Tricks For Rigs - How To Make A Good Rig Even Better! | David Rosemeier

Small adjustments to your carp fishing rigs can make a big difference to the end result. And in this short article, One More Cast's German Contributor David Rosemeier details the tweaks he makes to take his rigs to the next level!

The last few centimetres of the rig are often the deciding factor as to whether you go
home with a new entry in your catch book or a blank! With a few small tricks, however, your rigs and hooklinks can be made even better. Here are my best tricks to boost your 'rig game'. 

READY, STEADY, GO!

Don't want to waste time on the water? Never be afraid of using ready-mades! Arrive late at the water, and leave early - if you have a regular weekday routine, you only have a short window of time available, so why waste it tying rigs?

With the META All-In-One range, OMC offers a whole collection of ready-tied rigs for precisely this purpose - saving you time! Tie a knot, attach the lead, pull the boilie onto the hair and off you go! You get everything inside the packet - the completed rig, a leader or tubing, plus a lead clip and tail rubber.

If you want to try out a new rig but don't know how to tie it properly, these are also a great way to gain that initial experience. They incorporate many of the tricks we will cover in the remainder of this article. 

GET THEM SLEEVED

Soft, braided rigs in particular can quickly tangle around the lead when casting. A small piece of tube helps to prevent this by stiffening the first few centimetres of the hooklink and keeping it at a distance in flight.

One More Cast has the perfect solution for this purpose with the tapered Blend or Vitabitz Anti-Tangle Sleeves. The sleeve is simply threaded onto the hooklink and then slid over the eye on the swivel. Practically every rig you cast out, other than potentially the Chod or Solid Bag, should include one of these tangle savers. 

SWIVELS FOR ANY OCCASION

Swivels are required for pretty much all rig assemblies. Whether it's the classic 'Tönnchen Swivel' for a helicopter system, a Micro Swivel for the D-Rig or a Quick-Change Swivel for the hooklink - you should always have a variation of different swivels to hand on the water.

The Vitabitz Quick-Change Swivel in particular, saves you a lot of time. It is knotted to the mainline, and the looped hooklink is latched into the small hook on the swivel. The Quick Change Swivel should always be covered with a tube for safety, so that the hooklink has no chance of slipping. The Vitabitz Anti-Tangle Sleeves already mentioned are ideal for this.

OMC's recent introduction of the Tweakers Dog Bone Ronnie Clips has made creating a lot of the best carp rigs far easier and they are a vital addition to any angler's box. You simply clip the swivel of a rig on and slide over the tungsten cover.

TUNGSTEN INSTEAD OF SHOT 

Tungsten behaves similarly to lead in water. However, due to its density, it is significantly heavier for the same amount! For us carp anglers, tungsten in the form of putty is perfect for balancing pop-up rigs, lowering the mainline or weighing down the hooklink.

For subtle 'loner' rigs, use just enough putty to balance your bait so it falls to the bottom as slowly as possible. However, in a tight feeding scenario, put more putty on than required to anchor the bait to the bottom, so it can't be washed away by fish feeding or moving in the area. This larger weight an inch or so from the hook can also help secure better hookholds too, by forcing the hook to drop quicker in the mouth. 

The Blend Putty has a reputation for being particularly secure and less likely to fall off during the fight. Worth adding a drop to most rigs! 

BE A FAKE 

In many waters, there are all sorts of other animals below the surface in addition to carp, which will tamper with our hookbait. White fish pick up the rig and blow it out again, crayfish nibble on everything - in these cases, bait imitations that look very similar to the natural bait but are made of plastic and therefore resistant to attacks can help.

The Revibed range from OMC includes imitation worms, snails, corn, bloodworm, pellets and more. Each can be soaked in flavours to boost their attraction, and many include special cavities to plug with a fish luring paste or a foam counter balance. Used as 'toppers' these imitations can also provide a fish triggering visual appeal to your hookbaits - great for more cautious big carp.

HAIR AND HOOK BEND

You can improve the hooking properties of the traditional knotless knot hair rig by moving the hair slightly towards the hook bend. Use a piece of Simply Silicone tubing to fix the hair approximately where the hook bend begins. This small measure allows the hook to turn faster with the point positioned downwards when the hooklink tightens.

CREATE THE RIGHT 'D'

For wafters and bottom baits, the D-Rig is a presentation you need to try. With the Blend Fluorocarbon, this rig is practically invisible underwater. There are two ways of tying it, each creating a slightly different hooking angle and bait position for the fish to try and deal with.

The simplest way to tie the D-Rig is to tie a classic hair rig with a tag end instead of a hair, then push this tag back through the eye of the hook and blob down. Whilst quick, if used with the wrong hookbaits, this can cause the hookpoint to enter the mouth of the carp at an awkward angle at times. 

One of the best ways to tie the D-Rig is with the 'whipping knot', which keeps the 'D' in position along the shank of the hook. This allows more movement of the bait and better turning of the hook for a more consistent hooking angle. 

GO FOR A SNOWMAN

Many anglers (myself included) like to fish with a sinking and a floating boilie in combination - the so-called ‘snowman’.

When using this rig, you should fix the sinking boilie to the hair to prevent it from sliding down towards the hook and possibly causing missed bites. The easiest way to do this is to tie the loop at the end of the hair large enough so that the sinking boilie sits on the knot later.

CHANGE HOOKS QUICK

Using a rig where you can change the hook quickly can be a big advantage. Hooks often go blunt after a few fish or in particularly harsh environments. The Touch Me Up does a phenomenal job of bringing dulled hooks back to peak sharpness, but if the point has completely gone over, you need to put on a new one. 

To save time with this process, rigs like the Multi Rig and Spinner are the preferred choices. Simply loop off the hook and loop another on in a matter of seconds. The hooklinks themselves could last you all season if not damaged, just keep refreshing the hooks. 

Use these small tricks and adjustments and your rigs will be significantly improved. Which can only mean, more carp in your nets! 

Despite his young age, author David Rosemeier is already an integral part of the German fishing scene and has turned his hobby into his profession. David is passionate about the adventures he experiences on the bank and can always be found on the big waters in Germany and abroad.