Carp Catchers Blog

After another weekend session on my Nene Valley syndicate I managed to bank 2 carp to 24lb. The fish were landed using Korda Solidz PVA Bags filled with PVA friendly hemp, which was made by drying off some Dynamite Baits Frenzied Hempseed and adding a generous amount of Mainline Hemp Oil and leaving it to soak in for atleast an hour. Dynamite Baits Frenzied Monster Tiger Nuts where critically balanced and used as hookbaits with Avid Carp Sight Stops for added visual attraction.

Tight Lines

Dave

I made another trip down to Richworth Linear Fisheries recently and had another good result. I landed 12 fish during my session the biggest being a 30lb 4oz Mirror. All the fish fell to either critically balanced tiger nut or boilie hookbaits with Avid Carp Sight Stops fished at 85 yards to the island over a spodded area of hemp, corn, chops, maggots, pellets and crushed tigers. Baits were presented in Extra Small Korda Solidz PVA Bags using 2.5oz Avid Carp Inline Groove Leads and short hooklinks.

Tight Lines

Dave

On a recent session to Richworth Linear Fisheries I caught a 32lb 4oz Mirror and a 21lb Common. Both fish were landed using critically balanced Dynamite Baits Tiger Nuts and Avid Carp Sight Stops over a spodded area of hemp, corn, chops, maggots, pellets and crushed tigers. The nuts were presented in Extra Small Korda Solidz PVA Bags with small micro pellets and groundbait and cast to a small clear area in the weed at about 70 yards.

Tight Lines

Dave

The Shot On The Hair Rig is basically a bottom bait rig with a small shot added to the hair to allow a pop-up hookbait to be used. This completely alters how the rig to reacts to how it would with a bottom bait. The hookbait is allowed to move more naturally due to it’s bouyancy and the length of the hair. The shot on the hair allows you to either critically balance or overweight the pop up hookbait.  The nature of supple braid allows the hookbait to be picked up with minimal resistance and the pattern of the hook means the point hangs low below the hookbait helping it to grab hold. The simplicity of The Shot On The Hair Rig makes it easy to tie and it minimises the bulky components such as shrink tubing used on some rigs.

For the purpose of this demonstration I used the Korda Supernatural Hooklink, a Korda Kurv Shank Hook and a No.4 split shot. The shot size is determined by the size and bouyancy of your choosen pop-up, the bigger and more bouyant the pop-up the larger the shot. I found a No.4 shot to work perfectly with a 14mm Richworth Pineapple Hawaiian Pop Ups  although it varies between different makes and types of pop-ups.

Step 1.

Cut 14″ of Korda Supernatural from the spool and tie a small overhand loop knot in one end.

Step 2.

Thread on your choosen pop-up and secure in place with a bait stop.

Step 3.

For this version of the rig pinch the shot onto the hooklink below the pop-up. This will give you a slow sinking hookbait which is almost critically balanced. We will show you an alternative version of this rig, which has  the shot positioned differently, soon.

Step 4.

Thread the Korda Kurv Shank Hook onto the hooklink passing the braid though the back of the eye to the front and position the bait about 6mm from the top of the hook.

Step 5.

Now whip the hooklink up the shank of the hook 6-7 times and then pass the hooklink through the back of the eye to the front to finish the knot.

Step 6.

Double over the other end of the hooklink.

Step 7.

Then form a loop with the doubled over section of the hooklink.

Step 8.

Now pass the end of the doubled over section around the bottom and through the back of the loop created in step 7.

This creates the figure of eight, if you get this eight shape then you have done it right.

If you struggle with tying the knot then try this method. Alternative Figure of Eight Loop Knot.

Step 9.

Now gently tighten down the knot and trim the tag end.

The rig is now complete and ready to be attached to your lead setup.

The rig is best fished of with a small Dynamite Stick or PVA Mesh Bag thread down the hooklink over the hook to avoid tangles.

Tight Lines

Dave

James Kirk really had the common touch recently with this stunning 34lb common carp, just look at the tail on it. Fishing to the back of a weed bed at 35yrds range James used a critically balanced tiger nut hookbait with a mesh bag of  TFG PVA Friendly Tiger Nuts . James’ rig was tied with a size 4 Atomic Claw Hooks  to an ESP Striptease Hooklink . Well Done James, a real stunner!!

Best Fishes,

John