I wonder if anyone can help me regarding bait choice.

I have been fishing quite a difficult lake near St Albans. The lake is predominantly fished for the Carp, but there are some Tench well over 10lbs to be caught. It is stuffed full of small silver fish and ravenous Perch. I have been catching the odd decent Tench on Tincaberry boilies but although they do catch the odd Tench I am not happy with them. The 10mm boilies split a lot despite using the finest needle and also a drill. The pop ups are unusable as they are even worse. Does anyone have any recommendations for an alternative boilie, wafter or popup.

I have a feeling that worms would do well on this water but due to the abundance of small fish and Perch, they are eaten before they even get to the bottom.

I have tried prawns, but again, the Perch love them. Perhaps mussels would be worth a try?