rig – The Masterblanker

I have posted several times on my love of leadcore and have even written an article about it that was published in “De Spigel” magazine, a local Dutch Carp fishing publication. So you all know that I love leadcore and have been using it for that last few years. My love of leadcore is tempered by the plain fact that it can be so dangerous if used in the wrong hands (see an upcoming article on the safe use of leadcore) and due to this some lake owners have banned it out right. Whilst I might not agree with the bans I will always respect the rules and where it is banned I will use of of two solutions, either plastic leaders or tubing. For a long time I always used the plastic leaders as they ape lead core in almost every way but recently I was tempted to try going back to tubing. I also like to use lead clips, they are a wonderful invention and they really come into their own when distance is not the primary issue bit getting rid of the lead is. If you are fishing a weedy swim the lead clip will allow you to loose the lead should the fish embed its self into a weed bed. Also should you loose the fish the lead clip will alow the lead to be discharged ensuring that the carp is not trailing a heavy lead as well as the leader.

As Fox has just released a new range of tubing in several different colours I though I would give it a go and see how it can be incorporated into my fishing.
Continue reading “Using anti tangle tubing – for those places that lead core is banned”

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.
Continue reading “The evolution of a rig – the big pig line aligner rig”