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Pop Ups & Boilies
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whataclonker

Posts: 214

#13 25 May 2025 at 4.13pm

In reply to Post #12
"If you can step outside that entire circle of nonsense, your eyes can be opened up to so many things that carp fishing has taught you, that are simply not true"

Wise words.

TCarper

Posts: 4024

#12 25 May 2025 at 3.18pm

In reply to Post #11
I was lucky. I grew up at the start of the magazines. They were brilliant. You had people like Steve Alcott, Rod Hutchinson, and anglers of that kind of ilk telling stories of their angling.

I was transfixed. They were top of the tree anglers. Blokes who went to work, and fishing was their passion. But then slowly EVERYTHING changed. The magazines changed very quickly. They became controlled by Tackle & Bait companies. Nothing more than paid for propaganda.

The anglers telling the stories, became no more than paid for salesmen for these companies. The quality of the anglers went massively downhill. They were no longer top of the line anglers... They were influencers, half of whom were actually terrible anglers if you knew the real reality. But in an age where 'fame' became more & more important, idiots in angling terms end up being elevated by this media as it suits their narrative to sell product.

This has gone on ever since. A whole industry controlled by media. The larger companies instantly move to control any media. It's not about the quality of the product.... It's just about controlling that media, and the narrative. People can be spoon fed information to buy any old crap.

The only reason the hook baits even exist in the first place, is because I was never stained by that media into doing things the same way as everyone else does. From a very early age I chose to completely ignore it all the moment the mags went downhill. I didn't want any outside influence to stain me or my personal fishing. The media everyone follows, programs anglers to do things in a certain way. The reality... The people behind the media, would NEVER be angling on the kind of lakes I would be fishing. So why on earth would I want them to influence me or my fishing? Walk around any lake, even the toughest ones.... Everyone is doing everything the same. Speak to any carp anglers about bait. They all have the same misconceptions that they have been programmed to believe, by the people selling the products to them.

If you can step outside that entire circle of nonsense, your eyes can be opened up to so many things that carp fishing has taught you, that are simply not true. We now live in an age of social media & influencers. Most of it is not real. So much of it is bull****.

But you CAN ignore it. I know it's hard when you love fishing and want to lap it all up. But if you do, you need to accept that you will be influenced to do things in the way that the people who want to sell you crap choose. You will be force fed a diet of what suits them, not what is best for your angling. Anglers will then put those same people up onto a pedestal. More power to anyones elbow who chooses this way. But it's NEVER been the way for me. I've done very well by NOT being involved in all that nonsense. I stay as far away from it all as possible. That might not suit most anglers.... But it has always suited me.

scaley&dark

Posts: 5428

#11 25 May 2025 at 12.29pm

In reply to Post #10
Anything decent, will sell itself

TCarper

Posts: 4024

#10 25 May 2025 at 11.16am

In reply to Post #9
Quote... The only difference mostly nowadays is we are being brainwashed & bombarded by social media & marketing before we go fishing, to say this is the go to method.

You can only get 'brainwashed' because you choose to consume the media. You do have a choice. It's your choice to consume it all or not. I spent my carp fishing life ignoring it all, long before the internet was even invented. It's not a new thing. The magazines were doing the same thing long before. Paid media. Paid reviews. It's all bull****.

Since SHB started, one goal. One plain ethos. No paid full timers to sell the stuff. Normal working family blokes, doing extraordinary things with the product. That's the way to show people what is real.

Social media brings trouble/novice customers. Any product that is worth its salt does not need social media whatsoever. If a product is any good, real carp anglers will find out and use it. Word of mouth is king for long term customers. People chat shat on the internet all day, everyday. You will see companies formed making the most extraordinary claims, without a single photo of a single carp caught on that product over a couple of year period. We live in an age of influencers now where that is possible for them.

For nearly a three year period we completely walked away from all social media. Stopped posting anything. The business trebled in size during that time. People who do not have the 'product', will go out of business within weeks. They need to bombard social media daily. I could walk away from this forum tomorrow, shut down our social media accounts and it would not make a single jot of difference to us in the long run. None whatsoever. It would be a much easier and stress free life to be fair. Very lucky that this is even possible for us.

Only because the product can stand on it's own two feet. Once people see with their own eyes, there is no going back. Do not need an underwater camera, or paid influencers & media to sell that. It sells itself. Anything decent, will sell itself.

scaley&dark

Posts: 5428

#9 25 May 2025 at 10.58am

In reply to Post #1
A top quality out of the bag bottom bait made with fresh ingredients cast out amongst feeding fish, with a sharp hook on a simple, reliable rig will always work as well now in 2025 as it did in 1976.

The only difference mostly nowadays is we are being brainwashed & bombarded by social media & marketing before we go fishing, to say this is the go to method.

Whereas before, we were finding out by our own trial & error and results, or witnessing good/bad results of our friends whilst being on the bank.

TCarper

Posts: 4024

#8 25 May 2025 at 10.19am

In reply to Post #7
It's easy for them to spin the narratives when all of the anglers consume their free media mate.

A lot of the older original bait companies that control all this media.... Don't even get used on the tougher syndicates anymore in the UK... Not UNLESS it's by anglers getting it for free, or being paid to use it. But with a few paid influencers & the media behind them, they can spin a completely different story to the public.

Walk around the elite waters in the UK these days, no one is actually using their stuff anymore unless they are paid too. Because there is much better available. They now target novices, easily led by their media. That's where their customer base is. So as an experienced angler, you should stay as far away from that skewed media as possible. Or you will get stained by it. It's impossible not too.

The underwater camera trend is just the newest way for them to do this for example. Does anyone REALLY believe that you are ever going get shown ANYTHING whatsoever that they are trying to sell you, in a negative light? Of course not. The film will be shot until they get the footage which they require. You will be shown what they want you to see, to sell whatever product they want to sell at that time. It's not real. If you break that down as an intelligent person. There is no honesty there at all. It's not to help you whatsoever. It's just a tool to sell you things.

whataclonker

Posts: 214

#7 24 May 2025 at 10.27am

In reply to Post #5
"If you stop consuming the media constantly Whataclonker, you will not get stained by it mate. You are consuming what they want you see. They all sell coloured chemical cardboard pop ups, so that’s what you are going to see"

I couldn't agree more.

MiniWelsh

Posts: 2248

#6 23 May 2025 at 4.39pm

In reply to Post #1
I use both. Last season I caught more fish on bright baits but a bigger stamp of fish on match the hatch dark wafters. No doubt that either will catch fish if put in the right place

TCarper

Posts: 4024

#5 23 May 2025 at 10.50am

Just for some balance & facts. Our number one best selling hook bait on our website on last months data is still the Garlic Pro-Biotic 2 balanced. Dark, almost black fishmeal colour. 33% pre digested among other things.

Our 4th best selling hook bait is the standard brown S2 with no dye added. Heavy nut colour. Our customers who ask are told that the dyed S2 can NEVER be as good as the original brown S2, as the dyes remove a degree of solubility.

Not far behind is the dark red S3. 33% smoked paprika.

The cured DNA Bug hook baits that we can’t make fast enough are dark, natural colour brown.

All of our hook baits including the colours are 100% food/cork. But modern anglers still like to see that fact with their own eyes. Our sales have always proved that too.

If you stop consuming the media constantly Whataclonker, you will not get stained by it mate. You are consuming what they want you see. They all sell coloured chemical cardboard pop ups, so that’s what you are going to see.

whataclonker

Posts: 214

#4 23 May 2025 at 8.56am

I think it's just trend & companies pushing consultants/celebs to convince us that we need the next new product.

Fishing how you did 20 years ago is probably an edge IMO.

bmthman

Posts: 887

#3 21 May 2025 at 4.57pm

Still mostly use the same bait on the hook as I do loose food. Only use pop ups over a PVA bag of crumb or pellet or single hook bait.

mark1009

Posts: 4544

#2 21 May 2025 at 12.57pm

In reply to Post #1
Old skool, still works, especially later in the year when they've been caught on bright pop ups a few times. As long as the substrate is suitable for a bottom bait.

bmthman

Posts: 887

#1 21 May 2025 at 12.35pm

Just thinking how times have changed since i started Carp fishing in 1976.
For years we did everything we could to make the hook bait match the loose bait in terms of weight and movement.
Now most people fish brown or reddish boilies as loose feed then use bright pop ups as the hook bait, a complete reversal of how we used to view how to catch Carp and trick them up.


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