rig tests

[carpkid12345]

Hi i have recently been doing some tests with my rigs and my concern about them is trying to get the rig to push away form the lead. When i was testing the soft coated braids I just wasnt getting that push away effect when dropping them in the edge. Anybody have any ideas on getting the rig to fall away form the lead without using a realy stiff hooklink?

[andy52]

errrm, try feathering the cast so the rig/lead land in a straight line.

 

 

when you 'dump' your rig in the edge it does'nt give a true representation of what your rig looks like 50mtrs out( unless your into scuba aswell)

[salokcinnodrog]

Hi i have recently been doing some tests with my rigs and my concern about them is trying to get the rig to push away form the lead. When i was testing the soft coated braids I just wasnt getting that push away effect when dropping them in the edge. Anybody have any ideas on getting the rig to fall away form the lead without using a realy stiff hooklink?

 

Why worry about it?

 

A braided rig to me works on the fact that it is not straightened, and is close to the lead. It allows the fish more movement with the hook and bait in the mouth, a straightened hooklink is almost relying on the fish trying to move away to hook itself

 

As Andy says, when casting feather it down near contact and the hooklink "slides" past the lead and enters the water. No matter what though, as the lead falls faster through the water the hooklink will fall around it. Its not tangling in most cases until you pick the lead up on reeling in.

 

If you want to slow the fall of the hook and link through the water then use a nugget of dissolving foam

If you do want it straighter then use a Stick mix.

I'm happy with a big stringer of baits around the hook bait and it is "tied " onto the hook and the tubing above the lead.

 

Alternatively you could always go to combi rigs with just a short supple section near the hook and a stiffer boom from the lead end (Ask Moorsey about his Combi Link that works for him, mine is a bit different)

[138cgj]

Yeah, you would be amazed at how much a braid hooklink will move underwater, just with a fish swimming near it.

If you really have a specific reason for it to be kicked away then use stiff material. Otherwise you could feather down, or hit the clip and 'bow' the rod with a PVA nugget on the hook like Nick suggests.

[138cgj]

Or if possible, the two rod trick...

[theforumtroll]

One of the easiest ways to to push the hooklink out from the lead/leader is to use a stiff material like Fluorocarbon or amnesia along with a supple braided section for the hook although a pure stiff hooklink can also work well.

 

A helicopter rig is the most effective lead setup as the hook-link has the most amount of freedom, with a lead-clip or inline system there is a chance the lead can pull part of the hook-link in to the bottom of the lake, and due to the stiffness of the material it will kick up. possibly messing up your presentation.

 

Also best fished as a single over bait. with a PVA nugget on the hook, this will hold the hook-link up once the lead touches down (heli-rig) and once melted the stiff hook-link will push the bait out and gentility land on the lake bed the distance you set your hook-link up. a loop knot also offers more movement over a standard knot to swivel. and a bait that is balanced so just the weight if the hook sinks it or a snowman setup also helps. as a to heavy bait will just drop downwards rather then being forced out away from the leader.

 

Try this in the margins dropped from shoulder height, or cast up the margin and the hook-link will kick out strait every time.

 

Adding a PVA bag / stick or stringer works against you here, as the added weight will force the hook-link to land where the bag / stick or stringer lands. and that will not always be strait and again could cause presentation problems.

 

There are two ways to form a part stiff, part supple hook-link. first learn to tie the joining knot, between Fluorocarbon and a supple braid, which at first is very fiddly to tie, but like all knots once mastered become easy. or second try out... Rig Maroles Hydrolink this has a Fluorocarbon inner rather then braid with the Fluorocarbon being very easy to remove, and does the same thing with out the hassle of joining knots. both ways work well.

[willi4692]

I don't worry about this sort of thing. Its another one of these points that companys like Korda have brought up, these things were never considered years ago and it didn't seem to effect peoples catch rates, why will it matter now? As long as your rig blends into the lake bed you are fishing over then i don't see the hooklink not being straight as an issue. More important issues should be considered with rigs rather than if it is sitting straight, like tangles, length, lead set-up etc.

 

Cheers

 

Will

[dj_nate]

i got told a good way yesterday which is to tie a wooden kebab skewer (they cost like £1 for a hundred) to ur hooklength with pva string so as it sinks its always straight and lands perfect everytime, also when the string dissolves, the skewer will rise to the surface and u can fire a load of bait out at it and be confident in knowing that ur bait right over ur rig.

[sam_0987]

You could always try anti tangle sleeves or feathering your casts.

[carpkid12345]

do you think that feeling the lead down to the bottom will make a different and also i have heard people using a pva stick then tweaking the rig and lead back to straighten it all out once on the bottom? any body else ever used this technique.

[sam_0987]

You could always try anti tangle sleeves or feathering your casts.

Yes, feathering will help to staighten out the rig because you pulling it back slightly as it falls through the water collum. I have heard of people tweaking the rig but I have never done it, just incase something goes wron

[salokcinnodrog]

do you think that feeling the lead down to the bottom will make a different and also i have heard people using a pva stick then tweaking the rig and lead back to straighten it all out once on the bottom? any body else ever used this technique.

 

Ok, so you are fishing over a pretty standard bottom, either silt with a few sticks, leaves and twigs, or a gravel bar.

 

On the silty patch you gradually pull back to straighten the hooklink, and as it straightens you pull the hookpoint into a twig or leaf on the lakebed.

 

Or on the gravel patch that you are fishing you pull the hooklink straight, and as you do so you pull the lead and it moves the hook taking the point off the hook as it rubs against stones.

 

Also when you straighten or tweak the rig back, how far do you actually move it?

Simon Crow and Rob Hughes actually checked how much movement there was on just tightening down by hand. In some cases the lead was moved by as much as 30centimetres from the point of impact on the lakebed. Far enough to pull it into weed or off your feature.

 

Or another example;

You gradually reel down to feel the lead, which is tight on the bottom, either slightly plugged in silt, or tight to a stone. You add a little extra effort to move it, and the lead just pops free, and moves further than you think as it is then effectively on a piece of elastic. That movement could take it away from the "right" spot.

 

 

Feathering the cast does NOT necessarily straighten the hooklink out. Read my previous post , you CANNOT make a light hooklink fall faster through water than the lead

The hooklink will fall around the lead unless it is stiff and pushed away from the lead someway

[nash_gadgeteer]

Hi i have recently been doing some tests with my rigs and my concern about them is trying to get the rig to push away form the lead. When i was testing the soft coated braids I just wasnt getting that push away effect when dropping them in the edge. Anybody have any ideas on getting the rig to fall away form the lead without using a realy stiff hooklink?

 

Why worry about it?

 

A braided rig to me works on the fact that it is not straightened, and is close to the lead. It allows the fish more movement with the hook and bait in the mouth, a straightened hooklink is almost relying on the fish trying to move away to hook itself

 

 

I agree, why bother, the majority of my fishing involves either a PVA bag or stick and use a very supple braided line..

 

I find that once you have a nice little pile of loose offerings covering the lead and hookbait sitting amongst it, jobs a good one no tangles, perfect presentation and one method that has accounted for thousand of hooked carp for me....

[crofty82]

If really concerned and want to use soft braid look at a two bait stringer.

Look at feathering your cast just before impact not totally convinced though and agree with salokicnnodrog on this one baits dont sink quicker than leads. so this wil leave bait near lead all the time imo.

But if only looking at single bait try a stiff material probably a coated material and strip back near the hook.

Or use stiff rig material like stiff bristle filament or esp ghost.

[willi4692]

Well said Nick!