Classic D-Rig bottom bait rigs have been around a LONG time – for the simple reason that they work! It’s a presentation that offers amazing consistency in the way that the rig lays out after the lead and reached the lake bed - and then settles down nicely. It’s a fantastic alternative to hinged stiff, [...]
The Horton Rig was the brain child of Gardner Team member Lee Wagner, whilst fishing on the hallowed banks of the R.K Horton Kingsmead Complex. It is essentially a presentation tailored to catch the fish that are showing over an area that is both firm and relatively weed free - and is his own tweaked [...]
After the enormous success of the Ronnie Rig, and the improvement in rig mechanics and reaction simply by putting a Covert XT Kwik Lok Flexi Ring Swivel onto the eye of the Mugga hook, it wasn’t much of a leap forward to apply the same tweak onto the already successful German rig to give the [...]
The Slip D Rig has accounted for thousands of carp across the UK and main land Europe. It was first invented by Martin Clarke way back in 1986-87 season at Woburn Sands. At the time the rig was first tied using a large ring and dental floss as a hooklink and although it looked a [...]
The initials NS stand for ‘Nice and Simple’ and the rig is just that, very simple to tie but ultra-effective. It’s constructed using a size 6 Covert Dark Incizor and a length of Stiff Ultra Skin. The rig has all the mechanics of a sliding D presentation and it has a small section of coating [...]
We all know how good the conventional chod rig is at presenting a pop up hookbait down over all sorts of stuff on the bottom; bits of weed, silt and leaves, giving the perfect presentation every time. However, on occasions it can be a little bit blatant. The Roddie is a hugely effective alternative to [...]
Tweaks to this rig worth considering would include using a rig ring blow-back style trapping the hair to make the finished rig react faster when a fish inhales, mouths or tries to eject your hookbait. With pop up rigs it is normally best to position the rig ring so that it traps the hair [...]
To my mind consistent and effective presentation is broadly reliant upon two basic requirements being fulfilled by the angler. The first is making the right choice of the correct lead arrangement – as this directly impacts upon the way the terminal tackle lies on (or in) the lake bed and how it avoids tangling. [...]
What you need. Step 1. Mount a size 12 swivel onto a Pop-Up Hook Aligner (large Pop-Up Hook Aligner for size 6 hooks as shown). Step 2. Take 40cm of a supple, sinking skinned hooklink, Ultra Skin is ideal. Step 3. Don’t bother stripping it. Simply attach the hook [...]
After enjoying a bit of success on the bank over the last few years I’m often asked, be it on the lakeside or through social media, “what rig did you have it on” or “what bait was it on”? I’ve considered the motives of that question numerous times, but one thing I’m very rarely [...]
Hook Stops and Swivels. Recommended hooklink. Step 1. Start by cutting a 1cm length of Large Covert Shrink Tube. Step 2. Position the shrink tube onto the hook shank before mounting the size 12 Kwik Lok Flexi-Ring Swivel onto the hook eye**. Step 3. Pull the [...]
The completed Horton Rig underwater. Step 1. Strip off 20cm of 35lb Ultra Skin. Step 2. Double over the hooklink and thread it through the hook eye and then add a Target Rig Swivel. Step 3. Pass the loop carefully over the point of the hook (Multi Rig [...]
Blow back rigs essentially utilise a hair that’s held loosely in position with a shank mounted rig ring. Obviously, this arrangement has been used extremely successfully for many years now. There is little doubt that the use of the hair/rig ring combination genuinely enhances the way in which the hook is free to twist aggressively [...]
Step 1. Skinned hooklinks like Ultra Skin are ideal for tying Blow Back Rigs. Step 2. Strip a 10cm portion of the Ultra Skin. Step 3. Tie a small overhand loop knot on the end, this will from the hair. Step 4. Attach a Small Covert Rig Ring. [...]
There's rigs and there are RIGS... Some stand the test of time and work year after year, others are more transient in nature, with tangible benefits being a figment of a twisted mind, but not offering any genuine advantage in terms of catching carp! This one however is very special, and it's a rig that’s [...]
Products to use. Step 1. Start with a simple 'knotless knot'. Step 2. This gives a simple and strong knot. Step 3. Mount a Gardner Size 20 Covert Swivel and a Covert Hook Stop. Step 4. Tie a 'Fig of 8 loop knot', this acts as [...]
On the whole, my angling has always been epitomised by a slow Darwinian like progression of understanding – from rigs and baits to a very basic conceptual understanding of what (sometimes) works and why. The fact of the matter is that there have few leaps in that slow development but one that stands [...]
Long hook lengths. For as long as I can remember this has been one of my favourite means of catching carp. Now I'm not talking about zig fishing, I'm talking about actual long hook lengths for bottom bait rigs and pop up presentations. Rigs that are simply much longer than what is considered [...]
If you’re a river predator angler, then the last few months have been pretty awful! With nothing but dirty brown floodwater filling our running waters for what has seemed like an eternity, with opportunities to do some pike fishing having been limited to say the very least. We have floods every year but I [...]
Solid PVA bags can be a devastating method to use in carp fishing. They can be used anywhere but they are especially good in weedy lakes as the weight of the bag will flatten any weed it lands on and as the bag melts it leaves a small pile of bait with the hook bait sat enticingly in the middle of it.
