CarpBalls PopUps

RRP £4.00 Per Tub

Anglers are looking for ways of tricking wary fish on their waters, and during the colder months, this task is made much harder with the metabolism of the fish slowing down and the fish not moving about as much to conserve energy. With this in mind, anglers tend to choose brightly coloured, highly flavoured baits to attract and stimulate the fish into feeding, but most of the fish in this country have seen this tactic before, so anglers are now looking at using smaller and smaller baits instead to try and trick the fish into picking the bait up.

CarpBalls are a relatively new company that have produced a range of hookbaits that are both brightly coloured and highly flavoured, yet are available in the smaller sizes compared to the standard 16-20mm sizes. UKMA got wind of these hookbaits and contacted the company to obtain some to put through our testing procedure.

The pots of baits we received were of mixed shapes and sizes, with a combination of tiny little 4, 6 & 8mm round baits, some 10mm round baits and also some dumbbell shaped baits. The larger baits and dumbbells easily held up a size 8 hook with no trouble, and balanced out a size 6 perfectly, with the smaller 6 & 8mm baits balancing a size 8 and holding up a size 10 with the 4mm baits balancing out a size 10 nicely. Some of the tubs had a couple of 14mm baits included and they held up a size 6 hook with no troubles at all.

The make up of the bait contains digestable products so if the bait did come off the hair, the fish would not be at risk of any harm, with a flavour profile that is strong, but not over the top that could cause a fish to be repelled rather than attracted. The colour of the baits did not wash out after 72 hours immersed in water, and the test rigs were held up for over 48 hours before the bouyancy was affected by water ingress.

The CarpBalls baits are available in a wide range of flavours and you can choose what colour you wish to have your chosen flavour baits to be rolled in. The Toffee and Pineapple flavours were extremely attractive to my senses and I would have no problems in tipping off a bottom bait with one of the smaller baits all year round to add a bit more visual atraction in the water.

Because of the sizes of the baits included, these are also perfect for the match angler that wants a small but effective hookbait.