How to balance your hookbaits
Make extra effort to trick them into taking your hookbait
For the shyest and riggiest of carp which have seen it all, you need to make extra effort in tricking them into taking your hookbait. Critically-balanced hookbaits take the weight of the Hair and hook away, making it act more natural in the water. This is a method which is used to great effect when everyone else is using standard bottom baits around you. It can be fiddly to create a balanced bait, but it is well worth it.
Cork plug
Take a nut or boilie drill and drill out a section central to the bait. Do this very carefully because you do not want to split it. Do this three quarters of the way through and then push a matching sized cork plug in and trim it off. If it is too buoyant then trim off pieces of the cork until it is the correct buoyancy.
Shotted pop-up
Shotted pop-ups are a method that many people use with the KD Rig. If you use the correct size shot you can have your bait very critically-balanced off the Hair.
Size ratio
Most 10mm pop-ups take a No.1 to a BB shot to balance. 15mm pop-ups require a AAA shot.