Mike - While I love all the flavors I have used in the K-1 range, I do of course have my favorites. Some I favor in colder or warmer water and some I favor year round, but all I have the utmost confidence in.
Many times this season in snaggy areas or in murky or weedy water conditions I favored pop ups as my go to bait. Pineapple Ice Cream, Scopex, Banana Ice Cream , Toffee Cream & Yellow Cherry 16mm pop ups have worked extremely well for me this year. Not only because of the awesome pulling power of their flavors, but the great bouyancy and visibility in all conditions I fished. Fished just above or three to four inches off the bottom they never let me down.
I also used snowman rigs a lot this year, and using glugged 16mm & 20mm boilies or soluble boilies with a matching or different flavored 16mm pop up has been extremely effective for me as well. Along with the flavors mentioned above Fruity Peach, Mulberry Cream, Juicy Tutti Frutti, Natural Garlic & of course some of the excellent unreleased concept flavors as well have all produced extremely well for me consistently.
K-1 - So lets talk rigs quick....
Mike - That would be a short one. lol All I use is a blowback rig for pop ups snowman and all my bottom baits( boilies and particles)\
The only difference is the hooks i use.
I've honestly been using the Korda and ESP hooks part of the year, but I also used some of the curve shank k-1 earlier in the year, I have always tried to keep my rigs as simple and straight forward as possible. This year I had originally planned on experimenting a lot with several different rigs, but my confidence in the blowback rig in all my bait presentations has grown so much I haven't experimented much further. I use silicone tubing to hold the line above the bait tight in place and eight wraps below the eye of the hook. I've noticed deeper and better hook holds all around and much less hook pulls even when I am moving fish through snags or heavy weed. K-1's EZ SP1 hook in size 2 & 4 is great for snowman rigs. I also find the EZ IN1 hook in size 2 to be a great hook for pop ups and 20mm boilies. I use the EZ IN1 hook in size 4 for 16mm boilies as well as maize.
K-1 - so as the colder months move in.... what are your plans for your winter carping?
Mike - I definitely will be hitting the banks this winter, just probably not a frequent with a lot of my time will be spent with my family. However I am planning to spend some time fishing for numbers and maybe broadening my horizons with a few new tactics as well. Of course I will be on the hunt looking for holding spots for big wintering fish too. My current PB was caught in February so there is certainly a drive there to keep pushing on during the cold winter months.
K-1 - Mike its been a pleasure listening to your out look and direction on your carp angling. On behalf of K-1, Myself and k-1's followers... many thanks for your time and willingness to be so open regarding your angling, bait, rigs and tactics.
Mike - Thank you very much for the opportunity. It's been very enjoyable to be able to share some of what I've learned and have found to be successful. Hopefully some of the things I've said will be helpful to other anglers. K-1 Baits time and time again have come through for me in even the most difficult angling situations. I'm looking forward to another great season next year and am very honored to be a part of the K-1 family