Attaching your hook bait to a Chod rig

For while a while the only way to attach your bait to a chod was to use the time honored tradition of tying it on with bait floss, however times have changes and as I posted here solar have got a really nifty way of attaching baits to rigs and not just for these kinds of rigs.

So with that in mind, as I hate tying on baits lets explore the different kinds of ways that we can attach baits to chod rigs.

Tying them on

This the the time honored tradition, quite simple you simply “lasso” the pop-up with 2 double overhand knots making sure that whilst the boilie is held tightly the floss does not cut into the surface of the bait.

Some people even go so far as matching the colour of the bait floss to the colour of their bait. I have to say that I am not one of them as I doubt that the carp really notice anyway. Once you have the bait lassoed as above use the 2 tag ends of the bait floss to tie it to the ring of the rig.

Advantages

best for keeping pop-ups buoyant

Pop-up skin is not pierced

No baiting needle needed and so if baits are super rock hard no danger of injury

Disadvantages

Quite fiddly

Needs bait floss

Solar Spiker

As discussed in a previous article this is one of my favourite ways of attaching a bait to a chod rig. It is simple and easy and I am really surprised that this has not caught on more with other manufacturers seemingly reluctant to produce their own versions of the product. Essentially a spiker is a small piece if metal that you skewer the bait on to. When you are assembling the rig, instead of attaching a ring to the loop as above it is substituted by a spiker like so:

To bait up all you need to do is push the spike into your chosen boilie and you are finished. If the boilie is quite hard it is worth noting that you will need to put something hard behind the loop of the spike to help you push it in as else if you do not the loop can start to be quite painful against your thumb. I use the top of my bait box and just push the bait down onto it impaling it on the spiker.

Advantages

Quick and easy

Bait can move naturally

Secure

Disadvantages

Extra rig component

Can be difficult if you have rock hard baits

Pierces skin of bait

Spiker is bait size dependent

The Rubber Band

This is a a method that I used only a few times at the end of last year but initial results are encouraging, it combines the ease of use of a spiker with the cheapness and simplicity of bait floss. Essentially what you do is take a small rubber band ( hint ladies hair bands, check in Boots, Etos etc in the hair accessories section) and loop it through the ring on the rig like so :

Note that to make it easier I have stretched the ring out with a baiting needle.

To attach a bait all you do is treat the band as if it were a hair, I know that some of you will be thinking “why not just stretch the rubber band around the boilie?”  well trust me it doesn’t work… at all and I have tried.

Advantages

Quick and easy

Cheap

Secure

Disadvantages

Extra rig component

Pierces skin of bait

Can be fiddly to attach the rubber band to the ring

Summary

Well I hope you have enjoyed this look at how you can attach you pop-ups when using chod rigs, the best way to learn is by doing so stop reading articles on the Internet and get out there fishing !

What do you think of this article ? did I miss something ? Did I get something wrong ? Let me know post a comment or if you prefer to contact me privately use the “Contact me”  section above.