Carp Catchers Blog

Its getting to that time of year again when maggots are becoming more widely used due to them being such an effective winter bait. Have a go at tying this rig and see how you get on.

The components used in this demonstration were the Korda IQ2 Xtra Soft Fluorocarbon , Korda Wide Gape  hook size 8 and  Korda Micro Rig Swivel.

Step 1.

After cutting your required length of fluorocarbon tie on a Korda Wide Gape using a knotless knot making sure to whip round the shank twice on the way back down to the eye. 

Step 2.

Now thread a micro rig swivel onto the tag end above the hook.

Step 3.

Then pass the tag end through the back of the eye to the front and trim the tag end down to about 3-4mm. This will have created a D shape on the back of the shank for the swivel to move on.

Step 4.

Holding the hooklength out of the way slowly blob the tag end with a lighter to secure it in place. Make sure not to burn the hooklink as this will damage the fluorocarbon and increase the chance of it breaking. Also take care not to burn yourself.

Step 5.

To finish the rig tie a figure of eight knot in the other end setting the desired length of rig you require and trim the tag end.

The finished rig should look like this.

This rig works best with a large bunch of maggots and a couple of imitation pop-up maggots to help counter the weight of the hook. This rig isn’t strictly a maggot rig and can be used with other baits as well. 

The knots used in this demonstration can be found in previous blogs by using the search bar on the top right hand side of the page.

Give it a go.

Tight Lines

Dave

Knowing how busy it was likely to be over the bank holiday weekend I planned to fish Elsons from Wednesday to Friday of the previous week. Upon arrival at the lake it didn’t appear to be too busy but I decided to slip in behind someone who was just leaving, opting for a swim that Ive fished before that would give me control over a lot of water. I placed one rod out to a far margin, another to a clear area in the weed and the third was slipped a short way down the margin on a clear area that I could clearly observe from the bank. After a very uneventful 24 hours with little to show for my efforts, I decided I was going to up the bait a bit and put around 100 baits over the far margin rod. For the next night I recieved no indication of any fish feeding or moving around for that matter, but at around 11 o’clock the last morning I recieved a single bleep on the far margin followed shortly by another two then a very stuttery take which left me a tad confused as when I lifted the rod the culprit hit the surface between the snags. To begin with I thought it was a coot but then as it rolled I saw the distinct sight of a carps flanks, it had just come to the surface as the lead had discharged on the take. After a short fight I netted the smallest fish landed from Elsons this year, at 13lb 6oz it wasn’t massive but it was definitely a stunning little mirror that could one day be a gorgeous looking 30 or even 40lb’er. 

The going bait was a single 16mm Baitcraft T1 fished on a simple ESP Soft Ghost fluorocarbon hooklink, lead clip setup and 3oz distance lead with around 100 free offerings baited tightly to the gap in the trees.

The Albright Knot is the perfect knot for joining mono to braid, which makes it the ideal knot for combi link rigs or leaders. Below is a step by step photographic sequence showing how to tie The Albright Knot.

Step 1

Form a loop in your mono or fluorocarbon.

Step 2

Thread your braid through the nylon loop

Step 3

Whip the braid around the nylon going away from the loop about 5-6 turns. if you

are a belt and braces person you can whip another 5-6 turns going back towards

loop but I have never found it necessary. The version shown makes for a neater

more unobtrusive knot.

Step 4

Thread tag end of the braid back through the nylon loop the same way it came in

Step 5

Gently tease the knot together

Step 6

Bed the knot down tightly, it is probably best not to moisten this knot before tightening

Step 7

Trim tag ends

Step 8

The finished Albright Knot.

Best fishes,

John

The idea behind the Blowback rig is that a fish can’t eject the hook, as the bait will move back down the shank on the ring leaving the hook free to grab hold without the fish being able to use the weight of the bait to blow the hook out.

The components used for this rig are a Korda Longshank X Hook, a Korda Rig Ring, Clear Korda Shrink Tubing and Korda Hybrid Fluorocarbon Coated Braid.

Step 1.

Cut around 12 inches of Hybrid of the spool, strip about 4 inches of the coating off and tie a small loop in the end. (See picture below)

Step 2.

Now thread the rig ring onto the hooklink a tie it below the hair stop loop with an over hand knot so it will sit at the top of the shank with enough room for your choosen hookbait. (See picture below)

Step 3.

Thread the point of the hook through the rig ring, then thread the hooklink through the back of the eye and hold the rig ring in position at the top of the shank. Now tie the hook to the hooklink with a knotless knot. (See picture below)

Step 4.

Cut a small piece of the shrink tubing and thread it up the hooklink so it sits covering the knotless knot and leaves around 6mm below the eye of the hook, then steam it gently with a slight bend to help the hook turn. (See picture below)

Step 5.

Finish the rig with a figure of eight knot and trim the excess off. (See picture below)

Step 6.

Now steam the rig gently or pin it on a rig board to straighten the coated braid out but be careful not to pin it down too tight of it will straighten the shrink tubing.

The finished rig should look like this.

Tight Lines

David

This rig is a slight alternative to a normal knotless knot fluorocarbon rig and has a very good hooking ability. I’ve found this rig to work best with two bottom baits on the hair.

The components used to tie this rig are Gardner Super Soft Fluorocarbon and a Gardner Incizor Carp Hook.

Step 1.

Cut about 12 inches of the Subterfuge hooklink and tie a small overhand loop in one end for your hair. (See picture below)

Step 2.

Thread the other end through the eye of the hook so the hair is sitting up the back of the shank and hold it to you desired length. (See picture below)

Step 3.

Now whip the flourocarbon up the shank 7 times making sure that the 1st turn goes away from the join in the eye. (See picture below)

Step 4.

Then hold the hair away from the shank and whip the flourocarbon another 6 times up the shank, this holds the hair off the back of the hook. (See pictures below)

Step 5.

Now whip one time back down the shank before threading the hooklink though the eye from back to front. (See picture below)

Step 6.

Finish the rig off with a figure of eight knot so it can be attached to a clip or a five turn grinner knot to a ring swivel, the rig needs to be able to move freely at the lead end.

Tight lines

David