Carp Catchers Blog

Triggalink is a revolutionary hooklink braid. It is woven with PVA which once in water it melts drawing in the braid and becomes an elasticated, self hooking rig. Carp do not know how to deal with Triggalink due to the elasticity which makes it hard for them to use the weight of the lead to throw the hook. The elasticity in the braid doesn’t allow them to make contact with the lead without the hook penetrating and taking hold. Triggalink is proven to enhance hook holds, especially when fishing barbless hooks and in weed.

To tie this rig I used Nash Triggalink, Nash The Missing Link, a Nash Safety Bolt Bead Ring Swivel and a Nash Fang Gaper Hook.

Step 1.

Strip 8 inches of Missing Link and tie a small hair loop in one end.

Step 2.

Now thread your choosen bait onto the hair with a baiting needle and secure it in place with a bait stop. 

Step 3.

Pass the other end of the missing link through the back of the eye and set a gap of about 6mm between the top of the hook and the bait.

Step 4.

Whip the missing link up the shank of the hook 5-6 times…..

….Before passing the tag end through the back of the eye again.

Step 5.

Now cut 12 inches of Triggalink off the spool and hold it along side the tag end of the missing link with your hook and bait attached to.

Step 6.

While continuing to hold the two along side each other create a loop with the triggalink.

Step 7.

Take the shorter end of the Triggalink and pass it round the Missing link and through the loop created 4 times.

Step 8.

Now create a loop with the Missing link along side the Triggalink.

Step 9.

Pass the tag end of the Missing link around the Triggalink and through the loop 4 times.

Step 10.

Now moisten both knots and tighten them down gently before butting them up together. Then trim the tag ends and blob them with a lighter.

Step 11.

Pass the tag end of the Triggalink through the ring on the ring swivel.

Step 12.

Create a loop with the tag end alongside the length of Triggalink tied to the Missing link.

Step 13.

Pass the tag end around the Trigga link and through the loop 5 times.

Step 14.

Moisten the knot and tighten gently, then trim the tag end.

The rig is now complete.

The length of the Triggalink when the rig is complete measures approximately 6 1/2 inches.

Once wet the PVA in the Triggalink melts and contracts the braid. Shortening it to approximately 5 1/2 inches.

This is worth baring in mind when tying a rig with Triggalink as it will always end up shorter once wet. This rig is known as a Combi-Link Rig and can be used with either bottom or pop up hookbaits. If you wish to use a pop up, mould some tungsten putty, such as Kryston Heavy Metal Plus , around the knot in the two hooklinks.

Tight Lines

Dave

Gary and I fished the 2009 BCAC Qualifier at Farlows lake again this year. We got down on the Thursday and had a good look round, then had a nice social in the bar that evening. The next morning we were up at first light and after a cup of tea we scouted the lake again. We had a hearty breakfast in the onsite cafe and then the moment of truth the draw!! Gary and I were fortunate and came out second and got our second choice of swim. We were up against some stiff opposition, The O’Connors, Ian Russell, as well as last years winners, but we felt confident. Things started slowly in our swim but after spodding out 3 kilos of 18mm  Mainline Cell Freezer Boilies  I had a run at 9.30pm on a rod fished to an island gap. I managed to get the carp away from the snag, but half way in it kited to my left towards a gap in the islands. The carp had to be stopped so I held on and gave no line and unfortunately the hook pulled argggh!! Gary had a take that night and was cut off almost immediately. Next morning we found another snaggy spot and had a fish within an hour which weighed 18lb and some ounces.

Finally we were off the mark with a nice common carp. The take came to a combi link rig tied with Rigmaroles  Hydro-Link Silt  with two pieces of  Enterprise Pop-Up Sweetcorn  as a hookbait. In the afternoon we tried zig rigs on top of the gravel bars to no avail. We spodded out about another 6 kilos of bait for the coming night. We added some sweetcorn and  Carp Company Icelandic Red Cranberry & Caviar Freezer Boilies  to the spod mix.  At about 5.00pm I had another bite on the island rod which was cut off after about 20 seconds. Another cut off on the same rod about two hours later had Gary and I pulling our hair out. We both tied on the heaviest Nylon leaders we could (leadcore and braid leaders are banned) in an effort to combat the cut offs. Gary had one cut off and landed one carp that night which weighed 19lb plus so now we were in the running. Next morning saw us land another 18lb pluser, which put us well into contention. It was not to be though and at 12.00 the hooter sounded to end another BCAC qualifier. Had we landed any one of the fish we lost we would have qualified.

Best Fishes,

John

In this third part of which hooklink we will be looking at braided hooklinks. Braided hooklinks are almost self explanatory in that a soft material is braided to give it a smooth finish and extra strength. The most popular material for braids is Dyneema which is the registered name for a super strong polyethylene fiber. Because Dyneema floats it is often braided with another material usually Dacron to counteract its bouyancy. Kevlar another registered name is increasingly becoming more popular as a fiber for braiding due to its incredible resilience. Kevlar is the stuff they use to make bulletproof vests so that tells you how tough it is. It also is braided with other materials such as Dyneema to give it different properties. Some good examples of braided hooklinks are shown below.

   

Korda Supernatural      Sufix Silky Soft          Super Nova               Sufix Nu-Flex

Braids

Braids were originally used because early carp anglers believed that carp could feel hooklink materials with their lips. Because braids are soft, thin and supple they reasoned that the carp would be less likely to detect them. Nowadays though they are used as a supple hooklink which allows the hookbait to act naturally. Braids are also very useful when using solid PVA bags as the hooklink can be folded into even the smallest bag.

Though braids are usually used to construct supple rigs they are quite commonly used to tie combi-link rigs, this is because supple rigs are easier for the carp to eject. Combi-link rigs are tied with the braid at the hook end knotted to a stiffer boom section which is attached to the swivel. This gives a rig which has a supple hook end, therefore hopefully catching somewhere in the carps mouth with the stiffer boom section making ejection more difficult. Another variation of the combi-link rig is to have a stiff hooklink material at the hookend attached to a braid section running to the swivel.

Carp Care

Finally just a word of caution some fisheries are banning the use of thin braids as they believe they have a cheese wire effect and cut into the scissor area of the carps mouth. If you find that this is happening in your own experience please, please stop using them.

Best fishes,

John