So what do people think does critical balancing baits or popping them up actually make a difference?

I think critical balancing my aid the fish picking up use bait but in all my tests buoyancy seems to interfere with hooking.

I'd be interested what people think. I'm mostly interested in regard to tench and bream but any evidence etc would be welcome!

Rich

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I like to critically balance just so when a fish passes the bait it wafts up hopefully getting the attention of the fish. In my mind it also helps stop the bait getting buried in the debris on the bottom.

In any situation where fish are just hoovering up food I balance my baits (and the complete hook length/hook) so that if a fish sucks near my bait it gets taken in regardless of whether it was intended or not! Yes it does impair the hooking/pricking but this can be corrected easily(?) by getting a few things spot on with the set up.

Mainly an ultra sharp hook with an in turned point and (sounds easy but can be difficult to work out/choose correctly) getting the hook length length spot on. It needs to be the correct length that will allow the bait to be sucked in but not to long so that it is tight to the lead once in the mouth. A lot easier to do with ultra short hook lengths for carp and tench but a lot harder with bream.

I am no great expert on this but have used plastic corn to tip off real corn or maize with great effect and also rubber maggots to bulk out and "waft" a bunch of proper ones again with good results. I guess if you break the situation down and look at it from a weight point of view then a semi bouyant bait must be lighter to suck in than one of full weight therefore if the bait wafts it probably goes in the mouth that bit easier.

Does it make a difference? I think on balance (da-boom tish) it does for tench and carp because of the way they feed. Not so sure about bream (purely down to lack of experience and results - however both my bream were on critically balanced baits). I use critically balanced baits for tench for the reasons already given, mainly that a fish feeding near the bait will have an increased chance of sucking it up.

I think for this to work properly you need to get the baiting right. If you're scattering boilies about there seems little point critically balancing a boilie hookbait, as a fish would have to intentionally pick up your bait anyway. If you 'mass bait' in a tight spot, especially with little items, then a critically balanced bait stands a better chance of being taken.

I don't worry too much about the finer points of the rigs I use - as long as I feel like I've got the baiting right and am using a really sharp hook and a soft, short hooklength and inline weight of at least 1.5oz, I'm confident enough. When using fake bouyant maggots on a hair for tench, I leave the hair coming off the shank above the point, which probably helps the hook find a hold. But the baiting is designed to get them feeding competitively so if that works it matters a lot less anyway.

The other main reason Terry mentions, allowing a bit to settle over soft debris. I used to use this a lot when carp fishing on estate-type lakes - shallow, silty, lots of overhanging trees and leaf debris. I had some great results by feeding small amounts of hemp and corn along the tree lines of these lakes and fishing these spots in turn, like chubbing. All I used to use was a hook tied direct to the mainline with one piece of real corn and one fake bouyant one straight on the hook. It would sink ever so slowly and come to rest on top of the debris and silt. Rod was placed on the ground and indication was watching the line tighten and pull away. Really exciting fishing!

Another point which may be worth considering is how effective is the pop up used if for example you are using a snowman type presentation. Having been in the water for any length of time, some pop ups can absorb water very quickly and become virtually innefective. Having tried numerous types from different sources, the pop ups that I have most confidence in are the ones from Mistral. I am sure others will have their favourites but these have certainly worked for me when I want a critically balanced boilie presentation. I also favour an inturned hook with a version of Jim Gibinsons line aligner and on some occassions coupled to a hinged rig. As Budgie stated, it can take a bit of time and thought to get the mechanics right in terms of bait, size of hook and hook length.

I dont know if Im teaching Granny to suck eggs here but I take it youve all sussed out how to ensure your baits are critically balanced ALL the time they are out?

No, go ahead

I use fake stuff rather than pop-up baits which I assume achieves that.

If you really want to sit there worrying about it all you can also consider what effect the water density has - does your beautifully balanced bait in the margin behave the same in 10ft of water?

As mentioned if you use a traditional "cooked" bait as a pop up it will eventually loose its buoyancy as it takes on water.Even if you tie it on as opposed to piercing it to put it on the hair. I simply make my own pop ups by moulding the paste around a polystyrene or cork ball before I boil it in the normal way.This gives a bait that looks/feels/smells the same as my freebies.However the thin "crust" of boilie mix around the ball doesn't take on enough water to "drown" the bait.

When I first started "critically balancing" baits the reason was to make the hook bait behave the SAME as the freebies.To do this the balancing did indeed need to be "critical" this was achieved by counter balancing the weight of the hook and the hook length (done with a pre soaked hook length to allow for the difference between wet and dry) the bait didn't have to be balanced (just tied on not pierced) as long as it was in the water (or kept in water) the same times as the freebies. That was true "critical balancing". With pop ups it was slightly more difficult as you wanted the bait to indeed "pop up" but still have the same movement as the freebies.I just couldn't see the point of this,why mess about making a bait behave naturally that due to its presentation didn't look natural?

This and watching carp hoovering food and seeing all the other twigs,detritus etc that went in the mouth unintentionally at the same time kind of put me along the path. Makes a lot more sense to me that if your using a pop up it should be balanced not "critically" but so that it sits on the bottom but the slightest "suck" in its vicinity will take it in to the fish's mouth.I call this an "involuntary take" I dont think you have to go to the lengths that you do with a true "critically balanced" bait ie no need to pre soak the boilie etc just make sure that the balance between the bait staying on the bottom but being buoyant enough to be easily taken in. The same method boilie and I just mould a bit of tungsten putty around the counter balance shot so it can be fine tuned.

For those of you who dont make your own baits then a similar boilie can be made by popping up a shop brought bottom bait either by cutting it in half and hollowing it out,then putting ball in and gluing back together.Or if you prefer use a boilie punch and foam.Obviously the less boilie left around the ball the better and that's why I prefer making my own.

Yes the pressure will affect the buoyancy but with what we are trying to achieve here I dont think it makes enough difference to concern us.

With plastic baits its obviously just a case of making sure your hook link is soaked before you start any balancing.So much easier but not necessarily what we want to use!

Excellent write up Budgie and I think perhaps that critically balanced is a term that causes a bit of confusion. From a personal note, I have been down the line of making my own pop ups using small poly balls and using these in connection with boilies pre soaked in the lake water being fished along with pre glugged alternatives but have never been confident in them as on some occassions and due to the thin wall surrounding the poly ball, they have absorbed water and broken down resulting in the whole rig hanging up in the water. I often fish a snowman on its own or occassionally with a stringer and this method has taken a few fish that move up and down motoway channels at a certain lake . What I do want is to feel confident that the bait presentation still does its job even after a long time in the water and from past experience and many failures I now have every confidence in the pop ups and bait that I currently use, fine tuned with a bit of tungsten putty. I generally use smaller sized baits certainly no bigger than 12mm and more likely 10mm which to my mind reduces the amount of possible water absorption and makes balancing a bit easier. Interestingly, I once had a bait out for three days before a take occured and the pop up was still effective wheras others that I have tried gave up the ghost inside a couple of hours.