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For a lot of
us, thinking about our rigs is just a passing thought. With serious
evidence that even the most effective rigs are being ejected regularly,
surely we should have a serious re-think?
A
Horseshoe carp. A weedy venue where the Half Withy setup seemed to be
the way forward.
Anti-Eject
It’s near
enough impossible for a rig to go into a carp’s mouth with absolutely
no chance of coming out. Surely that’s what this term means? There are
many things we can do to improve the anti-eject qualities of our rigs,
but as for finding something that provides a pick-up every single time
your hookbait gets mouthed – I’m fairly sceptical.
I do, personally, use
what would be deemed an anti-eject rig. It’s basically the
line-aligned blowback rig Frank Warwick has been advocating since the
dawn of creation. The only reason I keep using it, is that it keeps
working.
My
favoured longshank line-aligner setup. A blowback rig that works
extremely well.
I fish at different lakes all the time, due to work commitments
and my own preferences. I have to concede at some of these venues that
my mainstay rig is not the ideal choice, normally the weedier venues. On
this type of lake, I tend to go with short braided hooklinks in a solid
PVA bag, with a small hook and a half-Withy arrangement. Why this works
better I have no idea, is it because of how the rig presents itself on
the bottom, or is it the way these carp tend to feed?
The
half-Withy works extremely well in weed.
The now-popular Short Rig, or Chod Rig, is also an ideal choice
on these kinds of lakes, especially when boilie fishing. Is it the
shortness of these rigs that proves so effective? Or is it to do with
the pressure-cycle, with many anglers choosing long hooklengths and slow
sinking baits for fishing over weed?
The
Short Rig presents itself perfectly over weed and chod.
On the silty venues, the line-aligner rig comes up trumps all the
time, and being between 9 and 12 inches long on most occasions, it gives
them enough rope to hang themselves. I’ve never really done that well
on silty venues using short rigs, although I know people who have –
however, I have noticed that they lose more carp than I do, which surely
is no coincidence?
I am a
bit too reliant on this arrangement for my fishing.
On the gravel pits, I’ve definitely found that a stiffer
hooklength comes up trumps. I use coated hooklengths quite a bit, and
have found that my usual, fairly supple rigs aren’t the ideal choice
on clean gravel areas. Changing to a stiffer material, like Korda’s
Hybrid in 20lb, seems to provide more action than anything else. I have
also done well in recent times using a stiff-ish fluorocarbon hooklength,
with the 360 Rig. I’ve seen carp on these lakes feeding, and quite
often they are much more selective than carp in different waters. Having
a stiff element to your rigs helps keep the hook in their mouths for a
longer period of time, which provides them with problems trying to eject
the rig. Mike Kavanagh is to thank for most of this thinking, and you
only have to look at his success, and the success of rigs like a stiff
combi rig, Terry Hearn’s Hinge Link, and the Chod rig, to see
there’s mileage in the theory.
The
Korda Hybrid was perfect on the gravel features.
The
360 Rig is also a fantastic option when you feel they are getting away
with it.
These types of hooklinks tend not to present themselves that well
in silt, but you can combat this by using a Helicopter arrangement,
setting the top bead just beyond what you believe the depth of the silt
to be. I’ve found on most occasions that the lead won’t penetrate
the silt too much anyway, so between 6 and 12 inches is a good distance
to have between the lead and the semi-fixed bead.
These are all
generalisations, taken from the various experiences I’ve had over the
last four years or so, along with observations of the anglers around me.
More rigs
thought from me soon in Part 2, as always do make your own assessments,
you may find the waters you target to be a totally different kettle of
fish...............Mat Woods
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