You will need:
Flour sieve, egg albumin, eggs, base mix, flavours, corks, oil, mixing bowls and fork, small bowl of sunflower oil, a tray, boiling pot, drying tray, patience!
Base mix preparation:
Get a flour sieve, and sieve your mix thoroughly, helping the mix through the sieve with your fingers. Chuck out what remains in the sieve (i.e. the big bits). Add egg albumin at 5% (so 50g per kilo) – with nut mixes it helps to also add whey at 2.5% (25g per kilo) as well as the albumin. You can go higher than 5% for a really hard bait, but you'll find they are more prone to cracking
Cork ball preparation:
Pour some cork balls into a container (empty ice cream tub is ideal, that sort of size). In a cup, crack one whole egg, then crack another egg but only put the yolk in the cup, discard the white (or save it for making the paste, see “paste”). You then have a whole egg plus a yolk in the cup. Whisk with a fork, really well. Tip SOME of this mix over your cork, and stir well. The right amount will leave all the baits well coated, without a great big puddle. Set this aside while you make your paste (this gives time for the egg to partially soak into the cork). Remember for 16mm baits you will need 12mm corks, for 14mm baits 10mm corks.
Paste preparation:
THE MOST IMPORTANT BIT of the whole process so take your time and get it spot on. This volume of egg will give you about 150 – 250 baits depending on the mix and the level of liquid flavours included.
Break two eggs (whole) into a bowl. Add the white that you saved from the cork ball prep, or crack another egg and carefully only add the white. You now have an egg mix that is naturally “heavy” in albumin. You can go even further and use 50% whole egg and 50% white, this will give a really hard bait but they will be a little more prone to cracking.
Add your flavours to the egg. As a general rule
- To match your free baits, use normal levels plus a half (so if it is 1ml per egg, use 1.5ml)
- For extra strong hook baits, use 3 to 5 times the recommended level (works well with fruitier flavours in particular)
Now add a LITTLE bit of oil (with the exception of B5 or a bait that is naturally oily, in which case use no oil at all). A teaspoon full (5ml) is plenty. For fishmeals use either salmon oil, or sunflower oil. For nut use sunflower, rapeseed, sesame. Mix well with a fork.
Add your base mix to the egg mix, slowly, until it is sloppy. Now leave it, for at least 10 minutes, to absorb. Go back to it, and continue adding mix until it is sticky, but you can form it into a ball. Wrap in clingfilm and leave for another 10 minutes. I can't stress enough that you must leave it to absorb, if you don't it will be absorbing liquids while you are working with it and drying too quickly. A good paste will be nice and soft, but not overly sticky, certainly a little softer than if you were rolling "standard" paste.
Go back to your cork balls, give them a stir. They will have darkened a bit and absorbed a bit of egg, if you need to add a bit more of the egg mix to them to really coat them, then do it.
Get yourself organised, you will need a lightly oiled try to put the rolled baits onto prior to boiling, a normal tea try is fine, just give it a wipe with a cloth with some sunflower oil on it, this will stop the baits sticking to it. Also get a small pot of sunflower oil, this will be used to lightly coat your finger tips and helps stop the paste from wanting to stick to you and not the cork ball! Get your boiling pot on the go.
For a 16mm bait, you want to “nip” a bit of paste off the ball of paste you have made, that is almost exactly the same size when rolled round as the 12mm cork ball itself. The easiest way to do that, is to break a piece of paste off, roll it into a sausage that's about 12mm in diameter, then chop it with a sharp knife into little pieces. Roll one of the pieces up – if it's the same size as the cork you're laughing. Work in small batches, keeping the rest of the paste clingfilmed until needed. Take one of the pieces of paste, push your cork (soaked in egg) into it, then carefully pull the paste round it, trying to get a nice even coating of paste all the way round. If you find the paste is sticking to you as you are doing this, and pulling off the cork, start again with a new bit but oil your fingers lightly first.
You will find that the egg on the cork does two things...firstly and most importantly it allows you to slide the paste nicely over the cork without it leaving the cork and letting air in. Secondly it sticks the paste to the cork nicely. The hardest bit is the closure, i.e. when the paste is almost all the way round and you need to join it up to seal the whole lot. Be careful to squeeze any air that you have trapped out at this stage, ideally as you close up you will see the liquid egg off the cork ball be pushed out of the gap, that is perfect if you can do it. Now you have 2 choices, either roll the cork ball by hand, between your palms, until it is round then carefully put it on the tray for boiling, or roughly form it into a ball, and then finish it on a rolling table before boiling – that is better by far.
When you have enough baits, drop them into boiling water for 60 seconds, stirring constantly to keep them moving – if you don't do that they will not cook evenly at all. Don't be too disheartened if some of them distort a little when boiling, as long as they don't really “blow up” you'll be fine....if they do “blow up” (you will notice a huge bulge appear in the paste) your technique is wrong and you have trapped some air between paste and cork when you are making them.
Finishing:
Right so you have your rolled baits. Now you need to dry and finish them. Drying is best carried out in a decent air dry tray (speak to your local farm shop and ask if they have any of th
Flour sieve, egg albumin, eggs, base mix, flavours, corks, oil, mixing bowls and fork, small bowl of sunflower oil, a tray, boiling pot, drying tray, patience!
Base mix preparation:
Get a flour sieve, and sieve your mix thoroughly, helping the mix through the sieve with your fingers. Chuck out what remains in the sieve (i.e. the big bits). Add egg albumin at 5% (so 50g per kilo) – with nut mixes it helps to also add whey at 2.5% (25g per kilo) as well as the albumin. You can go higher than 5% for a really hard bait, but you'll find they are more prone to cracking
Cork ball preparation:
Pour some cork balls into a container (empty ice cream tub is ideal, that sort of size). In a cup, crack one whole egg, then crack another egg but only put the yolk in the cup, discard the white (or save it for making the paste, see “paste”). You then have a whole egg plus a yolk in the cup. Whisk with a fork, really well. Tip SOME of this mix over your cork, and stir well. The right amount will leave all the baits well coated, without a great big puddle. Set this aside while you make your paste (this gives time for the egg to partially soak into the cork). Remember for 16mm baits you will need 12mm corks, for 14mm baits 10mm corks.
Paste preparation:
THE MOST IMPORTANT BIT of the whole process so take your time and get it spot on. This volume of egg will give you about 150 – 250 baits depending on the mix and the level of liquid flavours included.
Break two eggs (whole) into a bowl. Add the white that you saved from the cork ball prep, or crack another egg and carefully only add the white. You now have an egg mix that is naturally “heavy” in albumin. You can go even further and use 50% whole egg and 50% white, this will give a really hard bait but they will be a little more prone to cracking.
Add your flavours to the egg. As a general rule
- To match your free baits, use normal levels plus a half (so if it is 1ml per egg, use 1.5ml)
- For extra strong hook baits, use 3 to 5 times the recommended level (works well with fruitier flavours in particular)
Now add a LITTLE bit of oil (with the exception of B5 or a bait that is naturally oily, in which case use no oil at all). A teaspoon full (5ml) is plenty. For fishmeals use either salmon oil, or sunflower oil. For nut use sunflower, rapeseed, sesame. Mix well with a fork.
Add your base mix to the egg mix, slowly, until it is sloppy. Now leave it, for at least 10 minutes, to absorb. Go back to it, and continue adding mix until it is sticky, but you can form it into a ball. Wrap in clingfilm and leave for another 10 minutes. I can't stress enough that you must leave it to absorb, if you don't it will be absorbing liquids while you are working with it and drying too quickly. A good paste will be nice and soft, but not overly sticky, certainly a little softer than if you were rolling "standard" paste.
Go back to your cork balls, give them a stir. They will have darkened a bit and absorbed a bit of egg, if you need to add a bit more of the egg mix to them to really coat them, then do it.
Get yourself organised, you will need a lightly oiled try to put the rolled baits onto prior to boiling, a normal tea try is fine, just give it a wipe with a cloth with some sunflower oil on it, this will stop the baits sticking to it. Also get a small pot of sunflower oil, this will be used to lightly coat your finger tips and helps stop the paste from wanting to stick to you and not the cork ball! Get your boiling pot on the go.
For a 16mm bait, you want to “nip” a bit of paste off the ball of paste you have made, that is almost exactly the same size when rolled round as the 12mm cork ball itself. The easiest way to do that, is to break a piece of paste off, roll it into a sausage that's about 12mm in diameter, then chop it with a sharp knife into little pieces. Roll one of the pieces up – if it's the same size as the cork you're laughing. Work in small batches, keeping the rest of the paste clingfilmed until needed. Take one of the pieces of paste, push your cork (soaked in egg) into it, then carefully pull the paste round it, trying to get a nice even coating of paste all the way round. If you find the paste is sticking to you as you are doing this, and pulling off the cork, start again with a new bit but oil your fingers lightly first.
You will find that the egg on the cork does two things...firstly and most importantly it allows you to slide the paste nicely over the cork without it leaving the cork and letting air in. Secondly it sticks the paste to the cork nicely. The hardest bit is the closure, i.e. when the paste is almost all the way round and you need to join it up to seal the whole lot. Be careful to squeeze any air that you have trapped out at this stage, ideally as you close up you will see the liquid egg off the cork ball be pushed out of the gap, that is perfect if you can do it. Now you have 2 choices, either roll the cork ball by hand, between your palms, until it is round then carefully put it on the tray for boiling, or roughly form it into a ball, and then finish it on a rolling table before boiling – that is better by far.
When you have enough baits, drop them into boiling water for 60 seconds, stirring constantly to keep them moving – if you don't do that they will not cook evenly at all. Don't be too disheartened if some of them distort a little when boiling, as long as they don't really “blow up” you'll be fine....if they do “blow up” (you will notice a huge bulge appear in the paste) your technique is wrong and you have trapped some air between paste and cork when you are making them.
Finishing:
Right so you have your rolled baits. Now you need to dry and finish them. Drying is best carried out in a decent air dry tray (speak to your local farm shop and ask if they have any of th
In reply to Post #2
Excellent guide thank you, some really useful tips there
Excellent guide thank you, some really useful tips there
In reply to Post #3
Thanks matty , your the man
Thanks matty , your the man
Quality post......... more like this please!
In reply to Post #1
Nice article that one mate. Definitely sticky material.
Nice article that one mate. Definitely sticky material.
In reply to Post #6
Definitely sticky material.
Agreed... Good advice, Matty 
Definitely sticky material.
Agreed...
Good advice, Matty
In reply to Post #7
Definitely sticky material.
Definitely sticky material.
Best advice you will ever read from the best maker of pop-ups ever.
Many thanks, Matt.
Many thanks, Matt.
In reply to Post #2
cheers Ken!!!!!
cheers Ken!!!!!
In reply to Post #1
This is how I do my pop ups now. Awesome.
This is how I do my pop ups now. Awesome.
Hi Matt cheers for the great advice I have been rolling a few pots over the last couple of years really happy with them I just going to roll some fluros for the winter do you know how much base mix to use to make a few pots and the flouro dye I have just been putting my basemix in egg album and my flovours always end up with loads of paste left I do put it in the freezer n re use it is that ok just with the bright ones need to get the dye right for the colour cheers for your help
In reply to Post #1
Good advice. Cheers
Good advice. Cheers
In reply to Post #3
I am thinking about rolling some cork balls but I will not be using them on a chod or a hinge so I don't want them hugely buoyant.
Would I get away with an 8mm cork ball for a 14 mm hook bait?
I am thinking about rolling some cork balls but I will not be using them on a chod or a hinge so I don't want them hugely buoyant.
Would I get away with an 8mm cork ball for a 14 mm hook bait?
In reply to Post #14
That would probably make a nice wafter, 10mm cork would make a better finished 14mm pop up that wont be too bouyant.
That would probably make a nice wafter, 10mm cork would make a better finished 14mm pop up that wont be too bouyant.
In reply to Post #15
Thanks Woody
Thanks Woody