This rig uses 25Ib VIGILANTE as the hooklink combined with the awesome Longshank Mugga hook.
The pop up is tied on to a Covert 3mm Rig Ring running between two hook stops, so the placing and size of bait can adjusted with ease. The stop nearest the hook point is left fairly central for baits of 14mm or bigger, but is moved nearer the point for smaller baits of 10-12mm, if using a grain of Enterprise corn for example.
There are two trains of thought on how much counterbalance weight should be used with pop ups, but as a rule over-weight pop ups should be fished on gravel lakebeds and finely balance hook baits should be fished over silt. The beauty of this set up is that even a small 10mm bait can effectively hide the big strong hook whilst retaining excellent bottom lip hooking properties, drop one in the edge and you will see!
Sleeve the hook knot with a small piece of silicone tubing protruding about 5mm past the eye, as this causes what is already an amazingly quick turning hook to be even more aggressive. You can test this by trying to move one across the palm of your hand. It will turn before moving showing that mechanically the rig is spot on!
Long sweeping curved shank hooks are not allowed on some waters, but a similar set up can be achieved using a Longshank Incizor and a small piece of Covert Supa-Shrink tubing creating the aggressive angle below the eye, or a short shank hook with a longer shrink tube ‘kicker’.
For a 25lb breaking strain braid, Vigilante has a fine diameter and nice brown colour, and when viewed in the lake it simply blends in exceptionally well on the bottom. Rub some Critical Mass putty up and down the hooklink and put a couple of tiny blobs of it on the link to ensure it settles down flush to the lake bed. Being woven with pure Dyneema, Vigilante is incredibly strong for its diameter, but can retain a little buoyancy unless treated this way.
Finally, incorporate an Anti-Tangle sleeve at the swivel and rig foam on the hook to help avoid any tangling on the cast, but for PVA bag fishing, simply shorten the hook link to around 4” and dispense with the sleeve and dissolving rig foam.
The rig has proven excellent for single hook bait fishing over all sorts of lakebeds and will perform equally well fished over beds of bait and in PVA bags to.
What you need…
Step 1. Start off by attaching the Long Shank Mugga to the Vigilante with a simple knotless knot.
Step 2. Trim off excess as the hook bait will be mounted on a rig ring, not a hair.
Step 3. Push 1cm of 0.5mm silicone tubing up over the eye of the hook as shown.
Step 4. Thread the first Covert Hook Stop onto the hook, so that the widest end is facing up the shank.
Step 5. Thread on a rig ring and a second hook stop as shown here.
Step 6. Create a loop knot. We recomend adding an extra twist to make the knot a ‘figure of 16’ as this is stronger with braids.
Step 7. With the extra twist it is a little trickier to bed the knot down. Take your time as a stronger knot is worth the effort.
Step 8. Smear Critical Mass rig putty down the hooklink to make it sink like a stone.
Step 9. The finished rig… just waiting for a pop up to be tied onto the rig ring.
Step 10. Finished rig.
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