPS NOT SET IN STONE

QIs there an optimum pop-up size or does it depend on the day or the size of carp you’re fishing for? Can you catch small carp on big baits and big carp on small ones?

A Rick Willeatts: The perception is ‘the larger the fish, the bigger the bait,’ but this isn’t always the case in carp fishing: some of the biggest carp landed in the UK have been taken on the smallest of baits. In 1980, at Redmire Pool, Chris Yates’ 51lb 8oz British record was fooled by just a single grain of corn, for example.

My own personal best was caught using a single white 12mm Mainline Milky Toffee pop-up cast to a showing fish – it felt like the right thing to do and was a little more discreet than casting out a big donkey-choker.

When using a pop-up, be it on a chod or hinged stiff rig, I prefer to use one that’s just buoyant enough to hold the rig up without the need for much putty. If I use a bigger pop-up then I’ll use a bigger hook. If fishing over a tight bed of particles or crushed boilies, trimming a pop-up so it just holds the rig up can be a lot more inconspicuous than a 15mm-18mm fluoro, for example.

Another good reason for changing bait sizes is the presence of bream and tench. In good numbers, both species can undo all our work in setting traps for the carp! In this case I tend to go as large as I feel comfortable with… I’ve used boilies up to 25mm in the past!