My favourite rig (written April 2009)

You can go back more than 15 years and look at some of my earliest writings in both Carpworld and Carp-Talk and see that my rigs have not changed much during this time. Apart from a brand of hooks or a type of swivel or hooklink, you’ll see that I’m probably the most unfashionable rig angler around. Whenever I go to the British Young Carpers Championships each year and sit talking with some of the lads about my fishing, I can see them switching off when I begin talking about the rigs I use. They’re amazed at how simple they are, and I’m often the brunt of many a joke about how old fashioned my style of fishing is.

          As boring as my rigs may be, however, the simple fact is that they work for me. In fact, if there’s ever any one piece of advice I can pass on about rigs, it‘s: if it works, don’t try to fix it – some excellent words of advice that Julian Cundiff used to always portray in his articles when I was a youngster.

          I’ve been full circle on the rig front, and I always end up right back where I started. I’ve sat with the best of inventive anglers, the likes of Frank Warwick and Jon ‘Shoes’ Jones, both of whom have incredible thought processes whenever they’re on the bank. I’ve watched them both catching carp and putting it down to the fine adjustment of a hair or a particular piece of tubing, stuff I just can’t relate with. I’ve gone and tried to do the same adjustments myself and come unstuck by losing a fish or sitting through a few blanks and then trying to further correct things – all confidence related.

          Basically, I’ve had my head blown to pieces by rigs. I’ve tied up the hardest of the hard to the easiest of the easy. I’ve added almost everything to them, analysed the latest gadgets and put them into practice, and even gone back to a few golden oldies to see if anything happens. The simple truth is, it’s only lead to a spiral of events that has not worked for me, which is why I’m still using the same rigs I have done for years and years.

My favourites

I’m a huge fan of supple hooklinks rather than stiff. When a carp sucks in a bait, a supple link allows it to go with the vacuum rather than off at an angle, which is what you get with a stiffer material. It’s no secret that Kryston’s Super Nova is my number one hooklink choice. Occasionally I’ll step up to Quicksilver when I’m fishing over sharp gravel or close to tough snags, but most of the time it’s 15lb or 25lb Super Nova all the way. I keep my hooklinks moderately long compared to today’s standards. I like a length of around 10-inches, although I will lengthen this to 12-inches whenever I’m fishing over soft silt. I’ll also shorten it to 6-8 inches if I’m fishing for carp I know don’t move too far when they pick up baits, like I’ve experienced at Orchid Lake in the past.

          My favourite hook pattern is a size 6 which I find a great all round size that will cope with most situations, even snag or pad fishing. I’ve tried a few different patterns over the years, from Nash and Hutchy, to my now favourite Solar X-Wide Gapes. They’re all based on a pretty similar style which is a straight eye with a straight point, a basic model for all modern day hooks.

          Since the invention of the knotless knot in the early 90s I’ve used this method of attaching my hooks to my links ever since. It’s reliable, strong and has only ever let me down twice in thousands of carp caught. The two times when it let me down I was using the knot only, and the braid slipped through the gap in the eye of the hook, so nowadays I protect the knot with a 0.5mm piece of soft tubing. I’ll thread this onto the link line aligner style, but in truth it doesn‘t create an angle between the tubing and the eye like modern day line aligners are supposed to; it’s more there to protect the knot than anything, and is set up the way Jim Gibbinson originally wrote about the line aligner.

          The hair of my rig is an extension of the knotless knot, and I like a length where the bait just touches the bottom of the hook. This allows some movement in the hair which I think is important yet it’s not so long that it can be blown back around to mask the point and cause an abort.

          Although I use both inline leads and lead clips I tend to use the later more than I do anything. The inlines aren’t brilliant on the cast and I think cause tangles, so these tend to come out when I’m using a bait boat. I favour them for weed fishing more than anything as I don’t like anything dangling below the mainline when I’m fishing in green stuff. I also don’t like the way inlines fall through the water, often causing damage to the hooklink swivel as it hits a hard bottom. I don’t get this when I’m using them with a boat, probably because they gently glide to the bottom rather than shoot through the water as you get on the cast.

          For clips, I currently use Solar’s which I find are really good. These are attached in the normal way with the tail rubber slipped over the clip. There’s no stoppers on the line, no bits of putty floating further down and no way the clip can slip out of place because it’s permanently fixed to the swivel via a small insert. The lead therefore hangs only the distance of the hooklink away from the carp, meaning it has less chance of snagging than a rig fished helicopter style when it can dangle well below the fish during the fight. Besides, with the clip method, if the lead becomes lodged, the clips I use have no teeth on them meaning the tail rubber slips off very easily.

Keepin’ it simple

So there you have it, there‘s not much else I can say on the subject. In my book it’s all about keeping it simple. I’m happy with my rigs; in fact, I’m extremely confident with them. They have caught me carp from all over the world, from rivers to canals, to farm ponds and huge reservoirs. Sure some rigs might account for more carp at some venues, but 99% of the time the confusion surrounding them is made worse by the anglers more than it is the carp.

          Carp are merely creatures of habit. They love snags and features, resting, reproducing, warm winds, and most of all eating. They need to feed to survive, and even where there’s untold amounts of angling pressure they are always willing to take a few chances to get a bit of grub. Get them feeding on a bait they like, fish it in the right area, and using a rig you’re confident with will catch you fish all day long. It's as simple as that.

Crowy