Let me begin this article by stating, for the record, that there is no original thought in this rig. This is not to denigrate the article or my thinking in the 1st line but there is very little “original thinking” in 99% of carp rigs today. Almost all carp rigs are just an evolution on someone else’s ideas or are designed to encourage people to buy more rig components. The main exceptions to this in recent years ( after the hair rig) have been the Drig, the Chod rig the combi rig ( and coated braid ) and the now ( thankfully) banned “bent hook” rig. There have possibly been more but these are the ones that I can think of and the ones that I use or have used on occasion.
This rig is the product of several years of thinking and would not have been possible with out ” a little help from my friends”. To explain, earlier in 2009 I was a little annoyed that I couldn’t get a good hook hold which was strange as when I 1st started to use long shanked hooks that is all I got but over time I managed to migrate to short hairs and stiff flurocarbon and the hook holds got poorer and poorer. Then a chance discussion with a mate ( who is sponsored) and an impromptu rig clinic on the bank and I was set straight. later in the year whilst on a fishing holiday I had the chance to have a good look at a mates rigs and ( with his permission) incorporate a good chunk of what he was doing into my rig design. Not only did catch rates improve but also losses decreased which was crucial at the time due to the hard fighting nature of the fishing the lake.
Without further delay lets go into the main components of the rig.
Starting from the top left,
Fox 1mm Silicone tubing, Fox Armapoint size 6 LS, Fox Coretex 20lb in Weedy green, Fox Shrink tubing (1.2 -0.4mm)
Braid blades, Fox braid stops, Baiting needle’s ( at least 1 needs to be a pointed end type)
Korda boillie stops, Fox tungsten rig putty.
Please note that this rig works best with a long shanked hook, you just need to match the size of the hook to your bait. As I am using a 20mm boillie and a small dumbell a size 6 is fine. If I were using two 20mm boillies I would drop to a size 4 and remember to scale down if you drop the bait size.
Step 1,
Take you coretex and strip the coating from about 6 inches, Cortex is lovely in this respect as you only need to use your fingernail rather than having to buy a “stripping tool” which may or may not cut into the braid. I have chosen weedy green as bottom of the lake I want to fish it on, whilst hard, has a lot of odd stalks of weed floating around.
Step2,
Next slide on a piece of the 1mm rubber and a Fox braid stop. I would really suggest using the Fox stops rather than the cheaper “float” stops you can buy as once it has locked onto the braid it really is locked in place. The cheaper stops you can get will move under pressure and with water ingress which really messes up the whole point of having it on the rig. More on the use for this stop later. Once these 2 items are on your braid, tie the normal loop in the end of your hair. Bait up as you normally would at this point :
Note that this rig is designed as a multi bait rig, it doesn’t matter what size of bait you are using but if you are using 2 baits and you don’t use the braid stop there is a huge danger that the baits will separate and the bottom bait will drop down the hair and sit against the hook ie
If this happens the whole mechanics of the rig will be affected and when the angler reels in the bottom bait will move back to its original position, leaving the angler completely unaware that his rig was not fishing as effectively as it might. Anyway one with the rest of the rig instructions.
Step 3,
Take your chosen hook, in this case a Fox Armapoint size 6 Long Shank, and slide it through the silicone tubing. Position the hook to give the correct hair length and tie a knotless knot ( see the articles section – basic rigs for the knotless knot).
Step 4,
Take a 3cm section of the Fox shrink tube and using a pointed baiting needle push the needle through one wall of the tubing about 3mm from one end. Use the needle to pull the Cortex through the tubing. Make sure that you use the extreme end of the braid to hook the needle “barb” onto so that if you do damage the braid it will not matter. Next work the tubing up the braid to the knotless knot on the hook and ensure that the shrink tube covers the whole of the knot. Align the braid coming out of the shrink tube so that the braid exits the tube opposite the hook point as per the picture above.
Step 5,
Shrink the shrink tube over a kettle and holding the hook with a pair of forceps, pull the braid so that the tubing cools at a 45 degree angle. Finish up the other end with a figure of 8 knot and you are done. You now are the proud owner of a proven fish catching rig that will allow you to fish 2 boillies snowman style with no danger of the boillies slipping down the hair and changing the mechanics of the rig.
Once the rig is in the water it should sit like this :
Both baits nice and tight to each other presenting themselves as one enticing morsel of food.
Do you have any comments on this rig ? Do you think it can be improved ? what ever you think scroll to the bottom and post a comment I try to reply if I can and if you have any suggestions for improvement I will make them and repost the results here.
The Masterblanker 