ultimate rig guide

A CARPOLOGY AND MAXIMUM CARP PUBLICATION

Th e

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PUBLISHED BY TOFFEE PUBLICATIONS LTD. 65B DUNELM HOUSE, LOWER OLLAND STREET,

BUNGAY, SUFFOLK, NR35 1BY

The

‘ IT ’S OUR GENERATION’S

VERSION OF CARP FEVER’

FOUNDATIONS006 WHAT HAPPENS WHEN…

A CARP STARTS FEEDING

008 WHAT HAPPENS WHEN…

A CARP SUCKS IN

YOUR HOOKBAIT

010 WHAT HAPPENS WHEN…

YOU HOOK A CARP

012 HOOK HOLDS

KNOTS016 GUIDE TO KNOTS

024 SNELL KNOT

WHAT RIG028 THE TAKE-ANYWHERE RIG

030 THE MULTI RIG

032 THE CLAW RIG

034 THE KD RIG

036 THE STIFF COMBI RIG

038 THE MAG-ALIGNER

040 THE CORN-ALIGNER

042 TIGER NUT PLUGGING

044 MULTI HAIR RIG

046 THE BLOW BACK RIG

048 THE CHOD RIG050 THE AGGRESSIVE CHOD

051 THE BREAKAWAY CHOD052 THE HINGED STIFF LINK054 THE WITHY POOL RIG056 THE SIT UP AND BEG RIG058 THE PVA BAG SET-UP062 THE ADJUSTABLE ZIG RIG

THE PRO’S RIGS066 GAZ FAREHAM068 DUNCAN MACLEAN070 ADAM PENNING072 JON ‘SHOES’ JONES074 NIGEL SHARP076 KEVIN NASH

CONTENTS

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

Editor Joe Wright Editorial Assistant Toby Long Design Louisa Cribb Illustration Mr. and Mrs. Smith Design Sub Editor Dennis Bell

Our special thanks to Jason Hayward, Terry Hearn, Gaz Fareham, Ben Gratwicke of Diggerlakes, Lewis Porter and the many tackle and bait companies who supplied us with the information and products to make this book possible.

078 MARTIN LOCKE080 LEWIS READ082 IAN CHILLCOTT

LONG READS084 ON THE DECK BY

TERRY HEARN090 THE DEVELOPMENT OF

THE HINGED STIFF LINK BY TERRY HEARN

096 THE TOOLS OF EFFICIENT RIGS BY JASON HAYWARD

LEAD SET-UPS104 GET MORE FROM

LEAD CLIPS106 THE ULTIMATE DROP-OFF

IN-LINE LEAD SET-UP108 THE HELICOPTER RIG110 THE LEAD SET-UP

ONE-STOP

GUIDE TO…112 UNDERSTANDING HOOKS116 UNDERSTANDING LEADS

HOW TO…118 MICRO-IMPROVEMENTS

WHAT WILL TRIPLE YOUR CATCH-RATE!

INSIDE INFO126 ESSENTIAL GADGETRY

First published in 2011 by Toff ee Publications Ltd, 65B Dunelm House, Lower Olland Street, Bungay, Suff olk, NR35 1BY

Copyright Toff ee Publications Ltd. 2011. All rights reserved. No part of this publications may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopy, recording or any informal storage and retrieval system without permission in writing from the publishers.

“The best rig is one with a bait attached that they really want to eat,” is how rig and bait guru, Jason Hayward once put it. And how true that is. But (and of course it’s a lovely big rounded ‘but’), with every bait manufacturer in the land stating their carp food is better than ‘theirs’, what harm can it do to stack the odds in your favour when it comes to end tackle – i.e. rigs and lead arrangements? It can’t – and hence why this creation you hold before you was born. It’s

the ultimate collection of rigs, advice and ‘how to’s’. It starts by laying the foundations: the basics of how a carp feeds – knowledge which will help you develop and tweak your rigs. This leads onto analysing hook holds – the only sign that will tell you how well your rig is performing. We cover literally every knot known to man. We showcase 20+ of the latest rigs, each featuring clear, easy-to-follow illustrations or crisp-sharp photography. We look at ‘the pro’s’ rigs: Gaz Fareham’s Rig

For A 50; Nigel Sharp’s Stiff Bottom Bait Rig; Lewis Read’s Fatal Rig and many more. We look at lead choice (why) and set-up (when). And finally we have a manual of ‘how to’s’ which will only aid in ensuring you get more bites after carrying them out. What lies within this behemoth of an encyclopedia has taken the featured anglers decades to learn and develop. You’ll have that wealth of knowledge in just 132 pages. Good luck, carp!

FORWARD‘IT’S OUR GENERATION’S VERSION OF CARP FEVER’

FOUNDATIONS...

WHAT HAPPENS WHEN A CARP STARTS FEEDING?THE PROCESSES THAT CARP GO THROUGH DURING FEEDING THANKS TO FISH EXPERT AND DIGGERLAKES OWNER, BEN GRATWICKE

006 ULTIMATE RIG GUIDE

01 “As a carp switches on to feed, chemo-

attraction and stimulation facilitate the initial location (olfactory response.) Also using its sensory organs, such as its barbules to touch and taste its food or if clear enough water it will use its eyes to see the food source.”

02 “Food is taken in to the mouth of the

fish and any debris such as stones, sticks or other unwanted items are sorted out and rejected. Fine silt or sand is expelled through the gill rakers whereas stones and your rig if you have got it wrong are blown out of the fishes mouth!”

03 “Items of food are then passed back

to the pharangyls (teeth) where it is crushed before being swallowed for digestion, as carp do not have a true stomach, the food is digested the entire length of the intestine before exiting the anus.”

04 “Carp will pass almost whole pellets

if they are fed enough only digesting the smallest outer layer.”

007

NOW FLICK THE PAGE TO DISCOVER WHAT HAPPENS WHEN THEY SUCK IN YOUR HOOKBAIT…

FOUNDATIONS...

WHAT HAPPENS WHEN A CARP SUCKS IN A HOOKBAIT?UNDERSTANDING EXACTLY WHAT HAPPENS WILL MAKE WHAT’S TO FOLLOW A DAMN SIGHT EASIER TO UNDERSTAND…


009

01 WHAT HAPPENS FIRST THEN?

Says fish farmer and all-round top angler, Ben Gratwicke: “Once the hookbait is in the mouth, if the fish hasn’t already been spooked, the palatal organ on the upper side and floor of the mouth will trap the food item for sorting. This is when the alarm bells will ring, as there isn’t only a yummy boilie in its mouth, but also a nasty sharp piece of metal. The palatal organ is highly sensitive, covered in taste buds and can enable a carp to sort bloodworm out of silt so any foreign objects are quickly sensed.”

02 DOES ANY OF THAT CHANGE

IF IT’S A BOTTOM BAIT OR A POP-UP? Ben continues, “The only thing that would change is the positioning or perhaps the angle. With a pop-up you can have the hook prone ready for attack whereas a bottom bait is more likely to get sucked in with other bits of debris, so it is vital it has good hooking ability.”

03 IS THIS THE REASON SOME

RIGS WORK BETTER THAN OTHERS THEN? “Most definitely. Having the right hooking pattern/rig type for the job is so, so important, that’s why you will see many of the very successful anglers having their rigs absolutely razor sharp, aligned, tied and balanced to get the best result.” So it’s a case of: right rig, right job.

04 WHAT ABOUT HOOK

HOLDS THEN? “Once your rig is out and fishing, the number different parameters for a hooked fish are endless: size of fish, number of fish feeding at anyone time (competition for food), direction a fish approaches your rig, the make-up of the lakebed you’re fishing on, be it silt, gravel or somewhere in between and also what rig and the confidence in which a fish is feeding. A shy, careful common may just get nicked in the lip, whereas a fat old greedy mirror may wolf down your hookbait and be hooked an inch inside. All these things can play a massive role in where the fish gets

hooked. Just have a think about what you have fishing on the lakebed and the surroundings you are fishing on.”

05 HOW MUCH WATER CAN

A 30LBER MOVE WHEN SUCKING IN YOUR HOOKBAIT? “A 30lber can move a hell of a volume of water, especially if it’s sifting through silt and loose debris after those little bloodworm,” says Ben, “but put it in a situation where a more delicate approach is needed, such as plucking a floater from the surface film and the water movement can be altered to suit. As for the exact volume, I have no idea, but in one suck perhaps up to half-a-litre…”

06 HAVE YOU GOT ANY

INTERESTING EXAMPLES OF A FISH GETTING AWAY WITH IT? “I once watched a fish pick-up my hookbait and rather than bolt off, it stopped still with the hookbait in its mouth, levelled itself which in-turn picked up my 2oz lead off the lakebed. It then violently shook its head,

spun round and shot off leaving my rig in the process and escaping capture. The only indication I got was the line lifting about two-inches. So why didn’t I strike? Well, I was curious to see what would happen and the fish in question wasn’t very big, although after fishing the lake for the rest of the year I learnt that this particular fish hadn’t been banked for three years and I never saw it in the water or on the bank again!”

07 DO YOU KNOW IF IT HAS BEEN

CAUGHT SINCE? “Well, last year, the lake in question very unfortunately had a major fish kill and lo and behold, this fish turned up dead and none of the new members recognised it. From what I could make out, since I left the syndicate in 1995, it had never been captured, so I make that 18 years uncaught! “After my occurrence, I shortened my hooklink to three- to four-inches and upped the lead size and was super careful that my hooks were needle sharp. The result was a run of fish from the lake, including a personal best.”

FOUNDATIONS...

WHAT HAPPENS WHEN… YOU HOOK A FISHEVER WONDERED WHAT HAPPENS AFTER THE HOOK PENETRATES?


Picture captured by Rob Hughes

011

THE FOLLOWING SHOWS

YOU THE PROCESSES A

CARP GOES THROUGH

AFTER GETTING HOOKED.

THIS IS ALL NATURAL TO

THE FISH AND THE ONLY

THING ON THEIR MIND IS

SHEDDING THAT PIECE OF

METAL IN THEIR MOUTH.

01 If the fish is clever, it will shake its head or carefully manoeuvre

and shed the hook, spinning, rolling and rapid mouth movement are other such ways; if it’s not so clever, then its fear time!

02 From this point on, adrenaline will be released. Once

secreted into the bloodstream, it rapidly prepares the body for action in emergency situations. The hormone boosts the supply of oxygen and glucose to the brain and muscles while suppressing other non-emergency bodily processes (digestion in particular). If the fish has a gut full of food some of this will be excreted during the fight.

03 At this point with this added bodily exertion, the oxygen

demand will go up and the fish will respire much harder. Just think if you had run around as fast as you could for five minutes and then shoved under water how do you reckon you would act? Always think as if you were the fish!

04 Once landed, if held in a sack, the fish will often lighten

in colour as added blood is in the muscles and skin. Had a fish that will not sit still on the bank before? This is all down to its natural instinct to escape, so take your time and try to calm the fish by covering its eyes and keep it nice and wet to minimise damage to the skin.

NAILED!

ANALYSING HOOK HOLDSUNDERSTANDING WHERE YOU’VE HOOKED YOUR LATEST BRUTE IN THE MOUTH WILL TELL YOU A LOT ABOUT HOW YOUR RIG IS PERFORMING, AS JASON HAYWARD WILL NOW EXPLAIN…

FOUNDATIONS...


HOOK HOLD 2

As before but with the hook further back inside the mouth, but not

necessarily in the centre, possibly with some evidence of the hook tearing before

fi nding a more secure hold nearer the lips.

EVALUATION“This is trickier to evaluate. It could represent a confi dent feeding fi sh and/or it could be that the fi sh has cautiously sucked in/eaten

the bait, before slowly moving onto the next food item. This type of hook hold is common when fi shing with a spread of bait,

normally boilies, with a carpet of small particles. This is often a good secure hook hold, but to improve it further, try lengthening

the Hair slightly and/or shortening the hooklink an inch or two.”

HOOK HOLD 1

Fish hooked in the bottom lip, not too close to the edge, up to one-inch inside in the mouth, dead in the centre.

EVALUATION“This is just about as perfect as you can get it! This hook hold will be as secure as you can get in the carp’s tough bottom lip, therefore causing as little damage as possible. “Fish hooked in this manner indicate a confi dent pick-up, with the rig mechanics working well. This is also an indication that your baiting situation is probably spot on as well. DON’T CHANGE ANYTHING!”

013

FLICK THE PAGE FOR MORE HOOK HOLD ANALYSIS…

EVALUATION“A diffi cult one, as nothing

maybe wrong and everything is working well.

When using very sharp hooks, it’s sometimes

the case that you start to experience some very bizarre, yet secure hook

holds. If you pick-up a highly, well-sharpened

hook and imagine it bobbing around in a carp’s

mouth, you immediately realise that there is a huge

possibility of it catching hold anywhere within

the mouth. “If you are using anti-

eject rigs, then hook holds can indeed be irrational.

Let me qualify the above sentence: I am not naïve

enough to believe that there is a rig out there

that 100% cannot be ejected, but carp, without a shadow of a doubt, fi nd some rigs harder to eject

than others, so that makes them anti-eject doesn’t it?!

This type of hook hold is an ‘anomaly’ in that it can

and does happen, even though we set our rigs up

so that it shouldn’t!”

HOOK HOLD 4

Inside the mouth, but not in the bottom lip or scissors.

HOOK HOLD 3

EVALUATION“This is where it gets tricky but also very interesting. There is a distinct possibility that you may have been unlucky with this hook hold. The stark reality is very simple: the hook just didn’t go far enough into the carp’s mouth! The fi sh may have moved as soon as it sucked

the bait in or tried to eject the rig or shook its head and the hook just nicked home. “My fi rst call of action would be to lengthen the hooklink by around two-inches. If I was using a longish Hair this would be shortened slightly by half-inch increments and I would also look at the possibility of critically-

balancing the rig or the hook. A change to a slightly smaller hook may also be considered but personally I am of the opinion that a bigger hook is harder to eject than a smaller one, so adjusting the buoyancy of the bait/hook/rig would be considered fi rst. The addition of a simple line-aligner would also help.”

Hooked on the edge of the lips, not securely hooked.

FOUNDATIONS...


HOOK HOLD 5

EVALUATION“Hooking carp in the scissors is a very com-mon occurrence, but unfortunately can also be one of the most damaging places to hook the carp, which if we are in a position to change, then we should. We have all seen the pictures of ‘parrot-mouthed’ carp and

this is generally occurring when anglers use very fi ne soft braids as hooklengths in conjunction with small hooks, often with small particle baits and/or the waters are very weedy and the fi sh are often bullied in or get weeded up frequently during the fi ght. “Carp caught in this

manner are often feeding on smaller type baits or from very tightly baited areas. The fi sh are hoo-vering up large amounts of food and moving to the next mouthful whilst chewing and the hooklink is tightening against the lead and the hook is catching a hold in the corner of the mouth.

“This is very simple to remedy, as a small shortening of the hooklink (I start in two-inch incre-ments and then work from there) and the inclusion of a small curved piece of shrink tube or a line-aligner at the hook end usually gets the hook go-ing back into the bottom of the mouth. Nailed!”

Hooked in the scissors or very close to the corner of the mouth.

015

HOOK HOLD 6

EVALUATION“Another anomaly this one. It can very often happen when fl oater fi shing, particularly at close-range. The fact we hook most of the fi sh we catch in the bottom of the mouth proves that the rig mechanics are working, in conjunction with the lead set-up. Years ago, before we dare put any lead on the line for fear of the carp feeling the resistance and blowing the bait out, the majority of the fi sh landed were hooked in the top lip, as we had to pull our hooks through the bait on the strike. It’s a strange one this.”

Hooked in the upper part of the mouth

HOOK HOLD 7

EVALUATION“Sadly, we are always going to lose fi sh on

occasions. This not knowing whether we

will land our prize or not is one of the fascinating aspects of our sport. Whilst

angling experience is one of the most im-portant tools we can

use to our advantage, it’s something you

cannot buy or learn without some heart-

ache, but thinking about your rigs and

learning to adapt and problem solve in any

given situation will without doubt put

you on the right path to thinking for your-self and becoming a

better angler. One thing I’ve said before, but is defi nitely worth

repeating is, “The best rig in the world

is a bait the carp REALLY want.”

Or not as the case may be…

ULTIMATE RIG GUIDE

KNOTS...

016

13KNOTS-

YOUR GUIDETHE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN

SUCCESS AND FAILURE IS

VERY SMALL… 001 Firstly, create two Figure-Of-Eight Loop Knots, one

end of both materials.

002 Thread one of the loops through the middle of the

other Loop Knot.

003 Take the tag end of the same length and pass it

through the middle of the loop.

LOOP-TO-LOOP CONNECTIONLoop-To-Loop connections are easy to do and are used to attach lines and hooklinks to swivels and leader loops. Most anglers use it to attach loops on your main line or hooklinks to swivels and other rig components.

004 Gently pull the two lengths together; they will

need teasing over the knots.

005 The knot should look like this when it has been fully

pulled down.

017

The Albright Knot is a simple and easy knot to tie once you have got the hang of it. It is used when attaching a supple braid to a stiff fluorocarbon in a Combi Rig or when attaching a mono or fluorocarbon leader to your main line.

ALBRIGHT

KNOT

001 Firstly, double over your fluorocarbon

hooklink so that you have a neat loop.

003 Wrap the supple braid around the

two pieces of fluorocarbon six times.

004 Now wrap the supple braid back

down towards the loop four times.

005 Thread your braid back through the

loop the opposite way from when you started.

006 Moisten the knot and gently pull all

of the ends to tighten the knot down.

002 Thread your supple braid

through the middle of the fluorocarbon loop.

007 Trim off any excess so that you

are left with a neat and very strong knot.

008 Here is your finished knot

ready-to-go! It’s awesome and it won’t let you down!

001 Form an open loop (A) in your

chosen leader material like we have done here.

002 Now take your main line and

pass it through the open loop (A).

003 Pass the main line over the

leader material 10 times as shown here.

004 Next, make six turns of

the main line back over the previous 10 turns and back through open loop A.

005 Using finger and thumb,

gently push turns of main line to knot A to form knot. Always wet before ‘bedding’ down.

MAHIN LEADER KNOTThe Mahin Leader Knot is, as its name suggests, perfect as a shockleader knot. Although it’s a very small knot (which is brilliant as it flies through the rod rings very cleanly), it’s incredibly strong and comes recommended by a great number of the country’s finest long-distance casters. It’s also one of the easiest leader knots to tie - an Overhand Knot, ten turns, followed by six over the top of those and then back through the original loop. Simple!

A

001 Firstly, take your two pieces of line and run them side-by-side

to each other. 002

Create a loop using one piece of line running next to

the other piece. 003

Go around the other line and through the loop five times,

Grinner Knot style.

004 Moisten the knot and pull it down against the line, don’t

do this too tightly. 005

Now, flip the knot around, so you have the knot to your

left-hand side.006

Repeat the process again, but this time using the other

line against the main line.

007 Moisten the knot down against the piece of line but

don’t do this too tightly.008

Now slide both of the knots towards each other until they

meet in the middle. 009

Finally, trim off the tag ends so you are left with a lovely

neat knot.

KNOTS...


BACK-TO-BACK GRINNER KNOTThis is similar to the Back-To-Back Blood Knot but uses a Grinner instead. This is another good knot for attaching leaders to your main line and is fairly easy to tie, along with been very reliable, so it will cope with long, heavy casts.

HOW TO TIE THE PERFECT SPOOL KNOT EVERY TIMESome guys are flummoxed by a Spool Knot, often opting for a knot that doesn’t really offer the same values as the knot purposely-designed for the job in hand. It really is very easy. (1) Pass the end of the line around the spool on your reel. (2) Pass the line over the line again and wrap it over itself four times. (3) Now pass the line back through the loop you originally made. (4) Wet the knot and pull tight before trimming the end. (5) Start reeling to load your spool.

019

001 Pass your line through the eye of a swivel.

002 Wrap the tag five times up the line.

003 Put the tag back through the loop next to the swivel.

004 Moisten, pull down and trim off the tag end.

BLOOD KNOTThe Blood Knot is a brilliant knot and can be used in a lot of situations. This is a very basic knot and is used for attaching your main line to loops on leaders and swivels. It is very easy to tie and is often the first knot an angler is taught.

The Knotless Knot to leadcore is another awesome method of attaching your main line to a leadcore material. This knot is very small and neat, making it more streamline and aerodynamic. It is fairly easy to tie and once done a couple of times you won’t go back.

KNOTLESS

KNOT LEADCORE

001 Firstly, push the sheath back to

expose around four-inches of inner core.

002 Take a sharp pair of rig

scissors and cut off the four-inches of lead.

003 Slide the inner sheath back

where the lead used to be, so it is supple.

004 Take a splicing needle and

push it into the sheath where the lead ends.

005 When the needle is out

the end of the sheath, take a hold of your line.

007 Wrap the sheath around

the outside of the loop and back through.

008 Repeat this process three

or four times as we have done here.

010 When the knot has been

pulled down, trim the tag end off.

011 And there you have the finished Knotless Knot Leadcore Knot (a mouthful!). It’s

incredibly strong, and is both very user and fish-friendly. Use leadcore - use this knot!

006 Pass the end of the leadcore

through the loop you’ve created like so.

009 After you’ve been through

the loop, start to pull the knot down.

KNOTS...


003 Pass the tag end around the line

and through the loop as shown in the illustration.

004 Do this five times; this will

make the knot really strong and reliable.

005 Gently moisten the knot and pull

it down gently so it beds down nicely.

006 Slowly slide the knot back up the

line to the swivel; it should look like this.

002 With the tag end create a large

loop next to the line going to the swivel.

007 Finally trim off the tag end and you have the finished Grinner Knot.

GRINNER

KNOT

001 Double a good length of the

material back on itself so you have lots to work with.

003 Take the loop around the back

of the two running lines as shown in the illustration.

004 Now put the end through the big

loop and gently moisten and tease down.

005 Fully tighten the loop down and

trim off the excess tag end as shown here.

006 Here is your finished knot.

This is awesome for quick-change systems.

002 Take the doubled over end section

and bring it around to create a loop.

FIGURE-OF-EIGHT-LOOP KNOTThese are easy to tie and are very secure knots. Lots of people use them in their hooklink materials so they can use a quick-change system. The loop also gives added movement to the presentation, resulting in better hook holds.

001 Firstly, pass your line through the

swivel (or hook eye) twice in the same direction.

Grinner Knots are very versatile and can be used in a lot of angling situations. They are easy to tie and are very often referred to as one of the most secure knots going. They are most commonly used to attach your main line to swivels, loops and hooks.

021

A Needle Knot is another knot you can use to attach your main line to a leadcore material. This is a very safe and easy knot to tie; the diameter is small so it still allows beads and swivels to pass over it easily, ensuring it is a safe set-up.

001 Firstly, push the sheath back to

expose around four-inches of inner core.

002 Take a sharp pair of rig scissors

and cut off the four-inches of lead.

003 Slide the inner sheath back

where the lead used to be, so it is supple.

004 Take a thin splicing needle

and push it into the sheath where the lead ends.

005 When the splicing needle is out the

end of the sheath, take a hold of your line.

007 Wrap the line six times around

and down the sheath of the leadcore.

008 Do five turns back up the

leadcore in the opposite direction as previously.

010 Pull the line and the leadcore in

order to tease the knot down tightly.

011 When the knot is fully tightened

down you will need to trim the tag end off.

006 Pull the line back through

the sheath and out of the other side, as shown.

009 Thread the line back through the

loop where it comes out of the leadcore.

012 There is your finished Needle

Knot. Super strong and really reliable.

THE LASSOING HAIR An ultra fine Hair that means you can change your bait within seconds

KNEEDLE

KNOT

001 Tie your normal

Knotless Knot Hair rig, but make the Hair loop around two-and-half-inches.

002 Pass your

chosen hookbait onto the Hair via a baiting needle in the normal manner.

003 With the

hookbait (boilie) mounted onto the baiting needle, push it onto the Hair.

004 Now, take

the base of the Hair and pass it around the bait as shown in the illustration.

005 And finally,

to secure the bait, pull it down tight and this will lock it into position. Done!

001 Firstly, take your two lines and have them running side-by-side

to each other, with plenty of excess. 002

Take your main line and wrap it five times around your leader

and pass it back before the first wrap. 003

Now do the same with the leader and pass it back through

the same way as the other tag end.

004 Moisten the knot and gently pull the main line, leader and

the tag ends to bed the knot down.005

Slide both of the knots down so they butt-up against each

other neatly and trim off the tag ends.006

Here is your finished knot. It will never let you down when

it comes to a leader knot.

BACK-TO-BACK BLOOD KNOTThe Back-To-Back Blood Knot gives you a secure and neat leader knot. These are perfect for attaching two pieces of monofilament together or for attaching a fluorocarbon leader to your main line.

KNOTS...


The Palomar is a very simple yet extremely effective knot for use with hooks, leader loops and attaching line to swivels etc. The Palomar is very secure giving no slippage if bedded down correctly. This is one that many anglers favour and have confidence in.

001 Double over your line and pass it through the swivel

as shown. 002

Now create a simple Overhand Knot but don’t

bed the knot down!003

Pass the swivel through the large loop at the end of

the line.

004 And this is how your knot should look at the moment...

Almost there...005

Moisten the knot and very gently pull it down towards

the swivel.006

Finally, you need to trim off the tag end leaving a tiny

amount of excess.

PALOMAR

KNOT

KNOTS...


TERRY HEARN’S SNELL KNOTI.E. THE BEST KNOT TO USE WHEN TYING YOUR CHODDIES OR HINGED STIFF LINKS

SO: IT’S CALLED THE SNELL KNOT AND

IS RATED BY THE LIKES OF HEARN

AND ELLYATT AS THE BEST KNOT FOR

ATTACHING THE HOOK, SIMPLY BECAUSE

IT GRIPS THE SHANK SO TIGHTLY AND

DOESN’T TWIST. PLUS, THE TAG END TO

FORM THE ‘D’ AND THE SECTION THAT

EXITS THE EYE ARE BOTH IN LINE SO IT

DOESN’T KICK THE HOOK OFF AT AN

ANGLE AS CAN WITH A KNOTLESS KNOT.

IT ALSO MAKES IT EASIER TO RETAIN OR

SET THE CURVE.

TO TIE THE ‘TERRY HEARN STYLE CHOD

RIG’ YOU NEED THE FOLLOWING ITEMS:

20LB ESP STIFF BRISTLE FILAMENT, SIZE 5

ESP STIFF RIGGERS, FLEXI-RING SWIVELS

(SIZE 11), RIG RINGS, LIGHTER, BAITING

NEEDLE, SCISSORS AND BAIT FLOSS. AND

NOW HERE’S HOW TO TIE IT…

002 Now make a big loop, large enough to get

two fingers through. 003

Like so.

004 Put the loop under tension and then by

twiddling your fingers, begin to whip the bottom section of the Bristle Filament loop around the hook’s shank, at the same time trapping both the top two pieces of Bristle.

005 Whip over the Bristle and shank as shown

at the same time as keeping everything tight.

006 It’s all in the twiddling of the fingers, this

is where a lot of people have problems, but once mastered it’s really easy. I’ve tried to keep the turns loose so you can see them more easily, but you want to keep them tight.

007 I usually go for seven turns on a size 5 Stiff

Rigger and eight turns on a size 4.

001 First off,

take your Stiff Rigger and 20lb Stiff Bristle Filament and pass the line through the eye of the hook as you normally would.

START

025

010 Obviously as you tighten, the loop will

become smaller. To avoid the loop from twisting round on itself, it’s best to keep your finger in the loop right until the very last moment as shown here.

011 Next bit is pretty important as well. Rather

than risking damage by pulling the knot down to the eye with the Bristle Filament, I tease the knot down to the eye with my fingernails.

012 Once the turns have been slid down to the

hook’s eye, it’s time to tighten fully. This is easiest with a baiting needle.

013 Pass a rig ring onto the tag end before you

pass it back through the eye of the hook.

014 Blob and then cool with the end

of the lighter.

015 I think the end result is a much neater knot

without the last wrap crossing all the turns as it does with a Knotless Knot. As a plus, it’s also a tighter, more secure feeling knot. Once the pop-up is tied on, it’s easier to twist/set the loop at the correct position and there it stays no matter how far you’re casting. The downside: it’s definitely more tricky to teach somebody how to tie compared with the Knotless Knot.

008 Keeping the loop tight with my big

finger, I then trap the knot turns between finger and thumb and then begin to tighten the knot by pulling the opposite end with the Bristle spool still attached. This is done downwards as shown in the next picture, as I think this helps reduce damage to the Bristle Filament. Obviously the knot is first wetted before any tightening.

009 As you can see, I’m tightening with my left

hand and rather than pulling the knot tight in line with the hook’s shank which creates a sort of ‘S bend’ where the Bristle Filament travels through the hooks eye, I’m instead tightening with a gentle downwards pull and this seems to create a kinder, less damaging angle on the Bristle Filament.

FINISHED

KNOT

027

WHAT

RIG?

FEATURING…028 THE TAKE-ANYWHERE RIG030 THE MULTI RIG032 THE CLAW RIG034 THE KD RIG036 THE STIFF COMBI RIG038 THE MAG-ALIGNER040 THE CORN-ALIGNER042 TIGER NUT PLUGGING044 MULTI HAIR RIG046 THE BLOW BACK RIG048 THE CHOD RIG050 THE AGGRESSIVE CHOD RIG051 THE BREAKAWAY CHOD RIG052 THE HINGED STIFF LINK054 THE WITHY POOL RIG056 THE SIT UP AND BEG RIG058 THE PVA BAG SET-UP062 THE ADJUSTABLE ZIG RIG

WHAT RIG...

‘TAKE-ANYWHERE-RIG’AS THE HEADLINE SUGGESTS – FROM THE CAR PARK LAKE TO THORPE LEA…


��Although this rig is very unlikely to tangle, adding a small PVA

bag or stringer will help combat this even more. The added weight

keeps the rig and main line/leadcore/tubing apart during the

flight and descent.

RIG TIP

029

001 A coated hooklink, such as the one used here, will help

you create a take-anywhere-and-catch-rig that won’t tangle.

002 To start, either using your nails or a stripper tool,

remove about three- to four-inches of the outer plastic-type coating.

003 Next you need to tie a simple Overhand Loop Knot

in the exposed braided bit – this is your Hair loop.

004 Before you attach the hook, thread on your hookbait and

secure. By doing it this way ensures you get the Hair length correct.

005 Now take a 3mm length of either 0.5 or 0.7 (it depends

how tight you want it) of silicone and pass it onto the hooklink material.

006 Taking a long-shank type hook, carefully pass the point

through the silicone, making sure not to pierce it…

007 With the hook point through the silicone, thread the tubing

around the bend and onto the shank, finishing with it level with the point.

008 It’s now that you can set the length of Hair you want to

use. Ideally you want a Hair length of about half-an-inch to an inch.

009 To secure the hook, simply whip on using the ever-

reliable Knotless Knot. Finally, you need to tie on a swivel.

WHAT RIG...

THE MULTI RIGTHINKING-ANGLER, LEWIS PORTER IS NO STRANGER TO CATCHING BIG CARP AND WHEN HE FEELS A POP-UP IS NEEDED TO FOOL ONE THEN HE WILL OFTEN PUT HIS FAITH IN ONE RIG AND THAT IS THE MULTI-RIG…


001 Above are all of the components that Lewis

Porter uses to construct the Multi Rig.

002 Cut a 13-inch length of Coretex and tie

a 1.5-inch Overhand Loop in one end.

003 Carefully thread the loop thread the front

of the eye of an SR hook as shown here.

THE MULTI RIG IS A STUNNING BIG FISH SET-UP, HAVING NAILED MANY OF THE UK’S LARGEST CARP, BUT IT’LL STILL WORK ON ALL MANNER OF WATERS

031

004 Next, thread an Oval Rig Ring onto the loop,

as illustrated in this picture. 005

You will then need to pass the bend of the

hook through the loop, like this.

006 Create a ‘D’ eff ect on the shank of the hook

so you are left with this. 007

Tie your chosen 15mm pop-up onto the rig ring

with some Bait Floss.

008 Remove 2cm of coating above the knot and

then mould some Hi-SG Putty around it.

009 You should then be left with a highly

eff ective rig that looks just like this beauty!

001 Take a length

(four- to fi ve-inches) of your bait fl oss and tie a simple Overhand Knot in it as shown.

002 Next, slowly pulling

the two tag ends, teasing the loop that you’ve formed down to size.

003 Now place your

chosen pop-up into the loop and carefully pull the loop down around the bait.

004 To connect it to the rig

ring, pass one end through the ring and then form another Overhand Loop. To secure, pull the tags end and watch the knot slide down towards the ring.

005 Pull tight and tie and

couple of Granny Knots for extra security. Next, trim and carefully using a lighter, blob both ends of the bait fl oss to form small bulbs. Easy and it won’t come off !

HOW TO...TIE ON A POP-UP – THE EASY WAY

“I mould the putty in

this shape around

the knot to create an

anchored eff ect.”

WHAT RIG...


THE CLAW RIGTHE RIG TO BE ON WHEN IT COMES TO BOTTOM BAITS

001 This is all of the terminal tackle you

need to create the Claw Rig – the super eff ective bottom bait rig.

002 Now strip several inches of coating

off so you are just left with the inner supple braid for your Hair.

003 Tie a Hair loop to attach your bait

and then thread your bait onto a baiting needle and onto the Hair.

004 Once the bait is in position you need

to secure it using a bait stop. You can then gauge the Hair length.

005 Cut two short pieces (5mm) of

silicone tubing and thread it onto the hooklink material like so.

006 Take your hook, in this case a

Korda Kaptor and remove the protective cap and discard it.

007 Pass the hook point through the two

pieces of silicone (be careful not to split it) and pass the end through the eye.

008 Set the Hair length at an inch to two-

inches and secure the hook using the Knotless Knot set-up.

009 Thread a 1.5cm piece of shrink

tubing down the hooklink and position it over the eye of your hook.

SHOPPING LIST

001 Size 6 Wide Gape hook002 Atomic Tackle Jel-E-Wyre

hooklink material

003 0.5mm silicon tube004 Shrink tubing005 Rig putty

THE CLAW RIG IS PERFECT FOR FISHING WITH STRAIGHT-OUT-OF-THE-BAG BOTTOM BAITS. THE PIECES OF SILICON POSITIONING THE HAIR AROUND THE HOOKS SHANK, COUPLED WITH THE SHRINK TUBING AND LARGE PIECE OF PUTTY MAKE THIS RIG EXTREMELY EFFECTIVE.

033

“It’s something that I first started adding to my rigs six years ago. On one particularly hard, low stock Oxford lake, I tried it and started catching tench – that in itself was an eye-opener because any tench captures were very rare. A short while later I captured a carp that had gone uncaught for seven years and at just under 39lbs it was a very special capture indeed. That was in 2005 and I have used it to good effect ever since. “The thinking behind it is simple enough: I wanted to use a fairly long hooklink and I was concerned that carp may not hook themselves properly. Basically I wanted to cause them problems independently of the lead coming into play. The idea was that with the hook and bait taken into the mouth, the lump of putty would provide small but constant downward pressure on the hook point, helping it to find a hold and also helping it maintain a hold once the point had pricked the skin. I recall watching a carp nail itself when I was testing the rig in the margins of The Blue Pool – I used a long curved length of shrink tube on the eye of the hook, a piece of silicone to trap the Hair well around the bend and a long combi rig where I had pinched a big shot just above the joining mini rig ring. The fish picked up the bait and started shaking it’s head but the lead didn’t move – that told me the rig caused them problems well before the lead was supposed to do its job. “I started to increase the shot size and then changed to putty because it was more streamlined and neater. As a rule of thumb, mould the putty around a Sinker or rig ring about an inch-and-a-half below the hook eye or the end of the shrink tube if you are using it. You can use a fair size lump too; maybe 10 x 5mm. Give it a go, it won’t catch you any less carp, of that I am certain!”

RIG TIPADAM PENNING ON WHY ADDING A LARGE LUMP OF PUTTY TO THIS RIG WILL INCREASE YOUR CATCH-RATE

010 Very carefully shrink the tubing

down by placing it in boiling water or using the steam from a kettle.

011 Now thread on a Korda Sinker

to where the coating separates from the supple braided section.

012 Take a piece of rig putty, flatten it

between your fingers and hold it underneath the Korda Sinker.

013 Wrap the rig putty neatly and evenly

around the Sinker, making sure it is really neat and balanced.

014 Trim the hooklink to the length you

want and tie a Figure-Of-Eight-Loop Knot in the end like so.

015 And finally: make sure the silicon is

right around the bend of the hook: it kicks over far quicker like this.

006 Korda Sinker007 Baiting Needle008 Scissors

009 Bait stops010 Bottom baits011 Stripping tool

WHAT RIG...


THE KD RIGTHE RIG THAT LOOKS TOTALLY WRONG BUT WORKS TOTALLY RIGHT

“I first used this rig over at Redesmere years ago,” says Ali Hamidi, “I thought it was my own secret rig! I then forgot about it until we started developing the new Kurv Shank hook; this pattern is ideal for this rig so when the first batch of samples turned up, I got straight back on to it. It wasn’t until Adam Penning saw me unhooking a fish that he said, ‘That’s no secret rig, that’s the KD Rig!’” KD actually stands for Kenny Dorsett – the Essex carp legend. “You know you’re onto a winner if you’re using a rig the same as his,” chirps Hamidi. “You need to use a balanced bottom bait with the KD Rig. With standard rigs which are fished with a balanced bait, you’re making the heaviest part of the hook (the bend and point) the lightest part. Whereas on this rig, because the Hair is coming off the eye of the hook, you’re making the lightest part (the eye) even lighter. Now the hook is going to hang down really aggressively and with the eye being lifted up it’s always trying to prick them in the bottom lip. Here’s how to tie it…”

001 All you need to tie the rig is: a Kurv hook,

Supernatural, a small pop-up and a split shot.

004 Push the tag end through the eye of the

Kurv Shank hook like so. It works best with a Kurv.

007 You then need to hold the Hair out and begin

to whip five turns underneath it, like so.

��Because of the long Hair and the way it sits, there’s every

chance it could wrap around the shank of the cast, so make sure you PVA tape it or use

two bits of dissolving foam to trap it.

RIG TIP

035

002 First off, tie a Hair in the Supernatural braid

by creating a simple Overhand Knot like so.

003 Slide a small pop-up, normally a 12mm

version, onto the Hair and fix in place with your Hair stop.

005 Judge the length Hair by measuring against

the bend of the hook. It should measure up like this.

006 Begin to tie a Knotless Knot in the normal

fashion but only whip over the Hair twice to start with.

008 Push the tag end back through the eye and

balance with the appropriate split shot.

009 And here’s all the proof you’ll need to see it

works. Two French whackers in the net. Get in!

The creation of the ‘Muzza’ came from

Korda’s Tom Dove, but it’s James

Armstrong who’s come up with the

perfect method to avoid cracking

your hookbait when drilling it out – a

common problem we are all faced with.

“Take your boilie (ideally 18mm and

over) and start by slowly drilling out

the core of the boilie [1]. Next, pick

around the circumference of the boilie,

removing the surface [2]. The ‘bevelled’

edge [3] prevents it cracking when

inserting the cork stick.”

HOW TO MAKE A MUZZA HOOKBAIT

AND HOW TO AVOID CRACKING IT WHEN MAKING IT

[1]

[2]

[3]

WHAT RIG...

THE STIFF COMBI LINKTHE ADVANCED VERSION (I.E. BETTER) OF A COATED HOOKLINK MATERIAL


SHOPPING LIST001 Korda IQ2 in 15 or 20lb002 Korda Supernatural in 20lb003 Long-shank hook004 Medium-sized rig rings005 Shrink tubing006 Tungsten putty007 Scissors008 Bait stops

THE NICE THING ABOUT TYING UP A PROPER COMBI IS THAT YOU CAN DICTATE THE EXACT MATERIALS YOU WANT TO USE. FOR EXAMPLE, IF IT’S OPEN WATER THEN 10 OR EVEN 8LB MONO AND A 12 OR 15LB BRAID IS BRILLIANT. IF THERE’S ANY SNAGS OR OLD DEAD WEED ABOUT THEN YOU CAN STEP IT UP A BIT. THE STIFF COMBI LINK IS SLIGHTLY HARDER TO TIE WHEN COMPARED TO A STANDARD COATED HOOKLINK MATERIAL, BUT THE END RESULT IS BETTER AND MORE REFINED. GIVE IT A GO, YOU WON’T BE DISAPPOINTED.

001 Tie a loop knot and thread on your hookbait of choice. 002

Bait on, tie a mini ring off with a Double Overhand knot.

004 To secure the hook and Hair to the hooklink material, tie a

standard Knotless Knot, making five or six turns around the hook shank.

005 With the hook in place, now take your boom section

material (the IQ2) and make a loop in the end like so.

007 When bedded down, the knot should look like this – super

neat, small and strong.008

Next, trim and blob the tags with a lighter and then slide a

length of shrink tube on.009

Shrink the tubing down over steam and then add a little

blob of putty for your counter-balance.

HOW TO…TIE THE ALBRIGHT KNOT

037

003 Thread the rig ring onto the hook as shown here.

006 Pass the braid through this loop, wrap around eight turns,

then back over itself six and back through the loop. See panel on right...

010 Voila! Rigs don’t come much neater – nor do they work

better than this! Get on it!

001 Firstly, double over your fluorocarbon hooklink so

that you have a neat loop.

003 Wrap the supple braid around the two pieces of

fluorocarbon eight times. 004

Now wrap the supple braid back down towards

the loop six times.

005 Thread your braid back through the loop the

opposite way from when you started.006

Moisten the knot and gently pull all of the ends

to tighten the knot down.

002 Thread your supple braid through the middle of the

fluorocarbon loop.

007 Trim off any excess so that you are left with a neat

and very strong knot.008

Here is your finished knot ready to go! Awesome,

and it won’t let you down.

WHAT RIG...

THE MAG-ALIGNER RIGIF YOU’RE THINKING ABOUT USING MAGGOTS, THIS IS THE RIG YOU NEED


SHOPPING LIST001 Wide gape hook (size 10)002 Supple braid hooklink

material003 Korda SafeZone Leader004 PVA Funnel Web 005 Enterprise Tackle Imitation

Maggots006 Korda Helicopter Bead007 Korda Size-8 Ring Swivel008 Korda Tail Rubbers009 Stick Clips010 Maggots011 Baiting needle012 In-line lead

THE MAG-ALIGNER

WAS FIRST CREATED BY

BIG FISH ANGLER, ROB

MAYLIN. THE RIG IS VERY

SIMPLE BUT IT PROVES

EXTREMELY SUCCESSFUL

WHEN COMBINED WITH

LARGE PVA BAGS OF

MAGGOTS. IT’S NORMALLY

CONSTRUCTED USING

SUPPLE HOOKLINK

MATERIAL FOR ULTIMATE

MOVEMENT. 001 This is all of the terminal tackle that you are going to need

to tie the utterly devastating and effective Mag-Aligner Rig.

002 You are also going to need some maggots for the rig.

Big PVA bags of the grubs are great when casting out.

003 To start, cut off a long section of supple braid; this will give

the rig lots more movement and will make the rig more effective.

004 Now attach the braid to your hook using a Grinner Knot.

This can be found in the Knot Section of this rig guide.

005 Take a single imitation maggot (any colour) and pass the fat

end of the maggot onto the hook as shown in the picture.

006 Put the hook through almost all of the maggot, but exit

at the last ridge and start to slide it around the bend of the hook.

007 Slide the maggot all of the way around the hook and

position it over the hook eye, as shown here.

039

009 Thread the inline lead onto a Korda SafeZone Leader and

push the swivel into the end of the hard insert.

010 Take a pair of pliers and cut another ring swivel so that

you can take the ring undamaged off the swivel.

008 Take an in-line lead and cut the hard insert off where it

meets the lead with a sharp pair of rig scissors.

011 Attach a Stick Clip onto the ring and slide it down the

SafeZone Leader. Then slide on a helicopter bead to secure it.

012 Take a tail rubber and cut most of the thick end off

with a sharp pair of scissors and then discard it.

013 Slide the tail rubber down your hooklink and attach it to the

Stick Clip. Then slide the rubber back up the link.

014 Now slide the tail rubber fully over the Stick Clip. This will

stop the hooklink coming off during a long fight.

015 Tie up a large PVA bag of maggots but leave a two-and-

a-half inch tail of PVA above the knot you have tied.

016 Tie the tag end of PVA to the rig at the bottom of the lead

and then nick your hook into the side of the PVA bag. Done!

WHAT RIG...

THE CORN-ALIGNERDEVASTATING OVER SPOD MIXES AND PARTICLE BAITS


001 Take ten-inches of a supple braid.

Here we are using Korda Supernatural, as it’s very supple and versatile.

002 Now attach the hooklink material

to the hook eye with a simple Grinner Knot (find this in the Knot Section.)

004 Take the end of your material and

hook it onto the needle and thread the corn down to the hook.

005 Now position the corn over the eye

of the hook; you want the eye to sit in the middle of the plastic bait.

006 Take a Large Korda Sinker and

thread it down the hooklink material. This will pin it to the lakebed.

007 At the end of the hooklink material,

you will now need to tie a simple Figure-Of-Eight-Loop Knot.

008 Take your in-line lead and tap

out the hard insert from the centre; this can be discarded.

010 Thread your line through the lead,

Shockleader Sleeve and tie to a swivel and then attach a Stik Clip.

011 Next, create a small PVA Stick and pass

a baiting needle through it. You want to exit to the side of the top as shown.

003 Pass a baiting needle through the

corn. Pierce the thin end first and only go through the top half as shown.

009 Replace this with a Korda Shockleader

Sleeve. These are far safer and the soft inner-core houses the swivel better.

WE’RE SURE MOST

OF YOU WILL HAVE

HEARD OF THE

MAG-ALIGNER RIG.

WELL, THIS IS AN

ADAPTATION OF

THAT DEVASTATING

RIG. THE RIG UTILISES

A PIECE FAKE CORN

OVER THE EYE OF

THE HOOK INSTEAD

OF A MAGGOT AND

IS PERFECT FOR USE

OVER SPOD MIXES

OR WITH PVA STICKS.

041

HOW TO…DRESS A HOOK LIKE JOE MORGAN

012 Attach the loop on your hooklink

to your baiting needle and then slide the Stick down the hooklink.

013 This is the reason you come out the

side of the Stick, because the bait is attached to the hook, not a Hair.

014 Now you need to thread a piece of

silicon down your hooklink and attach the loop to the Stik Clip.

015 Having a ring and a Stik Clip

will give the rig lots more movement and this gives a better hooking potential.

016 Push the silicon over the top of the

Stik clip. This will stop the hooklink from coming off during a cast.

017 So there you have it, a finished Corn-

Aligner Rig. This is perfect over particles or casting to showing fish.

001 Take some marabou feathers and hold them along the shank of the hook.

002 Whip your hooklink around the shank and feathers Knotless Knot style.

003 Thread down a piece of fake maize and push over the eye of the hook.

004 With the corn over the eye, trim off the feathers to the length you require.

SHOPPING LIST001 Braid hooklink002 Size 10 Wide Gape003 Enterprise Tackle

Pop-Up Sweetcorn004 Baiting needle

005 Scissors006 Korda Sinker007 2mm silicon tube008 PVA funnel web009 Stick mix

WHAT RIG...


TIGER NUTS: UNPLUGGEDONE TIGER NUT. TWO PRESENTATIONS. LOADS MORE CARP. SOUND GOOD? JUST ASK AVID CARP’S MAT WOODS…

“Tiger nuts are one of those baits that I was always pretty suspicious of. I read about how anglers tore places apart on them, but for me they never made a lot of sense. They were too boring, too bland to be considered, but as I’d done well in the past on peanuts, my con-cerns were a little hypocritical! But I subscribe to the ‘cherry on the cake’ principle, so single hookbaits, to me, means bright and smelly. Now whilst a nice tiger nut that’s been fermenting in sugary juices for a few days certainly smells the part, it’s never really looked the part for me. It needs to be more visual. Brighter in some way. “For a while I tried skinning the tigers and that worked quite well, but it still wasn’t the same as a yellow pop-up. Even when fi shing over hemp and tigers, a tiger nut wasn’t as eff ective as a bright hookbait and I always thought this was because it was too cumber-some and too dull. “A few years ago, I obtained one of those boilie-coring devices that were designed to remove plugs of bait so you could insert cork and foam. Because a tiger is so fi rm, you can use these to go all the way through the nut without compromising its structure. When fi nished, you get a tiger with a hole in it and a little pellet plug of juicy tiger inner. And both have great potential as a hookbait choice! “Over bait, I use the tiger plugs in conjunction with an Avid Carp SIGHT STOP,

which just happens to be the exact same diameter as my coring device! It looks the nuts (excuse the pun) and has caught me loads of fi sh in the last three or four years, especially over spod mix. “Of course, I can’t neglect the nut that’s left behind, and foam soon makes its way into the void. I don’t, however, attach it in the usual style, because I want a visual aspect from all angles. I attach the tiger lengthways, leaving the bright yellow foam exposed on two sides of the tiger. Pop a yellow Sight Stop on and you’ve got three little sight bobs on a tiger nut hookbait. Perfect! “The fi nished hookbaits sink really slowly and you some-times need a tiny shot on the Hair to get the right buoyancy, but the really slow sinkers are awesome as a single hookbait on a longer hooklink. “My chosen rig for both hookbaits is mega simple. I have quite a long Hair, a little blowback ring and a beaked point hook to prevent the points turning over too easily. Because both hookbaits are quite light, a straight pointed hook can give you real head-aches, especially as other nuisance fi sh come in over particle baited areas and move the water around a lot. “So give the two presenta-tions a whirl. Both will stay on the Hair for days on end and provide something a little bit diff erent that's certainly helped me tag a few more whackers.”

043

001 Using this coring device, Mat cores

out a plug of tiger nut, leaving a neat hole through the middle of the nut.

002 Push the plunger down and it

reveals this pukka little pellet of creamy nutty goodness. Awesome!

003 Next, using a pair of sharp scissors,

Mat trims one end of the plug down so that it’s as flat as possible.

004 This is so an Avid Carp SIGHT

STOP, which is the same diameter, fits neatly and perfectly on top.

005 You can use any colour SIGHT

STOP, but Mat prefers good old yellow – the pantone carp seem to love.

006 Now tie on a Rig Ring, leaving a

good 20-25mm gap from the hookbait itself. Whip on your hook and it’s job done.

THE TIGER PLUGIT’S A TIGER NUT PRESENTATION – WITH A MASSIVE DIFFERENCE

001 If you’re using the Tiger Plugs,

you’ll also get one of these left behind, perfect for balancing out.

002 Mat uses yellow foam to plug the

gap in the tiger nut. Again, most available foam sticks fit the hole perfectly.

003 Trim the foam down so it sits

flush against the sides of the tiger, providing a lovely sight bob.

004 An Avid Carp SIGHT STOP

provides another little sight bob, so you have one from all angles.

005 The finished rig works wonders

as a single hookbait or over baited spots as a slow sinking hookbait.

006 Mat with a stunning mirror

caught using his clever Tiger Plug trick. It’s deadly, so get on it now!

RE-PLUGGED TIGERSGIVE YOUR GROWLERS SOME COLOUR – AND SOME BUOYANCY

WHAT RIG…

THE MULTI-HAIR RIGTHREE BAITS ARE BETTER THAN ONE


SHOPPING LIST001 Wide gape hook002 Supple hooklink

material003 Coated hooklink

material004 0.5mm silicon tubing

IT IS PROVEN THAT CARP CAN

FIND IT VERY EASY TO EJECT

SINGLE HOOKBAITS. DOUBLE

BAITS ARE SLIGHTLY HARDER,

BUT WHAT HAPPENS IF YOU

HAVE THREE SEPARATE HAIRS

AND BAITS ON THE SAME

HOOK? PURE DEVASTATION

THAT’S WHAT!

002 Take a Korda Stripper Tool and

place your coated hooklink into it. This tool strips coating off hooklinks easily and quickly.

001 Here is all of the terminal tackle

you are going to need to construct the Multi Hair Rig. The rig is devastating over particles and smaller baits.

005 Shrink tubing006 Baiting needle007 Hair stops008 Scissors009 Your chosen bait010 Stripper tool

005 Take the three Hair lengths and pass

them through the hook eye and whip them all at the same time to create a Knotless Knot.

006 Once you’ve whipped around

the shank, pass the ends through the eye of the hook as shown. This may be fi ddly so take your time.

003 Put the hooklink material through

the gate and pull back. If you don’t have a Strippa then simply use your teeth or fi ngernails.

004 Now take three lengths of supple

braid, each somewhere in the region of 10cms and tie a Hair loop at the end of each of them.

045

007 Now take your hooklink material

(which you stripped a section from earlier) and pass the uncoated section through the eye of the hook.

008 Again, whip the hooklink material

around the shank of the hook and over the Hair braid as if you were tying a Knotless Knot.

009 With the knot now secure, take

a pair of scissors and snip off the remaining hooklink material from the Hair’s end as shown.

010 Take the scissors again and trim back

the Hair braid. There is three in total so cut them off as shown in the picture very carefully.

011 Next cut yourself a piece of silicone

tubing and pass it onto a splicing needle. This is an easy way of getting a piece of silicone onto the hook.

012 Now push the hook point through the

silicone and be very careful not to push the point through the side of it during this process.

013 Get all of the Hair loops and lock them

into the gate on the needle. Next pull the needle back through with all of the Hairs on.

014 This is what the rig should look

like so far. All three Hairs should be underneath the silicon, however, we haven’t finished quite yet.

015 Next, cut off a piece of shrink tubing

like so; this is going to go over the eye of the hook to make it flip quickly in the fish’s mouth.

016 Thread the tubing down the hooklink

and over the eye and whipping of the knot and then dunk it for 10 seconds into boiling water.

017 There are many different baits that

you can use on this rig, one type which proves extremely successful is tiger nuts.

018 The finished product: three baits

to one hook! Not only seriously appealing, but a serious mouthful. Good luck, Mr. Carp!

WHAT RIG...

THE BLOWBACK RIGONE OF THE ONLY RIGS THAT CAN TELL YOU EXACTLY WHAT’S BEEN HAPPENING WHEN IT’S OUT IN THE LAKE – ALL THANKS TO A RIG RING OR A PIECE OF SILICONE


001 To start, cut off 12-inches of 25lb

Gravel Missing Link and strip back fi ve-inches of the outer-coating.

003 Take two 15mm boilies and bite a

third off each one. Mount them back-to-back and secure with a bait stop.

004 Slide 2mms of 0.5mm silicone

onto the hooklink, followed by your hook with the point facing downwards.

002 First create a loop for the Hair and

then a second Overhand Knot behind it to lock the bait in place.

047

“The original Blow-Out (Blowback Rig) Rig

featured a ring tied to the Hair located on the bend,” reveals the inventor, Kevin Nash. “This was so on pricking, when the carp blew against the bait, the ring/Hair would slide down the shank leaving the bait behind the eye of the hook, preventing the carp from achieving the necessary angle to dislodge the point. This rig was devastating, and trust me, that is an understatement! “Nonetheless, after a time I became paranoid that carp were still occasionally doing me. I was on a particularly high-pressured water and occasionally I would get one or two short, sharp beats or the rod tip would tremble. So I changed the ring for a small piece of silicone rubber that was purposely of a bore

that would grip the Hair suffi ciently, but when pulling against, the Hair could slide down the shank. To my mind this is the signifi cant point about this tube version of the Blow-Out Rig – it is a telltale. So if a carp that is rigged up manages to eject this rig you always know, as if you check your rig you will fi nd the position of the silicone has changed from its correct position at the top of the bend to the blown out position where the silicone has slid down the shank and is jammed against the knot/eye of the hook. “I would observe that after a blank session the majority of carp anglers fi gure there were no carp about, as they didn’t get a bite. Certainly I have heard it said hundreds of times when an angler gets a couple of bleeps on his indicator they just say, “line bite.” It doesn’t occur to

them that they may have had a carp rigged up that has sat there sucking and blowing without giving any or little indication and when ridding itself of the hook it has calmly swum off ! “If the water I am fi shing doesn’t have large numbers of nuisance fi sh or crayfi sh, I treat the smallest indication with suspicion and am not comfortable until I have checked the rig. After a couple of bleeps I will give it an amount of time until I have to wind that rig in and check. Also, whenever I wind my rods in, even though I have no indication, I always look at the positioning of the tube to see if it has slipped back and I have been done.”

005 Push the silicone down to the bend

and leave a 10mm gap between the bait and hook. Secure Knotless Knot style.

006 Next cut off 15mms of 0.5mm

Diff usion Shrink Tubing and then cut one end at a 45-degree angle as shown.

008 I always test the fi nished rig in the

palm of my hand. If it’s correct, it should turn and grab hold straightaway.

007 Using a baiting needle, pierce the

tubing below the angle and pull your hooklink through to create a Line-Aligner.

WHAT RIG...

THE CHOD RIGVERY POPULAR, YET VERY EFFECTIVE


001 Take your chosen lead, cut the swivel

off and tie the leadcore onto the loop of the lead using a Two-Turn Blood Knot.

002 Thread on a three-and-a-half inch

piece of 2.0mm silicon and position it over the loop of the lead.

003 Now thread on a short piece of

0.5mm silicon down the leadcore and position it just above the 2.0mm piece.

004 Next thread a 5mm bead onto a

baiting needle and transfer it onto the leadcore. Then push it towards the silicon.

005 Once you’ve threaded it down

to the silicon, moisten and push the bead over the top. It’ll look like this.

006 Take a long 10-inch length of

Korda Mouthtrap and a size 5 Stiff Rigger and pass through the hook eye.

007 Tie a Two-Turn Blood Knot or a

Snell Knot (both shown in the Knot section) to the hook and tease it down.

008 Take a rig ring and pass it onto

the tag end of hooklink material. Now push the tag back through the eye.

009 Take a lighter and very gently blob

the end of the tag using the flame. Do this carefully and don’t burn the hooklink.

010 Now take the other end of the hooklink,

put it through the eye of a size-11 ring swivel and double it back.

011 It’s time to tie a Three-Turn Blood

Knot to the swivel. Wrap the tag around the hooklink three times and grip tightly.

012 Now push the tag back through the

loop closest to the swivel, moisten and tease the knot down like so.

049

RIG TIPADVICE FROM THE PERSON WHO MAKES THE GEAR: ESP’S DAVE ELLYATT ON HOW TO GET THE CHOD SECTION JUST RIGHT

013 Take hold of the swivel between two

fingers in one hand and the hook in the other and gently curve the hooklink.

014 Take a long length of ESP Super Floss;

this is what you’re going to use to attach the bait to the ring.

015 Now tie a simple Overhand Knot,

followed by a second. This is the knot that will secure the pop-up to the floss.

016 Place the bait into the middle of the

loop and gently tighten it down around the pop-up. Make sure it is central.

017 You now attach the pop-up to the

rig ring. Use a double Overhand Knot and blob the ends with a lighter.

018 Finally, thread the Chod hooklink

down the leadcore and then add another piece of silicon and another bead above it…

“DO YOU HAVE ANY TIPS/ EDGES WHEN IT COMES TO HANDLING AND TYING THE STIFF BRISTLE FILAMENT?” “I cut off about a 12-inch length of Bristle Filament and then holding one end between my teeth, run my fingers down it quite vigorously to remove any twist, warm it up a bit and make it more manageable. You could also steam it to make it completely straight but I have never found this necessary.”

“HOW MANY TURNS AROUND THE HOOK SHANK HAVE YOU FOUND BEST AND DOES THIS DIFFER DEPENDING ON THE HOOK SIZE?” “It depends on the size of ‘D’ that you want, but remember the more turns around the hook, the heavier it becomes, which could affect the buoyancy of the pop-up. For a ‘classic’ smallish ‘D’ that looks right in relation to the size of the hook and the thickness of the Bristle Filament, I use eight turns on a size 4 Stiff Rigger (20lb Bristle Filament), seven on a size 5 (20lb) and six on a size 6 (15lb).”

“AND FINALLY, HOW DO YOU BLOB THE TAG END? DO YOU MELT IT AND THEN TAP IT AGAINST THE LIGHTER TO FORM A FLAT EDGE OR DO YOU LEAVE IT SO YOU’VE ACTUALLY GOT A ‘BULB’?” “I prefer to blob the tag end leaving the ‘bulb’ untouched. Using a bait needle to shape the ‘D’, I pull the ‘bulb’ back into the eye where it tends to find an interference fit due to the slightly tapered shape of the ‘bulb’. I have also used the lighter to flatten the blob whilst it is still soft to create a ‘nail head’. This looks nice and neat and locates flat up against the eye. It’s all down to personal preference really and what you think looks ‘right’. You could argue that the ‘bulb’ protrudes slightly from the eye, marginally reducing the gape of the hook but I don’t think either method makes a difference to the performance of the rig.”

SUPER CURVED CHOD RIGSHOW TO TIE AN AGGRESSIVE CHOD RIG – ALMOST WITHY POOL STYLEE!

WHAT RIG…


001 Take a length of your Chod

Rig material and hook and connect the hook using a Six-Turn Knotless Knot, leaving a short tag to form your ‘D’. Now take a large size rig ring and thread it onto the tag, passing it through the eye of the hook and blob with a lighter. The big rig ring allows lots of movement for your bait.

002 Next take a size 11 Ring

Swivel (although Solar’s Ball Bearing Swivels are better as they rotate much smoother) and pass it onto the other end of the hooklink and tie a small Overhand Loop Knot and pull down tight. Now take your thumb and forefi nger and rub the hooklink material to warm it up slightly as shown.

003 With one hand, hold

the knot (loop) that attaches your swivel and the other the whipping on the hook and slowly but gently fl ex the hooklink material into a curve. You want to start curving one end of the rig fi rst – if you try doing the whole thing in one go it’ll kink and won’t sit straight and neat.

004 Start the curve

gradually and slowly fl ex it into a more aggressive angle. This will take time so don’t rush it because like we’ve just mentioned, you will kink the Mouthtrap material, so take your time.

005 As you rub the rig,

keep checking to make sure the curve is straight and not kicking the hook out at an aggressive angle. The hooklink material needs to be curved straight so it sits correctly.

006 Once your curve

is aggressive and straight, tie on your chosen super buoyant pop-up. Make sure you not only check the sharpness of your hook after every cast but you also check the curve of your Chod.

Some stiff hooklink material – we’d recommend either ESP’s Stiff Bristle Filament or Korda’s Mouthtrap which is very easy to work with.

Chod style hooks. If you like beaked points, then go for Korda’s Choddy hooks whereas if you prefer a straight point, then opt for either ESP’s Stiff Riggers or Atomic Tackle’s Chodda hook.

Like we mention in the step-by-step, opt for a larger rig ring over a smaller one – this will allow for more movement.

Solar’s Ball Bearing Swivels rotate so smoothly, it just makes them the perfect choice to go with this set-up.

YOU NEED TO KNOWSHOPPING LIST

So it seems every man and his dog have been engulfed into ‘Chodmania’ with it being a very popular rig presentation. Fishing it diff erently to the norm with a super aggressive curve and a loop knot tied to the swivel may seem alien to many, but it’s a ploy that can be super eff ective – and this is how you curve this devastating adaptation!

051

THE INVISIBLE BREAKAWAY CHOD RIGTHEY CAN’T SEE IT, YOUR HOOKBAIT IS PRESENTED PERFECTLY AND IT MAKES FISHING IN WEED CHILD’S PLAY. AWESOME!

GETTING THE CAST RIGHTBECAUSE THIS MAKES A MASSIVE DIFFERENCE You want to make a light, controlled cast, which is feathered and ‘plopped’ in generally. Sink the lead on a tight line and once it hits bottom, apply minimal amounts of pressure to pull the line under the surface as you want the Chod Rig to settle generally over the weed, not be pulled it into it.

First off , you don’t want to fi sh this with the Chod Rig running on the main line – it’s meant to be semi-fi xed. On paper, it’s the simplest and most straightforward rig to construct. No leadcore, no tubing, no leader knots, no nothing for weed to clog and snag around. The lead can be ditched the moment you get a take and that of course means the fi sh hasn’t got anything to help lose the hook against. You get 100% perfect presentation regardless of how much weed is out there and best of all, it’s almost totally invisible. Let’s start with the basics. You want the Chod Rig fi xed up the line, as this will ensure it doesn’t snag on the weed. The way you cast and sink the line is also very important too, as is the way you balance your pop-up. The fi nal part of the jigsaw is how you set your indicator: it must be on the deck so the line can be fi shed totally slack. Right, here’s now to construct it…

MAIN LINEWhen fi shing into weed you need a hardcore main line – something like Gardner’s GR60 or their HydroTUFF in 15 or 18lb breaking strains. It’s very important not to put any lumps of putty up the line to help sink it.

TWO SEMI-FIXED STOPSTo hold the Chod Rig in place, you must use the ‘Small’ Korda Sinkers. To ease with passing them up the main line, simply wet the line fi rst. To sit on top of the Sinkers, use Korda’s 4mm Rubber Beads.

THE DISTANCETo ensure the rig is ‘fi shing’ in any depth of weed, position these stops right up the line – anything up to eight or nine foot.

STRONG RINGFor this rig to work eff ectively you need to lose the lead on the take. Take a pair of wire cutters and remove the ring from a fl exi-swivel and tie this to the end of your main line.

ROTTEN BOTTOMThis is the weak link that connects the lead to the main line. 3lb mono is the recommended breaking strain. You want to make this link about six-inches as it’ll snap quite easily on the take then. If you’re casting longish distances, simply PVA tape this link to the ring.

LIGHT(ISH) LEADUse the lightest lead you can get away with. The less dense the lead the less it will penetrate into the weed.

WHAT RIG...


THE HINGED STIFF LINKDEVELOPED AND POPULARISED BY THE LEGEND THAT IS TERRY HEARN (SEE PAGE 52), THE HINGED STIFF LINK RIG IS THE PERFECT POP-UP RIG FOR WHEN FISHING OVER A BED OF BOILIES

001 These are the components you

will require to tie this fantastic rig.

006 Whip the tag back down the

shank, over the loop five or six times.

011 Carefully form an arc in the Bristle

Filament and you will have formed a Chod Rig.

STEAMINGBristle Filament can be a tricky material to tie. To improve it, hold the material over steam and pull it tight so it goes straight. Once you’ve tied the rig, repeat the process but this time start working the curve.

TYING ON HOOKBAITSWorking on the percentage game? Then use a bait floss that matches the colour of your hookbait.

CUTTINGTo make the job of threading the Bristle Filament back through the eye of the hook, make sure you cut the end at an angle.

053

002 Snip off a section of stiff ESP

Bristle Filament using Razorblades.

003 Tie on a size 11 Ring Swivel using

a simple Two- or Three-Turn Blood Knot.

004 Poke the other tag end through the

eye of your Choddy hook, like so.

005 Double it back over so that the tag

is now pointing towards the swivel. This will form a loop.

007 Now place the tag end back through

the loop you have created as shown here.

008 Moisten and then pull everything

down tightly using a dedicated Pulla.

009 Place a Rig Ring onto the tag end

and then poke back through the eye of the hook.

010 Blob the tag end, as this will prevent

the line from pulling back through the eye.

012 15lb IQ2 is great to form the boom

section of the rig as it’s almost invisible.

013 Tie the boom section to the rig

you’ve created using a trusted knot.

014 To pin down your pop-up and keep

everything neat, roll some putty over the swivel.

015 Tie your pop-up on (p31), attach the rig

to a lead system and you’re ready to go.

WHAT RIG...

HOW TO TIE THE QUICK AND EASY WITHY POOLTHE WITHY POOL RIG: DEADLY BUT PREVIOUSLY A PAIN TO TIE. THANKS TO FOX, THOUGH, THAT’S NOW ALL CHANGED…


001 Above are all of the components that you will

need to tie the quick and easy Withy Pool Rig.

002 Start off by cutting a 10-inch length of Coretex and

removing three-inches of the outer-coating as we’ve done here.

003 Attach your hook to the braided section with a simple

Three-Turn Blood Knot. Wet and then ‘bed’ the knot down.

004 Next, carefully thread one of the new Fox Withy/Curve

Shank Adaptor onto the Coretex hooklink like so.

005 Gently work the sleeve down the hooklink and into

position over the eye of your chosen hook pattern.

006 The next step is to thread a Micro Hook Ring Swivel on

to the shank of the hook, with the ring on the shank.

007 Now carefully thread a Rig Stop onto the bend of the

hook as illustrated in this image. 008

You will then take a six-inches length of Bait Floss, yellow is

good if your hookbait is yellow!009

Thread the floss through the top eye of the Hook Swivel

so you have three-inches either side.

055

010 Now thread your chosen pop-up hookbait onto both

lengths of Bait Floss as shown, and thread it down towards the swivel.

011 Keep sliding the hookbait down the bait floss until the

Micro Swivel sits inside the hookbait like this.

012 Trim away the excess Bait Floss so you only have two

small tags sticking out of the end - you’ll use these to really secure it.

013 Take a lighter and carefully burn the remaining tag ends

and then blob it against the hookbait. It’s now secure.

014 The hookbait is now secured on the swivel – this is a very

fast and neat way of attaching your chosen hookbait!

015 Finally, mould some tungsten putty around the base of the

Withy Adaptor to critically-balance your pop-up.

016 The Withy

Pool Pop-Up Rig is now complete and should look just like this!

SHOPPING LIST001 Fox Coretex

hooklink material002 Fox Withy/Curve

Shank Adaptors003 Fox Micro Hook

Swivel Swivels004 Fox Arma Point

size 8005 Fox Sliding Ring &

Rig Stops

WHAT RIG...


THE SIT UP AND BEG RIGMAX COTTIS’S LATEST CREATION. IN A WORD: DEADLY!

A CREATION OF TOP CARPER, MAX COTTIS, THE SIT UP AND BEG RIG IS DESIGNED TO BE FISHED WITH A POP-UP. THANKS TO THE LONG SWEEPING CURVE THAT’S CREATED FROM THE SHRINK TUBING, IT’S A RIG THAT SPINS AND GRABS HOLD EXTREMELY QUICKLY AND EASILY.

001 Hooklink-wise, Max uses an eight-inch length of ACE’s

awesome Camo Core in 25lb.002

First off , tie a Knotless Knot and then create a D-Rig leaving a

three-inch tag end.

003 Thread two-inches of shrink tube down over both ends of

hooklink and steam to create a curve. 004

Add an ACE Tungsten Bead to the tag end and then use a

lighter to blob this down to secure it.

005 The fi nished rig. The aggressive angle of the hook hugely helps

the point to take hold when a carp picks up the bait. They’re nailed!

006 And here’s the proof that the Sit Up And Beg Rig is such a

good carp-catcher. Fish pop-ups? Give this a go!

WHAT RIG…

“THE SHORTER I GO, THE MORE BITES I GET!”VERSATILE PRESSURED WATER ACE MARK BARTLETT REVEALS A RIG AND BAG SET-UP THAT’S RIPPING WATERS APART FOR HIM RIGHT NOW


HOOKBAITSHere’s how to make Bartlett’s wafters…

� 30% Mainline Polaris Pop-Up Mix

� 70% Sieved Mainline High Leakage Mix

� Baits are un-fl avoured when made, but soaked in the following: 10 drops N-Butyric Acid (yes, 10!) and 2ml Mainline Sweet-Ade

LEADCOREACE Hard-On Leadcore, used between four-inches and 1ft long. Mark sees little need in using really long lengths, as it can stand out like a sore thumb on the lakebed.

PUTTYMark uses Kryston Heavy Metal Extra. It binds itself to the braid much better than any other putty and doesn’t even need to be wrapped around coils of lead wire.

KNOTSTo attach his rigs, Mark used the Figure-Of-Eight Loop Knot. This way he can have dozens of rigs pre-tied at exactly the same length. He learnt from match fi shing with Method feeders that 1cm longer or shorter is enough to make a diff erence.

PVABAGGING

001 Mark uses a light gauge hook

with a small amount of shrink tubing as a kicker. The hookbait is a wafter loaded with N-Butyric acid. Smelly!

002 Note the tungsten putty

rolled around the rig. This helps pin the braid to the lakebed, rather than it exiting too high from the lead.

005 Mark has had a huge hand in

developing these solid PVA bagging products this year. He’s sure it’s a major edge for him.

006 10mm wafters made with 30%

pop-up mix. It creates a buoyancy where the hookbait itself still sits on the lakebed.

007 Note the longer set-up on the

right. This was the type of thing Mark used before he cottoned on to using much shorter links.

008 A feeding carp doesn’t have to

move far to get nailed by this beauty, and as soon as it shakes its head, the lead’s gone.

003 An Avid Carp In-Line Groove

Lead is used, fi shed drop-off style, with a short length of leadcore which is used as a leader material around the lead.

004 It’s not revolutionary by

rig inventing standards, but it’s certainly revolutionised Mark’s fi shing over the past few years. Get on it!

HOW TO…CONSTRUCT BARTLETT’S WINNING BAG NAILER

059

BAGS FOR BRUTESYES, YOU MIGHT THINK YOU CAN TIE A PVA BAG PERFECTLY, BUT DO YOURS LOOK LIKE THIS?

001 Mark uses smaller bags when

targeting bigger carp. Note how he’s nicked the hook point through the base of the Transfer bag.

002 An Avid Bag Loader helps Mark

scoop his pellet mixture into the bag, whilst the groove on the loader holds the leadcore leader.

005 Mark keeps pinching the

corners of the bag to create a little envelope fold. This helps streamline the bag when licking and sticking.

006 As you can see, the folds are large

on Mark’s bags. This also provides added protection when the bag hits the lake surface at speed.

007 Any excess PVA at the top of

the bag is trimmed away neatly. Twisting the PVA and licking it as some recommend isn’t as neat.

008 The completed presentation: a

solid bag that’s solid as a rock and sure to have the alarm’s melting as quick as the PVA!

003 Once loaded, Mark removes

the Bag Loader so he can begin patting the sides of the bag to compact the pellet mixture further.

004 Transfer PVA Tape is then used to tie

off the bag. Hold the bag closed tight and wrap the tape around the top to keep the shape.

009 “The Bag Loader will help anyone

tie bags this neatly,” grins Mark. This bag will now cast straighter and further.

010 This is how Mark expects the melted

bag to look when broken down in water. It’s certainly increased his catch-rate.

WHAT RIG…


WHAT RIG...


THE ADJUSTABLE ZIG RIGUNDERUSED, OVERLOOKED, MISUNDERSTOOD: ALL THESE WORDS ARE VERY RELEVANT WHEN ZIG RIGS ARE DISCUSSED. THE METHOD IS OFTEN CONSIDERED TOO COMPLICATED, BUT WITH THE ADJUSTABLE ZIG RIG THAT ISN’T THE CASE

002 Place a lead free running on the line.

The bigger the float the bigger the lead as a rule.

003 Follow the lead with a 4mm

Rubber Bead. This is used to cushion the lead.

004 Next push your main line through

the middle of a Sub-Float as shown here.

001 These are the components you

will require in order to tie the Zig-Float Rig.

006 Your rig should now be looking

like this – almost nearly ready to go.

007 Create a Hair in the Double

Strength and thread a sliver of yellow foam on.

008 Fix your piece of yellow foam in

place with a dedicated Hair stop like we have here.

009 Place the tag end of your hooklength

through a Korda Mixa Hook like we have done here.

011 Whip the Mixa Hook on using the tried

and tested Knotless Knot method as shown.

012 After whipping down the shank,

whip two turns back up it. This holds the knot tightly.

013 Place the tag back through the eye

and tighten. It will now look like this.

014 Tie your hooklength, which

should be around 3ft, to the Micro Rig Ring.

063

005 Tie your main line to a Micro Rig

Ring, like so using a trusted knot – Grinner, Palomar.

010 Your hookbait should be sitting

as close as possible to the shank of the hook.

015 Finally, hook on a PVA bag full of

PVA nuggets. This will prevent it from tangling.

BAIT TIPSHAMIDI’S EDGES WHEN IT COMES TO ZIG HOOKBAITS

A A truly awesome Zig Bait is imitation boilies, and a good tip is to soak them in a flavour for extra appeal - strawberry is a good one.

B Another classic Zig Rig bait is foam. It’s mega buoyant and will hold the hook up forever. Plus, it comes a massive selection of different colours.

C You can’t beat a mini pop-up. These mini ones from Mainline are proven winners!

B

A

C

065

FEATURING…066 GAZ FAREHAM A RIG FOR A FIFTY068 DUNCAN MACLEAN THE MULTI RIG WITH A DIFFERENCE070 ADAM PENNING THE ULTIMATE SURFACE SET-UP072 JON ‘SHOES’ JONES THE STIFF HAIRED CHOD074 NIGEL SHARP THE STIFF BOTTOM BAIT RIG076 KEVIN NASH THE REVERSE CHOD RIG078 MARTIN LOCKE THE WEED RIG080 LEWIS READ THE FATAL RIG082 IAN CHILLCOTT THE GO-ANYWHERE-RIG

WHAT

THEPRO’SUSE...

RIGS

PRO’S RIGS...

A RIG FOR A FIFTYBIG FISH ANGLER AND ALL-ROUND NICE GUY, GAZ FAREHAM REVEALS HIS BLOW-BACK BALANCED SET-UP – THE ONE THAT NAILED HEATHER THE LEATHER AT OVER FIFTY-POUNDS


GAZ

FAREHAM

“I’ve used the rig with a number of diff erent hookbaits over the years but my two favourites are a balanced tiger nut or a balanced boilie. To be honest, you could use any hookbait with the rig, but I always balance, or counterbalance, my hookbaits out and fi rmly believe it is one of the ma-jor reasons why I get such consistent and positive hook holds. I use an old Fox Nut Drill and the ESP Cork Plugs to do my balancing. I simply drill out a carefully chosen nut until it’s almost all the way through, pop in the plug and snip off any excess neatly. The right buoyancy might seem like only a minor point, but is actually one of the most vital to the success of the rig. “I like a decent length Hair, gener-ally about three-quarters-of-an-inch and have found this to produce the best and most consistent hook holds, particularly with the balanced hook-baits and bigger fi sh. The separation that is achieved between the bait and hook by the ring and Hair length is vital. I use the tiny Korda Micro Rig Rings as I like the way it sits neatly and tight to the hook. I set my ring as

067

HOW TO…TIE GAZ’S BALANCED TIGER NUT SET-UP

001 Tiger nuts, drill and cork plugs:

essential items for Gaz’s balance tiger nut rig.

002 Start off by drilling out

three-quarters of a tiger nut like so.

003 Plug the end with a cork stick.

It should sit almost flush like it does here.

004 Tie your Hair, mount the bait

and then tie on a rig ring as shown.

005 The Hair length wants to be

about three-quarters-of-an-inch.

006 Set the ring as far down the

hook as it will go before sliding around the bend.

007 With the Hair secured via the

Knotless Knot, add a piece of shrink tubing.

008 Shrink the tubing down and

position at a slight angle and it’s ready to go.

far down the hook as it will go before sliding around the bend, this aids the turning potential of the hook but still sits at a critical point where it won’t pivot the hook out on ejection once it’s pricked. “The last key point that makes a small, but significant difference to the effectiveness of the rig is that I tie two Overhand Knots to secure the ring in place. Aside from stopping it slipping, it also forces the ring to sit at a 90° angle to the hook, keeping everything

aligned and working as intended, rather than sitting all crooked and wonky like it does with just a single Overhand. A simple Knotless Knot finishes the simple set-up. “I use predominantly a size 6 Wide Gape for this rig and I like the extra gape and hooking potential the 6 gives and when balancing your hookbaits out with some added buoyancy, the size of the hook becomes less relevant, as long as it is all balanced up nicely. “As for the shrink tube extension, I

use Korda’s Small gauge Shrink Tube in whichever colour suits the bottom. I personally think it’s the best shrink tube out there; it has nice thin walls, shrinks down easily to a small diameter and retains its shape excellently. I used to use quite long shrink tube extensions but have found that a neater, small one does the job just as well and is much less obtrusive and clumsy, especially with the smaller hookbaits like a tiger nut. I just cover the Knotless Knot and leave a few millimetres past the eye.”

PRO’S RIGS...


DUNCAN’S VERSION OF THE MULTI RIGONE OF THE COUNTRY’S FINEST YOUNG TALENTS ONLY USES A COUPLE OF DIFFERENT PRESENTATIONS AND HERE’S ONE OF THEM: HIS TAKE ON THE ULTRA EFFECTIVE MULTI RIG

DUNCAN

MACLEAN

069

001 These are the components that Duncan uses for his version of

the Multi Rig. 002

To start, form a loop of around 30mm in some 20lb N-Trap

hooklink material. 003

Pass the loop through the front of the hook’s eye –

Duncan uses Choddy hooks.

004 With the hook in place, now add a Small Rig Ring like

we’ve done here. 005

Now pass the loop over the point and round onto the

hook like shown. 006

Remove some of the coating from the tag end and attach a

large shot to it.

007 Again, remove some coating from beneath the knot, this will

add movement. 008

Set the ‘D’ like this and attach a pop-up using your

chosen method. 009

The rig should look like this, easy to change both the hook

and the bait and a great carp-catcher.

��Duncan always likes to create a large Figure-Of-

Eight-Loop Knot at the end of his hooklengths, as this really helps to kick the rig

away from the lead.

RIG TIP

PRO’S RIGS...


ADAM’S FLOATER SET-UPADAM PENNING: EXCEPTIONAL ALL-ROUND ANGLER, BUT HE REALLY EXCELS WHEN IT COMES TO SURFACE FISHING. HERE’S HIS VERY CLEVER YET VERY SIMPLE CONTROLLER SET-UP

001 Firstly you need to three-quarter fill

your spod with your chosen surface bait – whether that’s good old Chum Mixers or purpose-designed floating carp pellets. If you fill it to the top, the Mixers will spill out of the rocket in flight.

002 Dunk the spod quickly into the

water to lubricate the Mixers, as this will help them stick a bit better in the spod and minimise any spod spill. If you are using a spod that doesn’t feature any holes this will also add casting weight for maximised distance.

003 Cast the spod as you would

normally and just before the spod hits the surface, feather it and then finally stop the line with your finger to make the spod lay down quietly on the surface. Doing it this way, it stops the spod from bombing in.

004 As soon as it hits the water, pull back

hard and quickly, this will make the spod somersault in the air chucking the Mixers out the top of the spod over your spot, it is best to do it two or three times to empty the entire contents of the spod.

BUT FIRST... HOW TO SPOD MIXERSSOMETIMES THE FISH WILL BE OUT OF CATAPULT RANGE SO HERE’S THE METHOD TO GETTING YOUR FREE FLOATING BAITS OUT TO THEM

ADAM

PENNING

071

001 You want to start off by taking an 5-8ft

length of N-Gauge line, as shown here.

002 Whip the Hair tight to the shank,

making turns above and below the Hair.

003 Add a piece of silicone to the hook

eye; this will open up the gape and aid in hooking.

004 Now start to trim the sides of a

chosen pop-up to create your hookbait.

005 Cut a groove into the bait; this will

help the bait sit nicely against the shank of the hook.

006 What Adam is showing you here

is what you are aiming to achieve with the groove.

007 Attach the hookbait to your Hair. It

should sit like this – the hook tight to the shank.

008 Using a stick of bait stops will make it

easier to get the Hair stop through the Hair loop.

009 And there it is – the finished

rig should look like this – perfect for floater fishing.

010 Now attach your float… today Adam

is using the Interceptors most of the time.

011 Tie on a size-11 ring swivel. Thread the

float onto the main line and attach the hooklength.

012 The swivel is then plugged into the

bottom of the controller and it’s now ready to cast out.

��If the line starts sinking, run it through a lipsil to grease it

��Colour your Interceptors white with Tip-Ex for added visibility��Fish as fine as you can��Take bulk cheap feed

for the birds

RIG TIPS

PRO’S RIGS...

HAIR RAISING IDEASOLD SCHOOL OR NEW SCHOOL? IF WE’RE TALKING CHODDIES, THEN AVID HEAD HONCHO JON ‘SHOES’ JONES SAYS YOU MIGHT NEED TO LOOK AT THE 1980’S FOR INSPIRATION


JON ‘SHOES’

JONESChods. Suffi ce to say, there are probably more anglers using this little set-up than any other at the moment. Rather than trying to fi nd a clear spot, it’s often a better idea to fi nd the fi sh and bang a few Chods out, but with every angler fi shing the rig in a similar way, what can you do to throw a spanner in the works for carp? “Go old school,” says Jon ‘Shoes’ Jones. In fact, the Avid Carp chief believes the original version of the rig is much better than using a ‘D’ set-up. “I’m not giving the carp loads of credit here, but it’s true that they can learn by association and with every man and his dog using Choddies you’ve got to consider some sort of personal tweak if you’re serious about catching big fi sh from tricky waters,” he explains. “The set-up, as it was then, was semi-fi xed up the line between two beads, only 1cm apart. You knew the rig would settle wherever you set it from the lead, and when the carp picked it up, they’d feel the full forces of lead, the weight of the line or leader, and tension between lead and rod tip. “The Stiff Hair is just a confuser. If they want the bait, the hook’s got to come with it, and in their mouth it just seems to bamboozle them.” Shoes also uses a lasso attachment so he doesn’t have to pierce his baits. Using 20lb Amnesia in Clear, he ties a hangman’s noose (aka a Grinner Knot) around his hookbaits, which are usually something extremely buoyant. “The buoyancy in a Chod or Short Rig is essential, because you want the two forces of nature pulling against each other to create tension in the rig, which will ultimately help it spin 360 degrees to nail a carp in the bottom lip,” he says. So how does he set the lead arrange-

ment up? “I use the Avid Chod Beads, of course, because I prefer the rig to be semi-fi xed rather than fl ying,” he tells us. “I will use a fl ying version for areas of mixed weed and I’m testing and develop-ing new products that suit this style of fi shing at the moment, but for most instances simply threading a Chod Bead onto my main line is enough.

073

HOW TO…TIE SHOES’ STIFF HAIRED CHOD RIG

001 Here are the components

you need for Shoes’ Stiff Haired Chod Rigs.

002 Start by tying a Grinner Knot in

some heavy fl uorocarbon or Amnesia.

003 This lasso’s around the

buoyant 10mm HIGHLITE hookbait, like this.

004 Tie your favourite Chod

hook on with a standard Knotless Knot as shown.

005 Using a Two- or Three-Turn

Blood Knot, attach a size-11 ring swivel.

006 Shoes likes using ‘proper’ length

Choddies, with a slight curve in the material.

007 These revised Avid Chod Beads

are now grippier, perfect for naked Chods.

008 Thread the safe end of the bead

directly onto your main line as so.

009 This is followed by your rig and

then the grippier part of the Chod Bead.

010 You can pre-set these Chod

Beads as far from the lead as you like.

011 This Chod Buff er is then threaded

onto the line to go over the lead.

012 A Distance Swivel lead fi nishes off

the set-up perfectly. Get ‘em on it!

��Stiff hooklink material, something like ESP’s Stiff Bristle Filament or Korda’s Mouthtrap.

��Your choice of Chod hook – ESP’s Stiff Riggers or Korda’s Chodda Hooks both come highly recommended.

��Some size 11 ring swivels.

��Hookbait: Shoes’ recommends Avid Carp’s HIGHLITES.

��Chod Beads: super safe and easy to use.��Chod Buff er: Again, by Avid and a lovely

little product for covering the swivel/quick-change link at the lead end. It just neatens everything up.

YOU NEED

STIFF BOTTOM D-RIGIT’S NIGEL SHARP’S BOTTOM BAIT PRESENTATION!

MARTIN

LOCKE

What can you say about Nigel Sharp that hasn’t been said before? The man is a carp-catching machine, who has played a massive role in the development of the Hinged Stiff Link and Chod Rig. And although he does like his pop-up fish-ing, Nige does fish hard-on-the-deck from time-to-time and when he does, this rig is his first port of call.

PRO’S RIGS...


NIGEL SHARP

��“If I’m fishing over ‘machine-gun-gravel’ in gin clear water, use Clear Amnesia or fluorocarbon for my Stiff Bottom D-Rig, as

it blends in better than the black version.”

RIG TIP

003 To secure the hook to the hooklink material, you want

to use a standard Knotless Knot. Make six or seven turns around the shank.

075

001 You don’t actually require a lot to tie up Nigel’s Stiff Bottom

D-Rig. Amnesia, Stiff Rigger Hooks, rig rings, lighter and some bait floss.

002 Take a length of Amnesia and pass it through the eye

of your chosen hook (it must have an out-turned eye) like so.

004 Now thread on a small rig ring to the tag end of the

hooklink material and pass it back through the eye of the hook like so.

005 Just as you do with your Chod Rigs, use a lighter to blob the

end of the tag which will create a ‘bulb’ and stop it pulling back through.

006 And there you have it – we said it was simple! To this you

need to mount your bottom bait and you do this with bait floss.

007 Thread your hookbait onto a baiting needle and then take a

length of bait floss, double it over and attach it to the needle.

008 Pull your hookbait from the baiting needle and onto the

length of bait floss. Secure the bait with a Hair stop.

009 Now all you need to do is simply tie the two ends of the

bait floss to the rig ring using a couple of Granny Knots. Job done!

PRO’S RIGS...


THE REVERSE CHOD RIGPUTTING A NEW ANGLE ON THE WORLD’S MOST-LOVED RIG

Kevin Nash: a big fish legend and the man who invented the Blowback Rig. Now he’s come up with his version of the Chod Rig – one which incorporates his company’s amazing Twister hook which actually opens the gape up, offering far superior hooking capabilities. Here’s how you tie it…

KEVIN

NASH

077

001 Start off by taking a length of your Chod hooklink material

and pass one end through the back of a Nash Twister.

002 Next, whip around the hook shank (in Knotless Knot style)

14 times or as many turns so you’re level with the hook’s point.

003 Now whip back up the hook shank three times and pass

the tag end through the front of the eye – not the back.

004 Take the tag end of the Chod material, pass on a

small rig ring and pass the end back through the hook’s eye.

005 To secure the tag end and to stop the rig ring coming off,

use a lighter to blob the end and to create a small ‘bulb’.

006 On the other end, take a small flexi-ring swivel and

pass this on and then double the hooklink material back on itself.

007 Make a loop in the hooklink material and tie an Overhand

Loop Knot – this adds movement and flexibility to the rig.

008 And here’s the finished set-up. Thanks to the way the

hook is whipped on, it creates a lovely big, wide gape.

009 Kevin has used this style of Chod Rig for the last couple

of years and has had some truly stunning carp on it.

PRO’S RIGS...


THE WEEDEFFECT MULTI RIGOFFICIALLY THE WORLD’S MOST CAMO RIG!

MARTIN

LOCKE

001 To remove the hook, simply slide the silicone sleeve up off

the hook eye.002

Pull the loop down and pass over the hook and off

through the eye.003

To replace it, use a thin boilie needle, pull the loop through

the eye.

Martin Locke has changed the world of end tackle camouflage thanks to his Weedeffect collec-tion. Where previously we had ‘Silt Black’ or ‘Weedy Green’, now we have what looks like the real thing – and better still, you can actually buy the same rig Lockie uses! It’s a 100% camo version of the Multi Rig – a perfect set-up which means you don’t ever have to tie up a new rig again! Thanks to a clever method of mounting the hook, it means you can switch between hook shape and size with total ease and here’s how…

079

004 Once you’ve threaded on your chosen hook, replace

the Hair ring.005

Pass the hook through the loop and adjust to the

required position. 006

Now all you need to do is mount your chosen hookbait

and get it out there!

��If you’re using a bottom bait, then make the ‘D’ larger. By doing so, the hook will sit straighter and the top of

the bait will be positioned on the bend of the hook. When fishing with a pop-up, you want the bait to be held nearer to the eye of the hook than the bend

and to achieve this simply make the loop smaller.

RIG TIP

PRO’S RIGS...


THE FATAL RIGIT’S LEWIS READ’S TAKE ON THE AWESOME 360º RIG

Lewis Read: capturer of some of the fi nest carp to swim in this land – Heather The Leather, The Royal 40 – and a real tinkerer when it comes to rigs. Alongside the Chod Rig, this is currently Lewis’ favourite pop-up presentation, and although it might look a little cumbersome with all the swivels and rig rings, it is in actual fact these components that make this rig so damn eff ective.

LEWIS

READ

001 Here are the components you’ll

need to tie Lewis’s deadly Fatal Rig: hooks, hook beads, rings and putty.

003 With the swivel on, he stops this

from coming off the hook by threading on a Gardner Hook Stop.

004 Next, pass over the hook point a

Gardner Tackle (Small) Rig Ring. You will be mounting your hookbait to this.

002 Take a Mugga hook and pass

the swivel end of a size 12 Flexi-Ring Swivel over the hook point.

081

005 And fi nally, to lock this onto

the hook shank and stop it coming off , thread on another Hook Stop.

007 Because this rig is fi shed with a

buoyant bait, Lewis uses tungsten putty to counter-balance the pop-up.

008 At the other end, he ties a Figure-

Of-Eight-Loop Knot and then attaches it via a quick-change link.

006 To the ring that’s attached to the

swivel, tie on your chosen hooklink material – in Lewis’ case, Chod Skin.

PRO’S RIGS...


IAN CHILLCOTT’S SIMPLE BALANCED RIGLEADING CARP ANGLER, IAN ‘CHILLY’ CHILLCOTT REVEALS A TRIED AND TRUSTED RIG THAT COULDN’T BE SIMPLER TO TIE BUT HAS CAUGHT HIM STACKS OF IMPRESSIVE CARP

001 Above are all of the components that

Chilly uses to construct this go-anywhere rig set-up.

002 Start by cutting seven- to eight-

inches of Coretex and strip three-inches of the coating.

003 You will then need to tie a small

Overhand Loop Knot in the exposed braid.

004 Thread a 14mm bottom bait,

followed by a grain of plastic corn and secure.

005 Next, thread on your SSC hook

and secure it in place with a Knotless Knot as shown.

006 Now cut a 1.5cm length of shrink

tube and place it over the eye into the position shown.

007 Carefully hold the shrink tube over

a steaming kettle until it shrinks down…

008 …and then create a nice progressive

curve in it as illustrated in the above picture.

009 Chilly then likes to add a couple of

blobs of Hi-SG Putty onto the rig to help ‘pin’ it down.

010 Need to tie a small Overhand Loop in

the end of the rig for use with quick change devices.

011 An anti-tangle sleeve is then threaded

onto the rig to help prevent tangles on the cast.

012 The rig is now complete and

should sit like this on the lakebed – simply devine.

‘CHILLY’

SILICONE HOLDERThe short length of silicone tubing is positioned around on the bend of the hook – this, when combined with the weight of an 18mm+ boilie, helps kick the rig over.

LONG READS...

ON THE DECKWORLD RENOWNED FOR HIS HINGED STIFF LINK AND CHOD RIG, TERRY FINALLY REVEALS ALL ABOUT THIS BOTTOM BAIT PRESENTATION…


Words Terry Hearn Photography Terry Hearn and CARPology

SHRINK KICKERThis isn’t set-up line-aligner, but simply kicked off slightly when shrunk down over steam. Note this isn’t a big kicker – around 5mm in length.

HOOKLINK MATERIALTerry uses a removable outer-coating hooklink material – in 20lb BS. This breaking strain means the hooklink is stiff enough to imitate his old school mono hooklinks, but is much, much more robust.

HAIR LENGTHKeeping the hook and bait apart is essential, and Tel will have a minimum of 5mm, normally though it’s around 10mm from the top of the bait to the bend of the hook.

085

MAKING CHANGES In the previous chapter I talked about fishing with pop-ups and detailed how I go about tying up my favourite presentations: the Hinged Stiff Link and the Chod Rig. When it comes to fishing popped-up boilies these are the rigs you’re most likely to find me using, particularly when I’m targeting a particular big ’un, as I have so much confidence in their hooking and holding power. Both presentations are pretty ‘butch’, with nice tough hooklink materials and big strong hooks and you only have to look at them to see that there’s a good chance of anything hooked ending up in the net. So, I’m more than happy with my pop-up rigs, and I’ve got to say that if I can get away with using them, then I will. However, what about when I want to fish a bait tight to the deck? What sort of rigs do I go for then? Though nowadays I’m very happy with my bottom bait rigs, it’s not always been the case and so for this chapter I’m going to go back, way back, as for sure it’s my bottom bait presentations that have seen the most changes over the years.THE OLD DAYS The bottom bait rigs that friends and I used to use whilst fishing the shallow, silty lakes in the Royal Parks were ever so simple and were generally formed from around 18-inches of 7lb Sylcast with a size 8 Drennan Super Specialist hook tied on to the end with a Whipping Knot. The left over tag of line was then passed back through the eye, with a small loop tied in the end for a Hair. Nice and simple and fishing them with our little one-ounce leads it used to work a treat. We caught loads like it and so that’s pretty much how my bottom bait presentation stayed for sometime. We thought our rigs were great and being as we were using nice chemically etched hooks they probably were pretty good for the time, as this was way before there was such a large abundance of decent hooks on the market. Back then, if you weren’t on a Drennan or a Kamatsu hook then you were quite

A golden mid-thirty taken on my modern-day bottom bait presentation

Back in the day! Caught using my trusted

mono hooklinks

LONG READS...


It caught this one out!

How my bottom bait rig looks today: a coated hooklink material, shrink tubing over the eye and a piece of silicone on the hook shank to trap the Hair

likely to be using something that was blunt in comparison and so without really realising it we were already onto an edge. If we were fi shing somewhere that required stronger tackle then we’d just step everything up a bit, going for a size 6 Super Specialist tied to a length of 11lb Sylcast, which back then was seen as absolute brute tactics. My, how things have changed! It was sometime before I got into fi shing with shorter hooklinks and I remember that at the same time as I started shortening my hooklinks, I also started using the rotary rig (helicopter), with the backstop placed a few inches back up the line. Most of the places I was fi shing back then were shallow and silty, which is why in the past we’d always taken the light lead and long hooklink approach, but looking at the way the rotary rig worked we thought it would be ideal. The way it worked meant that there was no need for a long hooklink anymore, as the hooklink was able to slide up the main line, resting on top

of the silt rather than being dragged down into it. Around the same time I started using another hook from the Drennan stable, the faithful old Carbon Specimens in either an 8 or a 6 and just for a little extra holding power I used to bend the eyes in slightly with a pair of pliers. This wasn’t done to make the hook turn better, but of course that’s exactly what it achieved and coupled with the shorter hooklinks, which by now were down to around six-inches, it proved to be a very good rig. I even used to slide a small piece of 0.5mm silicone tubing over the eye and knot and although I only ever did this to tidy the rig up, again this slight extension no doubt helped the hook to fl ip over in the carp’s mouth. Of course we weren’t using leadcore leaders back then and so there was always the problem of whatever you’d tied the hooklink on to damaging the main line just above the lead, especially during a long fi ght. Originally we started off using

swivel beads, i.e. a swivel with a plastic bead moulded around one end, but these were still a bit on the dodgy side and it wasn’t long before we were looking for an alternative. In the end it was a small hard plastic bead with another hole moulded on to the side of it that we found ideal for the job. I know that’s a bit vague but I just can’t remember what they were called. Those beads were only made from plastic, but seeing as we were only ever tying light mono hooklinks to them we never ever had them fail on us. If you tried to tie a braided hooklink to them then they’d cut through every time, but with the stretchy mono they were fi ne. In fact, I carried on using those same rigs right up until my days at Yateley, which is where I fi rst started to get problems with my usual bottom bait rigs, as all of a sudden I was fi shing for carp in a whole new set of environments. Basically, my nice subtle rigs with fi ne-wired hooks and mono hooklinks were no longer up to the job. One of the fi rst fi sh I ever hooked on them was

A rig without a piece of silicone on the shank to hold the Hair in position? Preposterous. Some would call it “the rig of Satan”. In an era when rig refinement is everything, having that little bit of rubberised material on the shank just ensures all is laying correctly when your lead hits the lakebed – and the fact it helps the hook turn

quicker and offers you the blow-back effect. “There’s a couple of problems with silicone tube,” says Joe Morgan. “First you’ve got to thread it onto your hooklink material. Then, if you somehow manage that, you’ve got to get your hook point through it without tearing the side. It’s a nightmare.” Cue: Joe’s very clever method…

003 Attach your Hair loop to the gate on the splicing needle. 004 Pull the needle and Hair back

through the silicone. Job done.

001 Take your piece of silicone and pass it onto a splicing needle. 002 Next carefully pass your hook

point through the silicone.

BACK TO BASICSTHREADING SILICONE

087

LONG READS...


in The Pig Swim on The Copse Lake and within seconds I was reeling in a hook that looked more like a baiting needle and so it wasn’t long before I was having a rethink.HOOK POINTS Obviously the hooks needed to be stronger, but also the mono that I was forming my rigs from also had to be changed for something stronger and more abrasion resistant. I finished up using Kryston Silkworm and Owner Cutting Points for a while and though it all looked good and I caught fish, it could never match the effectiveness of my old mono rigs with my bent Carbon Specimen hooks. At the time this was largely put down to the fact that everything was being made from less subtle components, but really I think the main reason that mono was as good as it was because of its inherent stiffness and the way it left the eye of the hook, at an angle, just as we’d make sure it was doing today with the aid of shrink tubing.

Of course, as the range of hooks and hooklink materials available grew in number, I tried loads of different combinations, but mono was a “no-no”, as it just wasn’t up to the job and I always steered clear of tubing as I thought it made my bottom bait rigs look too cluttered. If I did use it, then it was generally just a little piece of silicone covering the knot, but it was clear that the longer shanked hooks with an in-turned eye always seemed that much more effective. The use of the relatively new-coated braids also helped a lot, making tangles more a thing of the past and I’m sure their stiffness added to my bottom bait rig’s effectiveness. The braid though was still supple where it left the hook eye, which knowing what I know now, made my bottom bait rigs far easier for the carp to deal with. I’m sure that the main reason I still enjoyed fair success with my bottom bait presentations was because of how fussy I am with my hook points.

I’m sure that others are nowhere near as fussy and that’s a serious edge in itself. Even today I can guarantee that if I were to walk around a lake asking people to reel in I’d find that many of them were casting out hooks that aren’t sharp enough. I know that may sound a little mad but believe me, it’s the truth. Every so often I’ve come across a batch of hooks that are nice and consistent with virtually everyone out the packet being usable, but I’ve got to tell you that’s pretty rare and for the most part I’m looking at throwing at least a couple away out of every packet. In fact, with one of my most favourite hooks of all, I used to be looking at around fifty percent sharp and fifty percent ‘dulled’, which means if I wasn’t fussy enough to check them I would have been cutting my chances down by half. If you want to do that then just take the one rod with you. I’ve said it over and over again, but to a carp angler the hook point should be the number one concern.

089

THE OLD FASHIONED WAY OF SHRINKING DOWN SHRINK TUBE ONTO A HOOK OR SWIVEL WAS TO HOLD IT WITH FORCEPS OVER THE SPOUT OF A STEAMING KETTLE. THIS WORKS, BUT CAN BE A BIT FIDDLY, AS YOU HAVE TO ROTATE IT TO MAKE SURE ALL THE TUBE GETS AN EVEN AMOUNT OF STEAM. THERE IS ALSO THE RISK OF THE HOOKLINK GETTING SINGED BY THE FLAMES FROM THE STOVE BELOW, WHICH WOULD MEAN STARTING ALL OVER AGAIN. ESP’S DAVE ELLYATT HAS A BETTER WAY. “I HAVE FOUND THE QUICKEST AND MOST EFFICIENT WAY OF SHRINKING SHRINK TUBE IS TO DUNK THE HOOK OR SWIVEL STRAIGHT INTO A BUBBLING KETTLE FOR ABOUT 10 SECONDS. THIS ENSURES EVEN COVERAGE OF THE TUBE. THEN TAKE IT OUT AND MANIPULATE THE TUBE INTO THE DESIRED SHAPE BEFORE IT COOLS. THERE IS ALSO LESS RISK OF BURNING THE HOOKLINK THIS WAY.”

ANGLING BUSHCRAFTSHRINKING YOUR SHRINK TUBE

TODAY’S PRESENTATION

Thankfully I’m glad to say that I’m very happy with my bottom bait presentation today and over the past couple of years I’ve made sure to include a small piece of shrink tubing shrunk down to create an angle at the hooks eye. As well as this shrink tube, I also trap the Hair right round on the bend with a small piece of 0.5mm silicone tubing, which I believe to be just as important as an aid in helping the hook to flip over and take hold, even more so with the added weight of a bottom bait on the Hair. Friends had been telling me to try fishing my bottom bait rigs in this way for a long, long time before I eventually gave in and in the end it was at one of the angling shows, chatting to Danny and Damo from Korda that made me sit up and take notice. We were doing a talk and they were showing their bottom bait rigs to the punters, but they weren’t the only ones impressed with how well the hook turned and I made my mind up there and then that I’d have it on my own rods next trip out. Funny enough, someone else who’d been telling me to add a nice piece of shrink tubing on to my hooks was Alan Welch, the main influence behind the Stiff Links, and so that was three good anglers all telling me I needed to make some changes. I was fishing Pingewood near Reading at the time and the first time I added a piece of shrink tubing to my rigs I hooked and landed three in a single sitting. Next trip out and more of the same. In fact, over the following few weeks I went on to land pretty much everything I hooked. Suddenly my confidence in my bottom bait boilie presentation had grown to that of the Stiff Links and since then I’ve kept them exactly the same, using either ESP Big T’s or, if the bottom’s gravelly, the beaked pointed Korda Wide Gapes, both in the 6’s. I can honestly say that nowadays I’m as happy with my bottom bait presentation as I am with my pop-ups, and that really means a lot, as in the past I’ve often held back from using bottom baits just because of the worry of poor hook holds. All in the past now I’m glad to say, so thanks to Danny, Damo and Al for convincing me to make the changes.Terry Hearn

LONG READS...

THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE HINGED STIFF LINKFROM THE MAN WHO TOOK IT TO THE NEXT LEVEL AND USED IT TO CATCH BRUTES SUCH AS HEATHER THE LEATHER, TWO-TONE AND THE MIGHTY MARY, TERRY HEARN EXPLAINS HOW YOU CAN CASH-IN ON THE ‘HINGES’ SUCCESS


Words Terry Hearn

Photography Terry Hearn and CARPology

091

THE EARLY VERSIONS The first early versions of the Stiff Link that I saw were shown to me by a couple of friends, Alan Welch and Andy Kidd. This was during the summer of ‘95 when I was still chasing the monsters of The Car Park Lake. Both Alan and Andy had been using this pretty mad looking rig to great effect over the previous couple of years and Alan in particular made a real point of telling me how big an edge he felt it had been to his fishing. Alan had been fishing a small water not too far from Staines, one that contained some pretty nice carp, not just good lookers, but also sizeable fish for that period of time, with the best being around the mid-thirty mark. There were some unusual ones, with names like The Banana Fish, The Purple Fish, The Ghost and so on. Anyway, being a small water they could always be found, but catching them was never easy and Alan said how difficult the fishing could be, with long periods with next to nothing getting caught. In comes the Stiff Link. Using what nowadays we would look at as being pretty high pop-ups, Al went on to nail many of the lakes better residents, many of which fell to a baited trap in the margins. He said how it was strange, but he’d often get the feeling that the hookbait was amongst the first to go, whereas in the past it was always left till last. He was positive the Stiff Links were providing him with a serious edge

and together with Andy they went on to catch a number of fish from another easier water in Aldershot during the winter months, further adding to their confidence in what at the time was a very different presentation. If my memory serves me right, Andy also nailed one of the big ’uns from Silvermere that winter, another water that we’d all fished in the past, a fish known as Whitescale at 26lbs, at the time its biggest ever weight. Two small white lightning pop-ups fished on a stiff link, the bait positioned a good four-inches off the deck. BACK TO 1995 Anyway, back to ‘95. Both Alan and Andy started fishing The Car Park Lake at Yateley around this time and so I was lucky enough to see the Stiff Link pretty early on. Listening to their tales of Stiff Link successes over the previous couple of years I couldn’t help but take notice and it was that autumn that I first started using it myself. My Stiff Links back then were really long, with the boom probably close to twelve-inches and the pop-up section set at around three- or four-inches. Though Al and Andy were on the smoother feeling black Amnesia from the off, to begin with I couldn’t get my head around its thickness and colour, and so instead I went for the transparent gear, back then in 25lb breaking strain. Our boom sections were otherwise identical, with nice big loops at each end and nice chunky large eye swivels so the link could

rotate around the leadcore with ease. Uni-link swivels weren’t out back then, though in all honesty even since their arrival I still prefer the freedom of movement achieved with a loop. At the pop-up end I used a medium sized Drennan Ring, as I’m sure both Al and Andy did too, but it was the actual pop-up section where we differed. We were both using Amnesia for this bit, but they were using a pretty long, straight-shanked hook, with a straight point and an in-turned eye. I can’t be sure what they were, but something similar to the same shape as the ESP G4’s or a Korda Long Shank, though they were being tied directly to the eye, with an additional supple Hair whipped up the shank. The microwave type pop-ups were then simply pierced and threaded on to the supple Hair. Without doubt it was a very effective rig, but I was already well into using pop-ups made from corkballs by this time and so I wanted a different way of attaching my pop-ups. Also, I had my own ideas on hooks and to me an old favourite, the Continental Boilie Hook, tied up whipping style looked bang on, the reversed eye causing the pop-up section to leave the hook at the perfect angle. It was whilst playing around with the rig round at Lewis’s house that Lew come up with the lighter blobbing trick. After our previous

LONG READS...


successes using rigs incorporating sliding rings, ‘The D Rig’ was the obvious way to fi nish off our pop-up sections, but at this point nobody used to use a lighter to blob the left over tag of Amnesia, everyone used to use glue, so Lew suddenly having that simple little brain wave really was a Godsend, and it’s something we’ve used in other presentations lots since. The fi rst rig to go into the sink had a whacking great size 2 Continental Boilie Hook on and we angled the pop-up section so that the hook was just swinging around beneath the pop-up, which from the off were in 15mm size and made with 12mm corkballs. It looked like a big claw just hanging there, “ready to whip out and grab one by the jaw as it swims past,” as good old Al would say. And so we were on our way. It still took some confi dence to chuck it out, especially in a lake as diffi cult as The Car Park, but it looked so good in the sink and I’d been more than convinced it was worth a try. I tied several rigs up, a couple with the size 2 hooks, but in the end I thought the size 4’s were more suited to the 15mm bait size and they balanced out much better as well.FIRST TRYFirst night I ever used them I caught a tench from The Beach Swim in the early hours of the morning. It was

actually on a quick overnighter when I was working at Cooperman’s Place in Hook, and I can’t remember why but I spent that night curled up in a ball beneath a bush. For the life of me I can’t remember why I was sleeping on the fl oor, but I was. Anyway, I don’t think I’ve ever paid so much attention to a hook hold on a tench before, but I was well happy to see that it was well and truly nailed in the bottom lip. The next bite I got on it was just a few days later from The Bars Swim and it turned out to be none other than Heather The Leather at 43lbs. My confi dence in the rig went through the roof and since that day I’ve rarely looked back. Of course, as with all rigs, it’s undergone a few changes, a little tweaking here and there and it’s these small changes that I’ll detail next, as for certain they have made all the diff erence.FIFTEEN YEARS ON…Almost fi fteen years on from when I was fi rst shown the rig, my boom section stays the same, albeit a little shorter, and I still use Alan’s original choice, the faithful old Amnesia. More often than not in the black gear, as for some reason or other it has a softer feel than the clear, and also I fi nd it easier to smooth out any kinks or twists, an occasional problem after a link has tangled around the lead in fl ight.

It’s worth saying at this point that I never use a Stiff Link with an in-line lead and only ever fi sh it with a rotary type presentation. The reasons for this are pretty obvious and you only have to drop them both in the edge a few times to see which settles best. With an in-line lead it’s possible that you’ll end up with your hooklink poking skywards, especially on a soft bottom, whereas with a rotary type lead, the hooklink is free to ride up the leadcore leader and then settle on top of any bottom debris. And so my confi dence in the presentation just grew, and armed with the ‘stiffi es’ I was soon venturing off to pastures new. The Pads Lake, Wraysbury, The Mere and The Brook, it seemed to be doing the business everywhere I took it and it was crystal clear that both Alan and Andy were right: The Stiff Link was obviously something a bit special.PROBLEMS…Then, sometime in ’98, I started having problems with my hooks and after losing what felt like a very good fi sh over on Elstow 2 and becoming more and more concerned that I was having to go through untold Boilie hooks just to fi nd one that had a half decent point. I decided it was time to put the stiffi es on the back shelf for a while. It was obvious that the latest batch of hooks weren’t up to

Sect

ion

(A)

Terry Hearn Stiff rig: Fig 1

Treatments:

Hook: ESP Stiff rigger - Size 6

Section (A): 2 inches of ESP Bristle filament

Section (B): 7 inches of Amnesia

Finish area’s (C) & (D) & (E)by melting the line to form a securing globule

Critical MassPutty

Area (C)

Area (D)

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securing globuley gby melting the line to form a

Area (D)Finish area s (C) & (D) & (E)Fi i h ’ (C) & (D) & (E)

Treatments:TTTreatments:TTPuttyCritical Mass

Section (B): 7 inches of Amnesia( ) h f

Sc

iSection (A): 2 inches of ESP Bristle filament

A

ggHook: ESP Stiff rigger Size 6

y g gTerry Hearn Stiff rig: Fig 1TTTerr Hearn Stiff rig Fig 1T Area (C)

MY CURRENT VERSION

BACK TO BASICSHOW TO TIE THE

TWO-TURN BLOOD KNOT

093

scratch, not in my book anyway, and once it becomes an eff ort to fi nd a truly sharp one, all you’re doing is choosing the best from a bad batch. Where hooks are concerned I’m exceptionally fussy and I want to be choosing the best from a good batch, and so, as disappointed as I was, that was the end of the stiffi es for quite some time. Then ESP came up trumps, introducing The Stiff Riggers into the range and not only in the highly necessary 4’s and 6’s, but also in the in-between sizes, which I’d suggested to them just a few weeks before the launch. When I think back to that extra little enquiry at the end of my letter to Adam Penning, asking why it was that hooks weren’t available in the in-between sizes, I can only smile, as it was from this that the size 5’s were born; in my opinion the best one in the range and absolutely made for 15mm sized corkball pop-ups. The slight reverse on the eye is absolutely bang-on and the long needle points are as good as you’re going to get. The Stiff Riggers were formed from the already successful Continental Boilie Hooks. The only diff erence being the point and instead of the overly exaggerated beaked points present on the Boilie Hooks, they now had a lovely straight

point, which is clearly far better suited to hooking. With a size 5 ESP Stiff Rigger you need to be using a 15mm pop-up made from a 12mm corkball. Don’t think you can compromise and go for a normal shop bought pop-up in the same size, you can’t, believe me I’ve tried the lot. To achieve maximum effi ciency it must be a corkball pop-up. When it comes to the smaller and lighter size 6 Stiff Riggers, which I often use either in winter, or where the venues not too snaggy or weedy, you can get away with some of the 15mm shop bought pop-ups, particularly on shorter day sessions where extended buoyancy isn’t so necessary. For me this is an easy one and whenever I use the 6’s I go for the Dynamite Source cork-dust pop-ups, which are bang on and well suited to this type of presentation, as the high levels of cork-dust make sure they remain buoyant for long periods of time. The Source ones come un-glugged, so it’s possible to fl avour them with your own combination of attractors if you want, always handy if you’re using a similarly coloured Robin Red type bait, whichever company it’s from.BRISTLE FILAMENTThe other thing that has undoubtedly added to the Stiff Links effi ciency is Bristle Filament, a wiry type of

04 Wet and gently pull together. Blob with

a lighter for extra security.

01 Pass the end of the material through

the eye of the swivel.

02 Take the free end and pass it around

the material two times.

03 Now thread the material back through

the loop you formed.

Section (B)

Area (E)

ec on (( ))

AArr aa (( ))

( )S i (B)

Area (E)

LONG READS...


clear nylon introduced to the ESP range at the same time as the Stiff Riggers. To begin with the Bristle Filaments wiry feel makes it tricky to work with, but once the art of tying up your hook sections is mastered you will never look back. It really is the business and a properly tied pop-up section can be neatly curved, so adding a stiff but transparent shank to the hook. I know that many people find it easier to use a simple Knotless Knot when it comes to tying up their hook sections, but I’ve got to say that a properly tied Snell Knot looks and sits far neater. We’ve put together a step-by-step sequence of how to tie the Snell Knot in this rig guide and you’ll find it on page 24. At the bottom of this pop-up section I now use a small swivel, generally a size ten, again in the ESP range, as these are the smoothest I’ve ever played around with, and the pop-up section is tied to this with nothing more than a simple Two-Turn Blood Knot. Remember now that it’s only possible to get away with this knot when using Bristle Filament, as Amnesia or any normal mono is highly likely to slip and then break. If you’ve ever made up wire traces for pike you’ll know that

it’s possible to thread on a swivel and just by twisting the wire round and round a few times it’s actually strong enough to hold. Obviously Bristle Filament’s not quite wire, but it’s not mono either, it’s more like a cross between the two and because of this you can get away with nothing more than a Two-Turn Blood Knot. This makes tying the pop-up section to the swivel much simpler, with less, if any damage, and it’s also easier to get the pop-up’s length right. That last bit is where so many people go wrong and they attempt to tie their neat little hook sections to the swivel with a Grinner Knot, which unless you’re very good, results in a damaged hook section. With a Two-Turn Blood Knot the couple of inches of Bristle Filament between the swivel and hook is left unmarked, all ready to curve into shape with your thumb and forefinger. You may think some of this sounds like I’m plugging, which is one reason I rarely do the technical pieces, as there’s so many people ready to jump on your back, but what I’m recommending here are the exact components I use and have complete faith in – genuinely! UP TO DATE So, that’s our up to date version of

STORING THE HOOKING

SECTIONS FOR A HINGED

STIFF LINK OR A STANDARD

CHOD RIG IS A TRICKY

AFFAIR. WITH THE SWIVEL

TIED ON YOU CAN USE A

NASH CHOD BOX OR FOX

‘STEAM & STORE CHOD/

WITHY BIN’, BUT WHAT

IF YOU LIKE TO SET THE

LENGTH OF THE ‘CHOD’

WHILST OUT ANGLING? (1)

GET AN OLD FUNNEL TUB,

SOME CAMO TAPE AND A

PAIR OF SCISSORS. CUT THE

TUB TO THE LENGTH YOU

WANT AND THEN RUN TWO

LENGTHS OF TAPE DOWN

BOTH SIDES; IT GIVES IT

THE “CARPY LOOK”. (2) TIE

UP RIGS WITHOUT SWIVELS

AND PLACE THEM IN THE

TUB. JOB DONE.

Early Hinge Stiff Rig success

ANGLING BUSHCRAFTSTORING HINGED STIFF LINKS

1

2

095

the Hinged Stiff Link pretty much well covered, which I suppose just leaves me with that master of chuck it and chance it: The Chod Rig. Setting up this one is very similar to the rotary rig, the only couple of differences being the fact that we don’t use a boom section and of course the backstop, which is slid further back up the leadcore, generally around 14-18-inches away from the lead. Instead, the pop-up section is tied directly to a small Uni-link swivel, my favoured size being an 11. Strong, but small, and as inconspicuous as possible. Something worth adding to the leads loop is a small length of 2mm silicone tubing, normally around an inch or two, just enough to cause the short curved hook section to sit slightly higher up the leader, rather then swinging precariously beneath the base of the lead, ready to dig in and render a cast useless. The main advantage of The Chod Rig is that you can chuck it out to areas that are otherwise difficult to present a bait in, and because of this, when it comes to fishing single hookbaits blind, it’s my number one choice. I tell you what, now I’ve started I’ve realised that I could go on forever about both the Hinged Stiff Links and the Choddies, with lots of stories about how effective they’ve been for myself and friends, but I think that’s enough for now – next up I’ve got my bottom bait rig to talk about…Terry Hearn

It worked on some of the country’s biggest carp…

…The mighty Two-Tone

Another stunner, this time getting nailed on a Chod Rig

LONG READS...


THE TOOLS OF EFFICIENT RIGSTHE TWO MOST IMPORTANT ASPECTS THAT NEED TO BE CONSIDERED WHEN THINKING ABOUT MODERN-DAY RIG DESIGN ARE THESE TWO FACTORS: BUOYANCY AND GRAVITY. THESE TWO INFLUENCES ARE THE MAJOR PLAYERS IN WHAT DETERMINES A SUCCESSFUL RIG. WHEN A FISH SUCKS BAIT INTO ITS MOUTH, THERE ARE A WHOLE HOST OF THINGS THAT NEED TO BE CONSIDERED, AND TO BE HONEST, WE CAN ONLY GUESS WHAT IS ACTUALLY HAPPENING AND GOING ON WITH THE RIG AND BAIT WHEN INSIDE THE CARP’S CLOSED MOUTH.

Words Jason Hayward

Photographs Jason Hayward

Illustrations Mark Smith

BUOYANCY

GRAVITY

097

Guessing is not something I really like doing, but in this instance we don’t really

have a choice, although we can draw a wealth of information that can be gleaned from analyzing the position and type of hook hold and also what we know from the laws of physics. What we are looking for is best set out in a list of requirements; these are set out in no particular order of importance.

001 The bait and rig should enter the mouth cleanly

without intrusion.

002 Ideally the hook should drop away and separate from the

bait onto the floor of the carp’s mouth.

003 The hook ideally should always be ‘point down’ and

as sharp as physically possible. Simple but very important.

004 The bait should be able to be ejected by the carp, without

the hook, or at least with the hook exiting the mouth ‘eye’ first with the point following behind.

005 The rig must be able to ‘re-set’ itself in the swim should it

be successfully ejected or moved about by nuisance or other feeding fish.

006 Ideally the rig should be able to hook efficiently or achieve

a good hook hold regardless if the rig is used with bottom baits or pop-ups.The last on the list of requirements (006) is probably the hardest to achieve as even the most bog

standard basic pop-up rig holds the hook in the most efficient position possible, with it hanging below the bait, just begging to catch a hold. This is very difficult to emulate with an unaltered bottom bait rig as the hook naturally ‘drags’ behind without hanging down in that oh so effective ‘claw’ like manner.LET’S ESTABLISH A FEW FACTS If you can imagine a carp feeding and slowly browsing an area and picking up baits, whether that be particles or boilies it doesn’t matter, the carp will gently suck at the food items and some of these will find their way into the mouth, the ones that don’t may well be sucked in again if the carp remains in EXACTLY the same position (and senses it has food in front of it). But if the carp moves, even fractionally in any direction, this will inhibit the food item (or hookbait) from entering the mouth due to the ‘suck’ from the carp no longer being strong enough to move the item in question. This is the main reason for arguing the case to always put out a good mixture of sizes of bait within a swim to stop the carp from ‘regulating’ its suck towards a particular size of bait, hopefully disguising the weight of the hook.DOES THIS WORK? Well, to a certain extent it must, but try this: set up the test tank with some baits of different sizes on the bottom. Using a tube, place your hand over the end and try sucking up the baits. What you will find is that ALL the

baits find their way up inside the tube (mouth) despite their weight. Now glue a hook directly onto a bait and try again. Again, you find that the bait flies up inside the tube no problem. So if the carp are regulating their ‘suck’ it would be fair to assume that the harder the carp have to suck (the heavy hookbait) the greater the volume of water is also taken into the mouth cavity. It would also be right to assume that the greater volume of water present in that instance, the easier it would be for the carp to eject the bait. Now put the same bait onto a rig with a Hair about an inch long and do the same experiment as above again. What you will see this time, is the bait will go up inside, albeit slower, but the hook will drag behind and if you have positioned the tube far enough away from the bait, the hook will not even make it to the very outside edge of the tube. This is because the weight of the hook is greatly amplified the further you move it away from the initial first point at where the carp aimed its suck, which in a fishing situation will mean you don’t get a take or to use a much used phrase, “you’ve been done!” This is exactly what happens when a carp is feeding cautiously, the fish will gently mouth at the bait, as if ‘sipping’ and as the hook is a separate weight to the bait, it will not be taken into the mouth, or if a short Hair is used, a very tentative hook hold would be the result.

LONG READS...


EXPLANATION IN ILLUSTRATIONS

Here’s an example of a standard bottom bait with hook dragging behind when it’s sucked in by the carp

This is my tweaked version with the small piece of foam in position. The hook is ready and waiting

002

001

099

The foam adds buoyancy and a larger surface area, making it far more likely to be taken into the mouth

The critically balanced hook always remains point down and goes into the mouth far easier. Deadly

003

004

SO WHAT DO WE DO? The first thing most inexperienced anglers would say is “shorten the Hair” but ask any rig buff and they will tell you that efficient separation between the hook and the bait is absolutely crucial to a good rig’s effectiveness. The closer the hook is to the bait, the easier and more likely it is to be ejected without finding a hold. This is due to the hook following the same exit path as the bait, but bend first, which is never going to hook anything.BLOW BACK RIGS? So blow back rigs are the answer then? No, sorry, not for me. Whilst blow back rigs are without doubt effective, I am convinced that their effectiveness is NOT because of the ring being able to slide the centimeter or so up the shank of the hook. Don’t believe me? Tie one up and put a bait on the end. Hold the bait and move it in such a way to mimic it being ejected by a carp. You will see that the hook always follows the bait, just like any other rig unless it is ejected EXACTLY at the same angle as the ring on the shank of the hook, which obviously cannot be guaranteed.SO WHY ARE THEY SO EFFECTIVE? I honestly believe the success of blow back rigs is simply due to the fact that the hook can swivel far easier so that the point ends up in a downward position, such as you would find on the standard pop-up rig talked about earlier.INCREASING BOTTOM BAIT HOOKING EFFICIENCY The blow back rig is obviously a good alternative to the standard set-up of a small piece of silicon tubing on the shank, but this rig still has the poor characteristics of the hook dragging behind the bait, so can still be improved upon from a hooking potential point of view. I have touched on this rig before but I really don’t think the full impact of the rig was realised. What we are trying to do, is keep the hook in the same plane (point down) as it would be on a pop-

up rig, but also help the hook to enter the mouth with the minimum of ‘suck’ without it dragging behind the bait and hindering the rig’s effectiveness, as a standard bottom bait rig with a decent length of Hair would. CRITICALLY BALANCED HOOKS Looking at this rig, it really appears just far too simple, but as with most good ideas, that’s the beauty of it. When the original Hair rig was used, it was in conjunction with very small hooks to allow the hook to pass into the mouth with as little hindrance as possible. Now, the Hair rig, as I’m sure you’re aware, was just about the most effective rig we have ever had, BUT things were different back in the early 80’s, as far as most waters were not totally weed infested as they are now. Now I’m a fan of big hooks and I just couldn’t start using small hooks, as I’m convinced that they ‘pull out’ easier, so I started balancing my (big) hooks with a piece of foam onto the shank to completely negate the hook’s weight. At first I honestly thought it was just the fact that the hooks were flying back further into the carp’s mouth when they picked up my bait, but after thinking about it, it became very obvious that there was more to it and the hook being held in a point ‘down’ position had to be a large part of the answer. One other aspect is also at play here if you think about it, and that’s the surface area of a hook, which

is very minimal when compared to say that of a boilie. However, by putting a piece of foam on the hook you are increasing the surface area dramatically, therefore you are not just making the hook more buoyant, but the now increased surface area also makes it far easier for the hook to be influenced by the volume of water sucked up into the carp’s mouth. The rig is best described by diagrams, although to be honest it’s just a standard rig with a piece of foam on the hook, but DO NOT underestimate the foam’s importance. What we are trying to achieve is a hook that only just sinks. The only other adjustments I make to the rig is the addition of a small piece of rig putty, approximately two-and-a-half-inches from the eye of the hook. The difference the addition this little piece of foam can make is astonishing. Balance and position it on the hook shank so that the hook sits up off the deck with the point and eye in contact with the bottom. The type and brand of foam that is used can make a big difference to the buoyancy, as some are better than others. I’m not going to mention any brands, as this is a rig article not an advert, but have a play around with the many brands available, or your favourite one and I’m sure you will find one you’re happy with (well, you don’t want it all on a plate do you?). Happy rig thinking and good hunting.Jason Hayward

LONG READS...


101

003 Next thread on a 5mm section of silicone tubing (it needs to be tight enough to

grip the hook shank). 004 Finally, pass the hook point through the

silicone and around onto the hook. This will lock the foam in place. Simple, but deadly!

001 To start off, tie a standard rig using a Knotless Knot to secure your chosen hook. 002 Cut a small piece of foam and using a

baiting needle, thread it onto the Hair.

HOW TO…BALANCE YOUR HOOK HAYWARD STYLE

SNAGGY SITUATIONIn snaggy venues where you are often fi shing against overhanging trees, lilies and submerged branches, you need to lose the lead quickly. This minimises the chance of anything catching on the snags which could cause a tethered fi sh. Once again, cut the clip down, moisten the rubber and push it on very lightly. This will dump the lead as soon as the carp shakes his head on the take.

WEEDY SITUATIONIn weedy venues it is imperative you dump the lead on the take. This means the carp will rise up higher in the water so it’s easier to play them through the weed. To do this, snip a small piece off the clip arm and only just push the rubber over the end of the clip. It’s also worth noting you need to wet the clip serrations and arm before pushing the tail rubber over them.

LEAD CLIP SET-UPSTHE LEAD CLIP IS NOT ONLY THE MOST POPULAR LEAD SET-UP, BUT IT’S ALSO THE WORLD’S MOST VERSATILE LEAD SYSTEM AND IF USED CORRECTLY WILL LAND YOU MORE CARP

LEAD SET-UPS...


Choosing the correct lead system for the conditions you are fi shing in is extremely important. Lead clips can be used in all fi shing situations because they are a very versatile lead system and can be set-up and fi shed in many diff erent ways. They can be set to drop the lead on the take right through to fi shing them as a running lead set-up. Here we are going to show you how and when to set-up your lead clip diff erently to give you the best chance of landing every bite. And remember that saying by Kevin Nash before you complain about the lead dropping off : “You moan about losing a £1.60 lead, but if someone said you could catch a 20lb carp for £1.60 you’d bite their arm off wouldn’t you.”

DO’S AND DON’TSWHAT YOU SHOULD AND SHOULDN’T DO WITH LEAD CLIPS

��The swivel to which the rig is tied must be located fi rmly in the clip barrel and this is either by using a pin lock or when the swivel clicks into the self-locking part.

��Always check your tail rubber for damage, i.e. splitting.

��The clip and rubber need to be moist for the system to work effi ciently.

��Do not be tempted to superglue the tail rubber to the lead clip. This is just suicidal and totally unfair to the fi sh and is a blatant death rig in the making.

SNAG-FREE SITUATIONWhen fi shing on venues where there is no weed or snags, you can push the rubber tail well down the clip and there’s no need to trim the clip arm back either. As there is nothing to get snagged on, there is no need to dump the lead on the take. This will not only save you a bit of money on leads, but it means the lakebed is not unnecessarily littered with leads.

FREE-RUNNING SITUATIONThis is another set-up for totally snag-free venues where there is no chance of the lead and rig getting snagged. This is a lead clip set-up with a slight diff erence and was thought up by Danny Fairbrass. Firstly, take a pair of pliers and gently nip the swivel end of the lead clip so it’s more of an oval-shape. Next, instead of using a swivel, use a quick-change clip to push just inside the clip housing as you would the swivel. This creates a semi-fi xed set-up and will turn into a running rig when the carp shakes its head.

105

LEAD SET-UPS...

THE ULTIMATE DROP-OFF IN-LINE LEAD SET-UPTHE PERFECT LEAD SET-UP FOR WHEN YOU’RE FISHING WITH SOLID PVA BAGS OR NEED TO DITCH A HEAVY LEAD THAT’S FISHED WITH A SHORT HOOKLINK


“For years I’ve used a drop-off in-line lead system when I’m fi shing with solid PVA Bags,” states PVA bagging expert, Jon Finch. “The thinking behind having your leader or main line running around the outside of the lead is so it can be ditched on the take or should it become snagged. This is especially useful when fi shing with very short hooklinks, like in a PVA bag scenario, as the lead could bounce the hook out of the fi sh’s mouth.” However, there have always been a couple of problems with this set-up. (1) It can damage the main line and (2) it’s not always very neat. Thanks to the new system from Avid Carp, though, they’ve managed to

overcome both of these issues. “The new Groove Leads have a dedicated groove that runs around the lead and that stops your main line or leader getting damaged. What’s more, Jon ‘Shoes’ Jones and myself designed a drop-off insert that’s been created especially for this style of lead set-up. It’s a small plastic insert that slides inside the in-line lead, to make drop-off in-line fi shing much neater. Because of the ring, your leader and hooklink sit much more fl ush and ditching the lead is a lot simpler. Previously we had to squeeze swivels down with pliers to make a drop-off set-up safe, but now with this insert there’s no need.

001 This is an Avid Carp Drop-Off Insert, which has

been purpose-designed for anglers wanting to ditch in-line leads.

002 This In-Line Groove Lead is also purpose-designed for

wrapping leadcore over and around for drop-off lead fi shing too.

004 Finchy splices on a short length of leadcore to the

ring, wrapping it over the lead within the groove.

005 Jon then slides an ultra-soft tail rubber down the

leadcore. This goes over the stem on the in-line lead.

006 The tail rubber fi xes into place nicely. Note how

much camoufl age is used on all products here.

003 The Insert fi ts inside in-line leads, leaving just a heavy-

duty ring poking out to attach your hooklink too. Neat!

HOW TO…PUT TOGETHER THE RIG THAT WENT STRAIGHT TO THE TOP

OF THE PRESENTATION LEADER BOARD

107

LEAD SET-UPS...

THE HELICOPTER RIGTHIS IS THE KIDDY FOR USE IN SILTY AREAS


SHOPPING LIST001 Leadcore002 Splicing needle003 0.5mm silicon tube004 2.0mm silicon tube005 5mm rubber bead006 2mm rubber bead007 Size-8 ring swivel008 A lead009 Scissors010 Quick-change clip

THE HELICOPTER

RIG, OR AS IT’S

ALSO COMMONLY

KNOWN, THE

ROTARY RIG, IS

VERY EFFECTIVE IN

SILTY CONDITIONS.

THE LEAD WILL

PENETRATE INTO

THE LAKEBED

LEAVING YOUR

HOOKLINK TO

MOVE UP THE

LEADER AND

STAY CLEAR OF

THE SILT, GIVING

YOU A PERFECT

PRESENTATION.

THIS RIG HAS

MASSES OF

ADVANTAGES

OVER LEAD CLIPS

AND IN-LINE SET-

UPS, HOWEVER,

IF IT ISN’T

CONSTRUCTED

CORRECTLY, IT CAN

BECOME A DEATH

RIG, SO FOLLOW

THE STEP-BY-STEP

CAREFULLY.

003 Slide the sheath back along so you

are left with a five-inch supple section of just the outer sheath.

002 Slide back five-inches of sheath

and cut the inner lead off from inside using a pair of scissors and then discard it.

001 First of all, take your spool of leadcore

and start to unravel a good length (6ft) off the spool dispenser as shown.

004 Take a splicing needle and poke

the end into the middle of the empty sheath, where it meets the inner lead.

005 Start to slide the needle along

the middle of the hollow sheath, up towards the end of the leadcore.

006 When you get halfway, double

the sheath back as shown in the picture. This ensures you have a small loop.

007 Push the needle out of the middle

of the sheath and hook on the end and gently pull it back through.

008 Put your needle through the loop

to make it perfectly round and neat. Then trim off the excess tag.

009 This is what the finished spliced

loop should look like. You will tie your main line to this loop.

109

010 Now take a 5mm ESP bead and

thread it onto your needle. Ensure the big bore is closest to the handle.

012 Slide the silicone down and push the

small 5mm bead over said silicone. Make sure you moisten it first.

013 Now take a size 8 ring swivel and slide

this onto the leadcore and let it sit down by the bead that’s on the leadcore.

011 Take a small piece of 0.5mm silicon tube

and thread it onto a baiting needle and pass this onto the leadcore.

014 Then take a slightly smaller bead and

slide this down; the swivel should have a bead either side of it.

015 Take a pair of scissors and cut a

three-inch section of 2mm silicon tubing and slide this on next.

016 At the other end do the same as you

did originally – pull out a five-inch length of lead wire and discard it.

017 Splice the loop as before but this time

slide on a quick-change clip before pulling the tag back back through.

018 Take your chosen lead and cut the

swivel off using a pair of pliers. Don’t use scissor it’ll blunt them.

019 Once the swivel has been cut off you

then need to attach the lead to the quick-change clip on the leadcore.

020 Now slide the silicon over the

quick clip and lead loop, then push the bead into the silicone as shown.

021 All you need to do now is tie your

hooklink onto the swivel and you are ready to cast out and bag up.

LEAD SET-UPS...


ONE-STOP LEAD SET-UP SHOPUNSURE WHERE TO START WHEN IT COMES TO PICKING THE RIGHT LEAD FOR THE RIGHT SITUATION? SAVE TIME AND GET IT RIGHT EVERY TIME WITH OUR AT-A-GLANCE GUIDE

LAKE BOTTOM

ANGLING PRESSURE

In-line leads are generally fished over a firmer lakebed such as gravel and clay. This lead set-up is very good for highly-pressured carp.

If everybody on your lake is fishing with the conventional semi-fixed in-line set-up, then by using it running can give you a real edge.

If you are presenting your set-up inside a solid PVA bag then a short, soft braided hooklink works best. If you’re fishing over a harder lakebed then use a stiffer hooklink.

This is best suited for a harder lakebed, such as gravel or clay. It’s also the ideal lead/set-up for a solid PVA bag approach.

If used with a PVA bag, it means you can present a hookbait stealthily without causing unneeded commotion of finding a clear area with a marker float.

Again, if fished in a solid PVA bag, a short, soft, braided hooklink works best. This allows it to fit inside the bag and allows lots of movement for good hook holds.

Running pendants can be fished from hard gravel features to silty areas. This style of lead set-up shouldn’t be fished into weed though, as the lead can jam..

This lead set-up is being seen less and less, so if anglers on your lake are continually using semi-fixed lead set-ups, then a running pendant could be an edge.

The type of hooklink on this set-up is very versatile dependent of the lakebed. If fished onto a hard area, go for a stiff hooklink, whereas on a silty bottom go for braid.

Semi-fixed pendants can be used on gravel, in silt and around weed because the lead is able to discharge.

Look at what other anglers on your lake are using and use a different set-up. For example, if people are using heavy semi-fixed leads then use a light one.

The hooklink that you are using can vary dependent on the lakebed. The harder the lakebed, the stiffer the hooklink, which has very good hooking properties.

Generally fished over soft areas, such as silt which is covered in debris and would cause problems with other lead set-ups.

A lot of people all use Chod Rigs with the helicopter set-up over silt and bottom debris. Try using bottom baits instead.

Softer hooklinks are suited more to this presentation. This allows the hooklink to follow the contours of the lakebed.

TYPE OF HOOK- LINK

RECOM-MENDA-TIONS

Remove the hard insert from the lead, thread the lead onto your main line and follow this with an Anti-Tangle Sleeve. Tie on your rig as normal and then pull the Anti-Tangle Sleeve down onto the swivel.

To set up an effective, tangle-free, semi-fixed lead set-up, you need to make everything as streamlined as possible. Make sure you use a rubber tail on the back of the lead as this does exactly that.

The key to an effective running lead set-up is to make the loop that the line runs through as frictionless as possible. Nash Tackle’s Anti-Tangle Run Beads are perfect, as are Korda’s Run Ring Rubbers.

There are many companies that produce lead clips, all differing in quality, from how they dump the lead through to user-ability.

If you’re unsure of how to construct a safe helicopter rig, then opt for one of the many ready-tied, ready-to-use versions that are out there. ESP’s Helicopter Rig Leadcore Leaders or ACE’s Leadcore Helicopter/Chod Rig set-up.

LEAD SET-UP

RUNNING IN-LINE LEAD

SEMI-FIXED IN-LINE

RUNNING PENDANT

SEMI-FIXED PENDANT

HELICOPTER SET-UP

INSTANT

SOLUTIONS!

Solar’s new ‘Unleaded’ is a super-heavyweight, super-soft, memory free braided hooklink and leader material. It’s as good as undetectable gets.Unleaded looks like leadcore, but certainly doesn’t feel like it. It sinks like a stone and lays ‘dead’ on the bottom, hugging the contours tightly, unlike its ‘wirey’ predecessor. Unleaded comes as a 15 & 25lb hooklink on 20m spools and a 40 & 80lb splicable leader material on 10m spools, as well as ready-tied looped leaders. And there’s only one colour required, ‘Sediment Black’, cos that’s exactly where Unleaded will be laying!.. There’s even a range of coordinated beads and rubbers to match your Unleaded. Once you get your hands on Unleaded you will NEVER use leadcore again.Solar Unleaded... Taking presentation to new lows!Want to know more? click www.solartackle.co.uk and we’ll sharpen you up there.

New Website Coming Soon...www.solartackle.co.ukThe tackle, the blogs, the info, the knowledge, the inside lane...

For the Sharper Carper.

Leadcore

40lb UnleadedLeader


WIDE GAPE HOOKS Wide gape hooks are one of the most popular patterns in modern-day carp angling. The long and sweeping shank coupled with an often-beaked point gives very secure hooking abilities. This style point keeps the hook sharper a tad longer than straight pointed hooks because when reeling in, the hook point has less chance of making clean contact with debris on the lakebed. These are often used for bottom bait, pop-up and surface presentations.WHAT RIG AND SITUATION? They lend themselves perfectly to all bottom bait rigs including Claw Rigs, Blowback Rigs, Knotless Knots, Mag-Aligners etc. and they are also commonly used with simple pop-up presentations and also surface and Zig Rig fishing. Some companies do the hooks in a stronger wire gauge for use in snaggy and weedy conditions, for example – Korda Wide Gape X’s.

GUIDE TO...

A GUIDE TO HOOKSEVERYTHING YOU WILL EVER NEED TO KNOW ABOUT HOOKS

LONG SHANK HOOKS Another very popular hook pattern. The long shank coupled with the straight point gives secure hook holds and lends itself nicely to hook-and-hold situations where you really need to tussle with strong fish. The straight and very sharp point penetrates the fish’s bottom lip with ease and is normally used on bottom bait presentations and sometimes pop-up rigs.WHAT RIG AND SITUATION? Most commonly used with bottom bait presentations and are perfect for use on Blowback and Claw Rig set-ups. They are rarely used in pop-up rigs, but some people do use them to good effect. They are not very good with stiff hooklink materials because of the in-turned eye.

CURVE SHANK HOOKS The curve shank hook is a pattern a lot of the top anglers use in today’s fishing. The pattern features a long and sweeping shank which gives awesome hooking properties without the need for added rings, shrink tubing and silicone. The shape lends itself nicely to a wide array of rigs, which include bottom bait presentations, pop-up rigs and also KD Rig set-ups. WHAT RIG AND SITUATION? This pattern works very well with basic Knotless Knots to being whipped KD style, right down to adding rig rings and pieces of silicone to help kick the hook over in the fish’s mouth. They are also more than suitable for snag and weed fishing, as long as you use a bigger size of the pattern.

WHAT’S AVAILABLE?

113

CHODDY HOOKS Chod style hooks are essential for a lot of presentations, which feature a stiff hooklink material. The out-turned eye means the hook still sits straight against the stiff material instead of kicking out at an awkward angle. This shape features different cosmetics dependent on different manufacturers, so you can find a hook that you have total confidence in. As its title suggests, it’s designed for use with rigs like the Chod Rig, Hinged Stiff Link and also stiff bottom bait presentations. WHAT RIG AND SITUATION? The unique out-turned eye allows the hook to sit straight even when used with the stiffest of materials. These hooks therefore lend themselves perfectly to Chod, Hinged Stiff Link and stiff bottom bait presentations. Chod-style hooks are often manufactured with a thick wire so they can be used in the snaggest and weediest of situations.

360-DEGREE HOOKS 360-degree hooks are also known as Long Curve Shank hooks. The hooks are designed for use with rigs such as the 360º Rig in conjunction with a pop-up or on blowback bottom bait presentations.WHAT RIG AND SITUATION? Mainly used for 360º Rigs, the very long and sweeping shank gives very good hooking potential. Used with a rig ring trapped in-between two shank stops, the bait is then attached to the rig ring. Pop-ups are generally used with this presentation.

TEFLON Teflon is a dull grey finished coating that improves the overall performance of a hook. It helps keep the point sharp, aids penetration because of the slick surface and that dull colour makes it a lot less reflective.

MICRO BARB The advantage of this style over conventional ones is that the point is far more likely to penetrate past the barb in the initial stages of the fish picking the bait up.

TEMPERED This is a process the hook goes through to achieve optimum strength from the steel without it being brittle or soft.

THE GAPE The measurement from the point of the hook to the shank. Gape size varies depending on the style of the hook.

FLAT FORGED The hook is flattened on both sides to add strength without increasing the weight. Flat metal is stronger than circular.

LEARN THE LINGONOVICE TO KNOWLEDGE

IN TWO MINUTES FLAT

FLAT FORGED

THE GAPE

MICRO BARB

TEMPERED

TEFLON


GUIDE TO...

001 MAT WOODS “The JRC 360 Connection

hook has been very reliable for me and similar patterns have continually produced fish for me anywhere I’ve ever been.” NUMBER OF HOOKS USED IN A YEAR 500+

002 LEWIS PORTER “My favourite hook pattern is

Fox Arma-Point XSC in size 6. Why? It’s the strongest, sharpest and most versatile hook pattern on the market.” NUMBER OF HOOKS USED IN A YEAR 200

003 LEWIS READ “My favourite hooks are the

Covert Mugga in size 8. These hooks are simply awesome! It gives hook holds second-to-none, good balance between strength and weight, nice long straight point and the good shape ensures it penetrates easily. The shape and in-turned eye makes it a vicious little bugger that nails ‘em! VERY versatile and can be used on most rigs.” NUMBER OF HOOKS USED IN A YEAR 200

004 MARTIN LOCKE “My favourite hook pattern is

the Long Shank Solar Strong Hold sizes 4 and 6 for most of my bottom bait fishing. Tied with the Hair coming out near to the eye so that the hook point is hanging down. This will go in backwards as the fish sucks in the bait, but it will grab on the way out as they try to eject it. Also, with this pattern having a straight point you get less ‘bounce outs’ and maximum hooking efficiency.” NUMBER OF HOOKS USED IN A YEAR 200

005 GARY BAYES “My favourite hook pattern

is the Fang Twister in size 10 and 8, depending on bait size. The unique squareish bend transfers the pressure further around to the shank of the hook, this makes a much stronger hook hold and a near straight pull on the shank when playing a fish, rather than on the bend of the hook where the

leverage will be much more intensified, possibly pinging the hook hold out. NUMBER OF HOOKS USED IN A YEAR 300+

006 LEON BARTROPP The Fox Arma-point SSC

pattern is my favourite. Why? Well, the range is the sharpest I’ve found. I have caught multiple fish on the same hook many times without having to change it and also the SSC is so versatile – you can use it on a blowback rig, pop-up rig and KD Rig to name a few permutations. They also are very, very strong. NUMBER OF HOOKS USED IN A YEAR 500+

007 KEVIN NASH “My favourite hook is the

Twister. I use size 8 for bottom baits and size 7 for pop-ups and Chod Rigs for most of my fishing, but there are times when I go smaller or larger. Why the Twister? It is quite simply. In my opinion, the best hook in the universe. When a Twister goes in, it stays in and goes in easier than any other hook I’ve ever used.” NUMBER OF HOOKS USED IN A YEAR 100

008 SHAUN HARRISON “I have used Ashima C310’s/

Smart Point SP310’s for over 15 years now for just about all of my carp fishing other than floater fishing, so I guess I have tested them quite well. Obviously I have had brief flirtations with other patterns but still I end up with what has rarely let me down. There is no official hook sizing here in the UK, so sizes on the packets can be a little misleading. The two sizes I use are 6 and 4’s although I have seen plenty of patterns where the 8 is as big as the 4 printed on the packs I use.” NUMBER OF HOOKS USED IN A YEAR 150

009 ELLIOTT GRAY “My favourite hook pattern is

almost certainly the size 6 Wide Gape. It’s the one hook I have used for years and has almost never let me down. On occasions any hook will let you

WHAT THE PRO’S USE

2

1

3

4

5

6

115

HOW TO…SHARPENING A HOOK LIKE JASON HAYWARD

VICE JAG SP Vice (“An essential item; it’ll make the job so much easier.”)

FILE JAG SP Max File (“You want to start off with this file. It’s the best one I’ve used.”)

STONE JAG SP Stone (“You want to use this to touch up the hook after you’ve filed.”)

EYEPIECE JAG Ultra Eye (“If you haven’t got good eyes, then this is essential.”)

001 Start by working your file on one side of the hook,

from the barb up to the point, and make four or five upward strokes with the file.

ESSENTIAL GEAR

HOW IT’S DONE

down, that’s fishing, but on the whole this pattern has been near on faultless. My hook holds have always been secure and I couldn’t ask for more from a hook. I use pop-ups a lot so the Choddy hooks play a big part in my fishing but tell me to pick a favourite and it would be the size 6 Wide Gape – an all time great in my opinion.” NUMBER OF HOOKS USED IN A YEAR LOTS!

010 ROB HUGHES “My favourite hooks are the

Fox Arma Point SSBP’s in size 6. They are super sharp and very durable.” NUMBER OF HOOKS USED IN A YEAR 200+

002 After you’ve made your five upward strokes to

the hook, inspect the point using your eyeglass. Happy? Look sharp? Then move onto point 3.

003 Now repeat the process on the opposite side of

the hook (four or five upwards strokes like you did on the other side of the hook).

004 Finally, do the same on the front (top) of the

hook, checking with the eyeglass all the time until a fine point is achieved. Job done!

7

8

9

10


PEAR LEADSPEAR LEADS ARE AN ADAPTATION FROM THE ORIGINAL BALL LEAD, BEING A SLIGHTLY MORE ELONGATED VERSION AND THIS IS BENEFICIAL BECAUSE THE ORIGINAL BALL LEADS HAD A TENDENCY TO TANGLE. THEY COME SUPPLIED WITH A LARGE-EYED SWIVEL, WHICH MAKES THEM PERFECT FOR CLIPS AND RUNNING PRESENTATIONS.

USE IN WHAT SITUATION… A good all-rounder but really come into their own when fi shing in silty and choddy conditions. The round shape also makes them fairly good for casting.

GUIDE TO...

A GUIDE TO LEADSMAKE THE PERFECT LEAD CHOICE EVERY TIME FROM NOW ONWARDS

FLAT PEAR LEADS Flat pear leads are very similar to the standard pear lead but there are two fl at faces opposite each other on the lead. The two fl at sides come in very useful for many situations where pear leads and other lead styles don’t fi t the bill. They are available in many diff erent styles and coatings.USE IN WHAT SITUATION… A very good lead for gripping onto surfaces and holding there. Good for casting up to 70-80yds but after that you will need to step-up to a distance style lead.

SQUARE PEAR LEADS Square pear leads are very compact which gives awesome hooking abilities. The lead features four fl at sides, which is perfect for when you don’t want the lead to move – i.e. when fi shing on the side of a bar or river. The leads are perfect for many situations including the use on marker rods.USE IN WHAT SITUATION… Very good at hooking carp, as the weight is very concentrated which means it really pulls the hook home. They are also very good for use on marker rods because they feel the lakebed well.

WHAT’S AVAILABLE?

FLAT PEAR IN-LINE The fl at pear in-line lead has roughly the same shape as the swivel fl at pear but instead there is a hard plastic insert through the middle of the lead. The user then simply threads the line through the middle of the insert and attach it to a swivel. This means the lead is fi shed on the line.USE IN WHAT SITUATION… A very good all-round inline lead. They can be used on gravel, clay and also fi rmer silt and come in a vast array of sizes to suit all situations.

SQUARE PEAR IN-LINE The square pear in-line is very similar to the swivel square pear, featuring four fl at sides that condenses the weight into a smaller surface area. The square pear in-line features a hard insert through the middle of the lead so it can be fi shed on the main line.USE IN WHAT SITUATION… A devastating lead for close-range fi shing, especially stalking. They are also ideal for gripping onto features such as gravel bars, plateaux, gravel humps and marginal ledges.

DISTANCE IN-LINE The distance in-line features a longer body with the majority of the weight concentrated in the nose of the lead. This lead is very aerodynamic which makes it perfect for longer-range fi shing. It’s a personal favourite of big fi sh angler, Darrell Peck.USE IN WHAT SITUATION…Distance in-lines are the ones you want to be on for longer casts with an inline-style lead. These are not ideal for fi shing on steep gravel bars or marginal ledges because it can easily roll.

STONE LEADS Stone leads have been designed and manufactured to look like stones. These give them very good camoufl age properties on the lakebed. They come in a vast array of colours, shapes and sizes so that you can make the perfect choice for any given situation.USE IN WHAT SITUATION… These are very good for use in shallow and clear water. One downside about this style of lead is that they cannot be cast at any distance so they are best for close-range only.

117

DISTANCE LEADS Distance leads are very good for getting the extra range which other leads cannot give you. The long and tapered lead has the majority of its weight at the nose and this gives you the aerodynamic properties to punch a lead in excess of 100yds. This shape is one of the most popular today.USE IN WHAT SITUATION… With the majority of the weight concentrated in the nose-end, it means that the lead is very stable in fl ight so it doesn’t wobble and curve off on long chucks.

ZIP LEADSZip leads are what the tournament casters use for their casts. The long and aerodynamic shape makes this lead the ultimate for extreme-range fi shing. Another added bonus is that if used at close-range in smaller sizes, the lead enters the water with a minimal of disturbance.USE IN WHAT SITUATION… The long and pointed-nosed lead is good in small sizes at short- to medium-range because they enter the water quietly, hardly making a sound. Obviously great for distance work.

GRIPPER LEADS GRIPPER LEADS CAME ORIGINALLY FROM SEA FISHING. THE LEAD HAS ITS WEIGHT SPREAD OUT WITH A HOLE IN THE MIDDLE. THERE ARE ALSO LITTLE RAISED DIMPLES AROUND THE EXTERIOR OF THE LEAD. THESE LEADS LEND THEMSELVES PERFECTLY FOR GRIPPING AND HOLDING MARGINAL SHELVES.

USE IN WHAT SITUATION… Their main use is for holding onto the side of bars or margins. The hole in the middle combined with the little dimples spaced out across the exterior makes it perfect for holding the deck securely.

CLEAR LEADS CLEAR LEADS ARE MADE OUT OF A SEE-THROUGH MATERIAL SO THAT THEY CAN BLEND IN OVER ANY GIVEN LAKEBED. THEY COME IN A VAST ARRAY OF SHAPES AND WEIGHTS SO THAT YOU CAN SELECT IT FOR ANY SITUATION. THE ONLY DOWNSIDE WITH THESE LEADS IS THAT IN SHALLOW AND CLEAR WATER THEY HAVE A TENDENCY TO GLOW AND SHIMMER.

USE IN WHAT SITUATION…Clear leads are very well-disguised on the lakebed because you are able to see the lakebed through the lead. They come in several shapes and sizes so they can be used in most situations and distances

DUNG/CAMO LEADSCamo leads have been designed to incorporate real pieces of camoufl age around the exterior of the lead. The leads can be made to look silty/choddy and also gravelly or sandy. There are many diff erent styles on the market in loads of diff erent shapes and sizes.USE IN WHAT SITUATION… Perfect for when you really want your lead to blend in with any lakebed debris – especially light weed or hard silt. A serious edge on highly pressured venues.

PVA BAG LEADPVA bag leads are very fl at and small in-line leads which have been designed for use in PVA bags. The small and fl at shape means they take up a minimum of space inside of a PVA bag so that you can still put the maximum of feed into it. Both Nash Tackle and Avid Carp make good examples.USE IN WHAT SITUATION… With the lead being very small and fl at, it means they take up the minimum of space so that even more feed can be packed into the bag. Brilliant hookers.

HOW TO...


001 Before you even attempt to thread

your main line through the tubing, here are a couple of necessaries. Always cut both the end of your main line and the one end of the tubing at an angle. By doing so, (a) the line will pass through easier and (b) the end of the tubing will push and hold better inside the rubber tail.

002 Some tubings are easier than others

to thread a line through. If you’re struggling, then hold either end and pull. This will remove any kinks that are stopping the line from coming through.

003 Now whilst it might seem the

‘in thing’ to use a long length of leadcore or tubing, it isn’t actually necessary 90% of the time. Tubing can be a nightmare at times, especially if you’re using braid, so just use a short length but make sure it is at least three-inches longer than your hooklink to avoid tangles.

004 Instead of using one straight

length of tubing, try cutting it up into four- or five-inch sections and having three, four or five of these up the line. This will break up the outline of the tubing, but still offer all the anti-tangle, fish care and pin down properties a length of tubing does.

HOW TO… GET THE MOST FROM RIG TUBING

17MICRO-

IMPROVEMENTSSIMPLE HOW TO’S THAT WILL

AID YOUR ANGLING

119

001 Take a bait band and lay it across the line like so.001

Take your braid, tie a Hair loop, thread

on your hookbait bait and then a small piece of silicone, before threading onto the hook shank.

003 Pass the end of the mono back

through the eye in the normal manner to secure. Pull tight to bed down and then trim the mono tag.

004 At this point you can now adjust

the length of the Hair by simply pulling it either way to increase or decrease the length.

005 Once you’re happy with the

length, simply tie an Overhand Knot. This will stop the Hair being pulled back through the whipping.

006 Finished. Note how the line is

kicked out helping to create a lovely angle. Adjust the position of the silicone to help with turning.

002 Hold the braid along the shank.

Pass your mono through the eye of the hook and whip around (Knotless Knot) the shank and braid.

TIE AN ADJUSTABLE SOFT HAIR

HOWTO...

003 It should end up looking like this one does in the photo.

004 And fi nally, place the band into the clip and you are ready

002 Then using a baiting needle, pull one side back on itself.

HOW TO… CLIP UP YOUR LINE WITHOUT DAMAGING IT

MAKE ULTRA BUOYANT POP-UPS OUT OF NORMAL ONES – I.E. SO THEY’RE PERFECT FOR CHOD RIGS

HOW TO...


001 After removing a hook from the packet, hold it up to the light to see if the point

looks perfectly formed to the naked eye.

002 Next, run your finger along the inside and outside of the point to feel for any burrs or

abnormalities along the hooks surface.

003 Finally, prick the hook into the ‘pad’ of a finger. If it penetrates easily, it’s fairly safe

to say it’s sharp!

004 Another method is to put the point onto your nail and lightly scrape the point back.

If it grabs hold and doesn’t move, it’s sharp.

HOW TO…CHECK A HOOK POINT

001 To warm up your putty, simply pull

it about like a piece of chewing gum, this ensures it’s warm and sticky.

002 Spread a piece out and push your line

into it. With braided rigs you can actually rub this stuff into the fibres.

003 Mould it into the required

shape and have little bits up the line… Who needs leadcore, eh?!

004 By twiddling it with your fingers you

can work a small layer along a few inches of line, helping to spread its weight.

001 Take your pop-up and drill two-thirds

of the way through it. 002

Clean the hole and then insert a cork

stick as shown in the picture.003

Tie on as usual making sure the

floss goes around the cork.004

Now simply tie the floss to the rig

ring on your Chod Rig

HOW TO… SPREAD THE WEIGHT OF PUTTY

HOW TO...

USE COATED HOOKLINK MATERIALS

HOW TO...


002 Dynamite Baits do some awesome

pellets; anything over 12mm is the perfect size.

003 Now take your pellet drill and start

drilling a hole through the middle of the pellet.

005 To secure the mesh with the fl oss, we’re

going to use a Grinner Knot. Make a loop...

006 Go through the loop fi ve times; this

will make the knot strong with no chance of slipping.

007 Once you’ve been through fi ve times,

slowly pull it down until you form a neat knot.

008 Take a piece of your bait mesh and

wrap it around the pellet. Leave room at the bottom.

004 It should look like this. If it’s cracked

then throw it away and start again with a fresh pellet.

001 You need: baiting needle, drill, bait

mesh, bait fl oss, lighter, bait stops, scissors and pellets.

001 Although we all steam the

hooklink after tying to straighten it out, try dipping it in boiling water before you start. It’ll make the material (especially the ‘coily’ type ones) much easier to work with, which in turn will make your rig tying session a lotless stressful.

002 If you use Kryston’s

Drop ’Em (a type of putty that’s been specifi cally designed to be used on hooklinks to help them sink), then once you’ve placed it onto the hooklink, hold it over steam for a split second. It’ll almost look like it has melted, but in fact it has set hard to the material it’s sitting on.

003 Next time, instead of

stripping back the last inch before the hook, try something slightly diff erent. A coated hooklink is a coated hooklink, but it is the way you use it that makes it diff erent to the next. Try a Broken Back, Stiff Rig, Hinge Rig…

004 If you don’t like

bits of putty on the hooklink material, then simply place the rig in boiling water for a second before drying and then rub your block of putty up and down it. The heat helps the hooklink hold the putty better and you will not need to use blobs up your hooklink.

HOW TO… MESH UP HALIBUT PELLETS

HOWTO...

123

009 Grab hold of the excess mesh from

the bottom and twist it hard around the pellet like so.

010 Here you can see the hole you drilled

earlier, keep holding tightly to the mesh near the pellet.

011 Right, grab your floss loop and pass it onto

the tag end of the mesh and pull very tight.

012 Once you have really tightened it

down, take a pair of scissors and trim off the excess.

013 If it looks like this, you’ve got it right! It

isn’t finished just yet – there’s still a few more touches.

014 Now take your lighter and slowly

melt the mesh down. This will add extra security.

015 Take your baiting needle and pass it

through the hole you drilled out at the start to attach it.

016 This is what the finished product

looks like. This will stop your pellet from falling off.

To keep your Chod Rig in perfect condition prior to casting out, simply pass the lead through the butt eye as shown. This way the lovely curve of the rig isn’t straightened out like it would be if you attached the hook to your rod eye.

HOW TO… LOOK AFTER CHOD RIGS

HOW TO...


002 With the scalded fl oating pellets

now soft, fi rmly plug the end of the spod like so and then make your cast.

003 The pellets will stop spod spill

and the birds will eat the fl oating pellets instead of your boilies or particles.

001 First, scald some fl oating pellets.

Next, fi ll your spod up three-quarters with your chosen boilie or particle concoction.

002 Use two bits of shrink tube to

increase the pressure to hold the Hair in place. Shrink one bit, then thread another on and shrink.

003 Finish the hook section with a

piece of shrink tubing over the eye. Note where the Hair is exiting on the bend of the hook.

001 When fi shing at long-range, to stop

the boilies splitting on the cast, use two Hair stops crossed like this to spread the load.

001 This method ensures it doesn’t

come off on impact with the water and your Hair can’t tangle. Cut a single piece of dissolvable rig foam lengthways, almost in half, but not quite.

002 Take your hook and lay it inside

the cut you have just made. This will ensure your Hair cannot tangle during the cast – something than can happen if you just hook the foam on.

003 Now moisten the inside of the

dissolving foam and hold it together for a few seconds. The two sides will now stick together. And fi nally, trim the foam down to make it more aerodynamic.

HOW TO… PUT ON DISSOLVABLE FOAM

001 A cheap and easy way

to store your ready-tied leadcore leaders is to place them in a fi lm canister.

002 Stretch your leadcore

leader out before casting. Hold the lead in one hand and the end of the leader in the other and then pull.

003 If you break the lead

cleanly– i.e. with a pair of scissors, the lead won’t poke through the side of the leadcore sheath.

004 After catching a fi sh, always

check to see if any of the outer-coating is frayed. If it is, redo it and tie a new leader.

005 Don’t go mental with

the length of leader – use one you’re happy casting with. ESP’s Nigel Sharp uses 6ft ones.

006 Always leave your leader

in the margin for a few minutes before casting out. It’ll darken it off nicely.

HOW TO… STOP THE BIRDS GETTING YOUR FOOD

HOW TO… STOP ANYTHING MOVING AT THE HOOK END DURING A LONG CAST

HOW TO… LEADCOREADVICE

125

001 Take fi ve-inches of your marking material (either

pole elastic or marker braid such as Fox’s Magic Marker) and make a loop against the main line.

002 Take the tag end and pass it through the large

loop you’ve created four times. This will pull down nicely and won’t be bulky or move.

003 After passing the tag end through four times,

pull each end of the material to close the knot together. Moisten well before ‘bedding’ it down.

004 With the knot pulled together, trim the two

tag ends. You want to leave about a centimetre at each end.

001 To ensure

your line is in top condition, keep on top of line twist. To eradicate line twists use a Gardner Spin Doctor.

002 Occasionally clean the line by reeling in after a long chuck through a damp cloth to clean the excess particulate matter off .

003 Remove the last rod length of line whenever it starts looking coiled. This will improve your presentation on the lakebed.

004 Extreme temperatures and prolonged exposure to sunlight may aff ect lines. Keep the product in a dark place out of the sun.

001 Off -the-shelf pop-ups are ideal for

making balanced hookbaits.

003 Then use the very tip of your nut drill

to make a tiny hole.004

Re-insert the needle; it will be

exactly central now.

005 Thread on the bait and pinch a shot

on just below the bait.006

Pull the hookbait down onto the

shot and voila!

002 Firstly, pierce the hookbait to get the

hole central to the bait.

BALANCE A HOOKBAIT

HOWTO...

HOW TO… LOAD A SPOOL

001 Firstly you will need to soak your spool of line in water for 24hrs before loading the spool.

002 Next attach your line to the spool using a spool knot (this can be found in the knots section.

003 Leave the spool of line in the water whilst you wind it onto the reel; this keeps the line wet.

004 Wind the line through a dry cloth onto the reel to keep the correct amount of tension.

005 As you reel keep checking if the line is twisting, if it is you will need to turn the spool around.

HOW TO… LOOK AFTER YOUR LINE

HOW TO… MARK YOUR LINE

INSIDE INFO...


ESSENTIAL GADGETRYWHAT THE PRO’S CAN’T GO WITHOUT!

001 LATEX GLOVES“To stop my hands getting tainted with oily or rusty fi shery locks and chains or if I need to fi ll with fuel.”002 POLE ELASTIC“For marking my line EVERY cast so as to be able to duplicate the situation should I be lucky enough to hook a fi sh.”003 LINE COUNTER“To check the distance after hooking a fi sh in a new spot.”004 POLARISED GLASSES“Essential for profi cient fi sh-spotting.”005 BINOCULAR“I need to be able to see further than my eyes can see eff ectively on their own. It is amazing how often you can spot bubblers at relatively close range through binoculars that you wouldn’t have seen otherwise and they also double up used in reverse to check the state of your hook point.”006 MOBILE TELEPHONE“Multi-uses from weather reports to ordering food to pick-up on my way home. I would be lost without it.”

SHAUN HARRISON

001 ATOMIC CLAWS AND GAMAKATSU G-POINTS“In my opinion, the sharpest and strongest hooks on the market and perfect for a bottom bait rig.”002 ATOMIC CHODDAS AND 20LB ESP BRISTLE FILAMENT“The only combo for a Choddy Rig set-up.”003 PRESTON POWERLINE“The only hooklink to use if you are Zigging or fl oater fi shing.”004 NASH 5MM BORE BEADS AND ATOMIC LEADCORE‘The leadcore is very thin and strong and the beads are the only ones that fi t perfectly without having to go through the side or add silicone.”005 ATOMIC DUNG LEADS“The best leads available to trick a carp.”006 KORDA SUPERNATURAL AND ATOMIC JEL-E-WYRE“The best braid and coated braid available!”

001 SHARP SCISSORS“Have you ever gone fi shing and left your scissors at home? It’s a nightmare!”002 AVID MAGGOT STOPS“They’re buoyant, realistic and perfect for tipping 10mm boilies. If you don’t have any, get some!”003 SWEPT-SHANK HOOKS“I use this pattern of hook for the majority of my bottom bait fi shing because they fl ip and turn quickly in the carp’s mouth. They are a cracking all-round hook.”004 AVID FLAT LEAD CLIPS“These are designed to take Speed Links, so they allow you to change your rigs in a matter of seconds. They have a fl at profi le and blend well on all lake bottoms.”005 AVID MARKER ELASTIC“Fishing accurately certainly catches you more carp. This stuff allows me to get my rods back on the spot accurately every time Plus, it’s really soft so it doesn’t catch and it comes off easily too.”

“Aside from the usual essentials such as hooks and hooklink materials there are certain items that are absolute ‘must-haves’ and can really handicap my angling if I have forgotten them.”

001 ESP BRAID SCISSORS“I would be lost without them; you can’t bite through braid or Bristle Filament!”002 LIGHTER“For blobbing Bristle Filament and fl oss.”003 A VARIETY OF BAIT NEEDLES AND DRILLS“Drennan needle for shaping the ‘D’ on Chod Rigs and creating nice round loops on hooklinks by tensioning them around the handle.”004 TUNGSTEN PUTTY AND BEADS“The putty is an obvious one but I am getting into using the little tungsten beads for balancing rigs. Very handy!”005 ESP SUPER FLOSS“The absolute don for tying on pop-ups, nothing else comes close.”

DAVE MAGALHAES

IAN RUSSELL

DAVE ELLYATT

127

001 SMALL WIRE CUTTERS“For cutting swivels off leads, Bristle Filament etc.”002 HOOKLINK MATERIALS“Four diff erent types: Coated braid, Amnesia, Double Strength and Bristle Filament.”003 CLAMSHELL BOX“It has six sections; housing swivels, lead wire, rings, etc.”004 FORCEPS“To bend and tweak eyes on hooks.”005 FLOATS“You never know when a stalking opportunity might come along.”006 RAZOR BLADE“You can make minor ‘trims’ to baits to balance them.”007 BIG-EYED SWIVELS“Berkley’s 60lb versions: perfect for Hinged Stiff Links at the leadcore end.”008 THINKING ANGLERS “Hook Ring Swivels: the next component to improving Chod Rigs.”009 SPARE LIGHTER“Essential for blobbing rigs.”

001 ACE LEAD CLIPS“After only a short time of using them, they already tick all the boxes when I need to ditch the lead on the take.”002 CRIMPS“I never use a Choddy without one now. They add weight and make tying super short Chod’s a piece of cake.”003 JAG HOOK SHARPENERS“Even after a fi sh, all hooks can be tweaked to be sticky sharp again, that way you get more use from them. Plus, as we all know, a super sharp, sticky-pointed hook will get you more bites. Get on it!”004 ESP STIFF RIGGERS“Super sharp Chod hook with a straight point; a fi rm favourite of mine, as I believe you get more bites with a straight-pointed hook. Very reliable and haven’t ever let me down.”005 ACE LEADCORE“Lovely contrasting colours and mega, mega heavy on the weight front. Very easy to splice too, which again is a bonus. I’m really impressed with the stuff .”

001 GARDNER COVERT CHOD HOOKS (SIZE 6 BARBED)“Great dull fi nish and a pattern that is totally reliable for ‘Chodding’ and the good old Hinged Stiff Link. If only there was a size 5 [cough].”002 SPOOL 20LB GARDNER TRIP WIRE“Where would we be without a stiff y?! Easy to use, but not fl accid like some.”003 COVERT MUGGA HOOKS“Please don’t restrict me to only one size – 12’s for Zigs and Mag-Aligners and the rest for almost anything… from pop-ups to blow back rigs – Mugga’s rule!”004 15LB GARDNER CHOD SKIN“The skin colour blends perfectly with any scruff y lakebed you can think of and its totally reliable.”005 SIZE 12 COVERT KWIK-LOK FLEXI RING SWIVELS“Now we can change from conventional rigs on a helicopter, to looped Chods, to Mugga-liner… All in a matter of seconds.”

001 PROTOTYPE AVID HOOKLINK“The new hooklink is great and I’ve already caught my fair share of carp using it. It’s strong, supple and comes in a matt green colour that disappears on all lake bottoms.”002 SUPER-STIFF SHRINK TUBING“Normal shrink tubing is a bit too fl exible so I use this stuff . It doesn’t lose its shape and the hook holds are always spot-on.”003 AVID FLOATING CORN STOPSNot only do they add a fl eck of colour to my hookbait, they also allow me to balance bottom baits.”004 AVID HIGH-LITES“I don’t think there’s a better hookbait for Zig Rigs. They’re super-buoyant so will keep the longest of hooklink super straight in the water-column and come in a range of colours.”005 AVID CHOD BEADS“These beads allow me to fi sh a Chod Rig on my standard main line. They are safe, easy to use and very inconspicuous.”

NIGEL SHARP

LEWIS READ

IAIN MACMILLAN

JON ‘SHOES’ JONES

. . . and now you have the kn owle dge , yo u can make eve ry carp look l i ke t h is!

Dark_Matter_A5.indd 1 04/10/2011 09:26

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