Create your own Squid Goo pink pop-ups just like Elliott Gray uses

The popularity of pink hookbaits has risen massively in more recent years, and with good reason, as in many situations it has proven to be a consistent at catching carp.

You don’t have to go back that many years to when it was typically yellow, orange and red that dominated hookbait choice when it came to baits such as pop-ups, wafters, and even artificial baits, which were designed to stand out against whatever you were fishing them over the top of, including PVA bags.

Pink pop-ups and wafters have been proven to work during Underwater filming

There have been a number of occasions on various Korda videos, including the Underwater ones, where a change to pink can clearly being seen to make a difference to the anglers catch rate – or in the case of the underwater films, how often the carp picks up the pink bait.

Obviously that doesn’t apply to all angling situations at any time of the year, and other colours can be incredibly effective and are sometimes preferred by anglers – for instance, Tom Dove is a fan of yellow pop-ups a lot of the time – but there are definitely some instances where pink pop-ups can be the difference between catching a load, or either blanking or having less bites.

Best time of year to use pink hookbaits

In terms of time of year, pink can be very effective at any time, but seems to be especially good during the spring, and particularly when the fish are starting to wake up and are more receptive to hookbaits that really stand out visually – once they’ve been caught on those types of baits, then they can start to avoid them, and is why later into the summer and beyond, match-the-hatch type hookbaits can really come into their own, especially for the more wary fish in the lake.

It's easy to create your own pink hookbaits

You can of course buy pink hookbaits from companies such as Mainline Baits, and they come in all different sizes, shapes and buoyancies (pop-ups and wafters), but a lot of anglers prefer something which gives off even more attraction and has been boosted by the addition of liquid attractors which will gradually leak out of the bait over time, giving off a much more noticeable scent cloud.

This is easily achieved by soaking your hookbaits in additives, and Kiana Goo is the perfect choice, as not only do they add flavour to your baits, but also colour as well – the result will depend on what colour the bait was to start with, and what you add to it.

Squid flavour has been a proven carp catcher over many years, and when it comes to Goo, Spicy Squid Supreme has been one of the most effective hookbait soaks you can use, and has proven to be a big hit with some of our Team Korda and Mindset anglers fishing for the biggest and wariest carp in the country.

 This Supreme version isn't as thick as the Smoke and has a lower viscosity, so your baits can easily draw it in and soak it up.

Elliott Gray swears by Squid Goo

Elliott Gray swears by Squid Goo – which is bright pink in colour - as a soak for his hookbaits, to the extent that they have become his top choice to cast out, and he simply adds Spicy Squid Supreme Goo to his chosen pop-ups (Scent from Hell), which start off white in colour, and leaves them to soak in it.

This process is repeated several times before the baits are ready to use, and allows the thin Supreme Goo to properly soak into the baits – to the extent that if you cut one in half, you can see just how far into the core it has penetrated.

Obviously, the more Goo that has been soaked into the bait, the more that can then be released, creating a scent trail – plus a visual pink halo – for even longer.

The colour that your bait ends up will depend on what colour the pop-ups, or wafters, were to start with, and for a bright pink colour you will need to use either white hookbaits – as Elliott does – or ones that are already pink.

What is the science behind pink baits

When it comes to exactly how carp see or react to different colours and the like, there is a fair bit of guesswork involved.

But the science seems to suggest that pink is one of the last colours to disappear from a fishes vision, as visibility decreases as the water either gets deeper or more murky, and light availability reduces.

In good light conditions in shallower water, pink is one of the colours that carp will see most easily, and it also stands out well against the lakebed and the colours typically found there – gravel, silt, weed etc.

Of course, you also need to consider the fact that fish can learn to associate things with danger – how long for is debatable - especially if they’ve been hooked on it recently, and it is something that does stand out.

But over the years, the effectiveness of pink as a great colour to use, has been proven to work and with plenty of big carp having been caught using it, so it is worth tracking your own results and obviously there will be some days when another colour works better.

Infuza Pots make it easy to soak your baits

The Korda tackle range even includes Infuza Pots, which have been specially designed for soaking your hookbaits in liquids, and avoiding it from leaking out onto the rest of your tackle!

There are two different sizes of Infuza Pot, small or large, depending on how many baits you want to soak, and the screw top lid is designed to prevent leakages.

All you need to do is add your hookbaits, your chosen liquid – such as Spicy Squid Supreme Goo – do up the lid and give it a good shake. Then give it a further shake every now and again, and add more liquid as necessary, and before long you’ll be left with hookbaits where the liquid has soaked right through to the core – or in the case of Fake Food baits, has impregnated into the plastic.

The Infuza Pots even come with a handy insert which allows you to lift up the baits, leaving excess liquid in the pot, and pick out the ones you want to use, without getting your hands covered in Goo.