American Carp Society

By Wayne Boon and Sean Manning

In this section we will look at various types of ‘Rigs’ that Carp Anglers all over the world use in persuit of their quarry. Now, many of these set ups originated in England where the fish are under a great deal of Angling pressure and the rigs described were devised out of necessity for the capture of shy biting, highly-pressured fish. Many of the fishing situations out here in the U.S.A will not require the use of such rigs but understanding their individual functions and the fishing conditions that they were developed for, may be of use in certain situations. For example, fishing a heavily silted water at distance as apposed to a hard bottomed water in the margin regions may require the use of a helicopter rig for better bait presentation. If the fish are feeding in the upper layers of the water then a Zig-Rig may be the best option. The rigs will be listed with observations as to their original design and use so that you can apply them if needed to your individual fishing situation. This is not a comprehensive list of all rigs but some of the most commonly used.

Hair Rig

Traditionally bait has been placed directly onto a hook, whether it is a dough bait that completely surrounds the hook or a kernel or two of sweet corn that is pierced by the hook point and mounted onto the shank of the hook.

The ‘Hair Rig’ was the rig that would literally re-write the history books for many carp anglers, and was developed by Len Middleton and Kevin Maddocks in England during the late 1970’s. The name comes from the material by which the bait was originally attached to the hook, not being directly pierced by the hook itself, the bait was mounted on a piece of ‘human hair’ that was attached to the hook so there was no association with a hook-length material and the bait presented, by the feeding Carp. The rig was devised out of necessity as tests had proven that Carp were quick to associate danger with both the feeling of monofilament line within the mouth and a presented bait that did not react naturally when being ‘investigated’ by the fish. During the test the Carp would pick up all of the free offerings and completely ignore the hook-bait.

When it ingests food the Carp will first ‘mouth’ the bait to determine whether it is a food source and then pass it to the phyrangeal teeth towards the back of the throat. It is in the initial process that the carp were rejecting all of the ‘hooked’ baits during the tests and shying away from the fishing line associating it with danger.

The invention of the ‘Hair Rig’ dramatically increased catch rates for Len and Kevin and the Carp history books were changed forever.

A simple ‘Hair Rig’ can be tied using any form of hook-length material with a ‘Knotless knot’. The bait is mounted on the ‘Hair’ so that it sits away from the hook and the length of the hair can be adjusted to suit the various fishing conditions. You will find that at some waters a longer hair will work better than a shorter one, depending on how the fish are feeding. Experiment with the length of hair for what suits you best.

Pop –Up Rig

A ‘Pop up’ Rig is exactly as it sounds. It is a rig that allows a bait to be presented ‘Popped up’ from the lakebed. This can be useful when the presence of extended debris on a lakebed impairs the presentation of a traditional ‘bottom’ presented bait. A boyant bait must be used and some form of anchor, such as rig putty, on the hook-length to pin it to the lakebed. The length of the ‘popped up’ bait can be adjusted by altering the distance of the putty weight from the hook.

Blowback Rig

This rig usually incorporates the use of a longer ‘shanked’ hook and a supple braid-type material for the hook-length / hair part of the rig. The bait is mounted on a hair that is tied to a sliding ring on the shank of the hook. The supple braid allows independent freedom of movement of the bait from the hook. If a fish ingests the bait and then ‘blows’ it back to reject it for any reason the bait will travel independently of the hook therefore allowing the hook to stay within the fish’s mouth. Used when fish mouth or ‘blow’ baits. Great for both Bottom and ‘Popped – Up’ baits.

Stiff Rig

As its name implies this rig uses a ‘stiff’ heavy monofilament material or ‘Bristle filament’ as apposed to a braided or ‘soft’ hook-length. The Stiff rig has a number of uses but the primary purpose is to make the ejection of the hook very awkward for the carp due to the angle that the hook sits in relation to the actual hook-length. The stiff ‘boom’ also gives direct contact with the lead in a bolt rig situation.

The ‘stiffness’ of the hook-length also has great ‘anti-tangle’ properties that can be experienced with softer hook-lengths when being cast. The stiffer the material, the more of a ‘boom’ effect will be present allowing the hook and bait to fall ‘away’ from the lead when it is cast.

‘D’ Rig

This rig gets its name from the ‘D’ shape of the hinge that the hair rigged bait is joined to. The D rig, as the blowback rig, allows independent movement of the hook from the bait. Usually formed with monofilament or a plastic coated hook-length, the would be ‘hair’ is doubled back and passed through the eye of the hook a second time after having an ‘O ring’ threaded. A naked flame will then form a ‘stop’ on the end of the original hair as the plastic material burns to a blob. This forms the ‘D’ part of the rig. A ‘hair rigged’ bait can then be attached to the ‘O’ ring allowing independent freedom of movement for the rigged bait. Another way of presenting a ‘Pop-Up’ but with independent movement of the hair. Usually used for ‘Pop Up’ presentation.

Stiff Boom or ‘Combi’ Rig

This Rig is a combination of the Stiff Rig with a braided end section like that of the Blow Back Rig, that incorporates the properties of the ‘Stiff Boom’ of the stiff rig (Anti-tangle and direct contact to lead) and also the anti-eject properties of the ‘Blowback’ Rig. The end ‘hinged’ section can be used not only with the blowback end rig combination but with many others also, as shown in the example below. The ‘hinge’ at the end of the ‘boom’ is usually either an ‘O’ ring for an angled end part of the rig where no independent movement is required or a swivel with an ‘O’ ring incorporated for complete independent movement of the end section of the rig from the ‘Stiff’ boom section. A version of the combi rig can also be achieved by stripping back the plastic outer coating of a hook-length material material such as Kryston Mantis or ACS Stripper.

Greedy Pig Rig

This is a term given to a rig with three or more baits on the ‘hair’. This rig works well with both large size boilies on the ‘Bottom’ and in Winter smaller than usual boilies ‘Popped-Up’.

Whithy pool rig

This rig was designed specifically for the carp at Withy Pool fisheries in England that were very cautious feeders. It incorporates a long shank hook, free moving ‘O’ ring with a curved shrink tube attachment making it a very hard rig for a fish to eject once it takes in the bait.

Helicopter Rig

The rig was named the helicopter rig after its 360 degree ‘helicopter blade’ like motion when cast. The hook-link rotates around the main-line by a loose fitting hook-link swivel. The main line is usually shielded with anti-tangle tubing or lead-core is used. This rig is used for silty lakes and is also used when distance is needed on the cast. Great anti tangle properties.

Bolt Rig

This rig was named because of the effect that it has when picked up by the carp. It should ALWAYS be used with a safety feature of some sort such as a safety clip or soft rubber tubing for an inline lead. The bolt rig has a ‘semi-fixed lead’ attachment not allowing any ‘free running’ of the fish without resistance. This means that when the fish picks up the bait and starts to move away it feels the resistance of the lead weight and bolts partially setting the hook in the process. The safety clip or rubber tubing feature found in all good inline leads will allow the safe shedding of the lead should the fish break off during retrieve, therefore causing no harm to the fish.

Running Rig

This rig allows the fish to pick up the bait and feel little to no resistance, especially if fished with a ‘slack’ line. A Rubber bead should always be used to protect the mainline knot from the swivel.

Medusa Rig

This rig takes its name from the appearance of a ‘Medusa’ head when completed. It is generally used with a piece of cork or other bouyant material that maggots or mealworms can be attached too. This can be achieved in a number of ways such as with the use of ‘superglue’ directly to the individual baits or by threading them through with a needle and thread and then attaching them to the cork-ball by wrapping the thread around the glue covered ball.

Zig Rig

A ‘Zig Rig’ usually comprises of a fluorocarbon hook-length and can be fished with either a running or ‘Fixed’ lead set-up. It is used when the fish are feeding neither on the ‘Surface’ of the lake, nor the ‘bottom’ and is used to suspend a buoyant bait anywhere in between where the fish are present. This may be 3 feet below the surface in a 12ft swim or 6 feet from the bottom in a 20ft swim. A highly buoyant bait must be used to keep the bait presented off the bottom at the correct depth.

Critically Balanced Rig

A ‘Critically’ balanced rig is a term that is given to a rig that is neutrally ‘balanced’ in weight when in the water meaning that the buoyancy of the hook-bait offsets the weight of the hook. This allows the baited hook-length to fall naturally through the water and also to act as any ‘free’ offering would on the bed of the lake.

Line Aligner

This rig takes some of the properties of the stiff rig but still allows a supple hook-length material to be used if needed. A piece of shrink tubing is usually placed over the shank of the hook and bent at a slight angle when the tube is in the shrinking process. A small hole is placed at the base of the tube that the hook-length material can pass through creating an artificial ‘extension’ of the hook-shank making the bait much harder to eject. Great for both bottom baits and ‘Pop-Ups’.