Adjustable Zig Rig - Concept

[hookedoncarp]

Hi All, as spring is soon upon us and is thought to be the best time for zigging, i thought id give it a bash this year. So naturally ive been looking at the adjustable zig rig.

I can see that fox do a kit which enable the adjustable system for around 12 quid. Which i thought was great.. ill buy it, but on closer inspection the float which comes with the kit seemed very similar to the korda inteceptor surface system. Something which i already own... so here's my proposed idea. Not sure if its been thought of before but if not... YOUR WELCOME!

 

If you use your inteceptor along which a 3oz lead, surely this will create the same effect as what fox etc are packaging as a completely new product? Obviously ive just thought this up.. so im open to suggestions and whether people have tried this before.

 

If your unsure of what im talking about have a look here... http://www.foxint.com/catalogues-products.php?section=1&product=2288&catalogue=1 click on the more tab and you'll get a diagram. im sure this'll work.

 

Steve

[zammmo]

The Fox one is designed to be used with a 3oz lead,

if you use the Korda surface float you may have to

play around with lead sizes to find the most suitable

size.

I am pretty sure they would work though...

[hookedoncarp]

Your right zammmo, altho i guess the lead would just have to be suitable enough to outweigh that of the inteceptor. It would then be enough to sink it all.

[beanz]

a float is a float. pike floats, wine corks...they all do the same thing. the balance between lead and float needs to be accounted for but thats all.

 

but as companies target beginners is makes sense to them to brand 1 product for as many uses its possible for, to sell it to you more than once...youve spotted this before its too late.

[snowmanstevo]

a float is a float. pike floats, wine corks...they all do the same thing. the balance between lead and float needs to be accounted for but thats all.

Used my Zepplin pike float to good effect zigging last year

 

Got the idea off this site

[rosstheangler]

I just use a marker float without the vane and an elastic band, super boyuant.

[carp1971]

Hi All, as spring is soon upon us

 

Are you Sure...

 

Never done Zig Fishing so will be interested to read this thread

[hookedoncarp]

Hi All, as spring is soon upon us

 

Are you Sure...

 

Never done Zig Fishing so will be interested to read this thread

 

I reckon so yeah, as people have said above all it is, is a surface system set up but with a lead attached... creating an anchor point of which will allow you to pull the inteceptor (or float) under to the desired distance.

 

Its something i personally have just thought of, so i dont know for sure whether itll work, but from what members have said above it could and would. Worth giving a bash if you ask me.

[carp1971]

I meant are you sure Spring is upon us

 

I wouldnt have a clue about Zigs as Ive never done it before

[hookedoncarp]

Ohhh, i put soon upon us. Technically it is (March time) but from judging the weather outside i can see your point

[rosstheangler]

Zigs can work in winter as well, if you can locate the fish and get the right depth they can work when all else fails.

[hookedoncarp]

ahh i didn't realise that, i thought the fish would be as deep as possible in the winter. Honestly ive only tried a zig once and i felt it wasn't right so i took it out, but i think with an adjustable it could give me a lot more options quickly. I.E i could change the depth every hour, starting just under the surface and moving down a foot at a time every hour.. might work?

[mrdevon]

A very novice question with the adjustable zig as never used it

 

I have all the gear to set it up and from what I can tell it works on the exact same basis as a marker float where by I can just let out a foot or so as and when it want to vary the depth

[studley]

Spot on mate exactly the same

[salokcinnodrog]

a float is a float. pike floats, wine corks...they all do the same thing. the balance between lead and float needs to be accounted for but thats all.

 

but as companies target beginners is makes sense to them to brand 1 product for as many uses its possible for, to sell it to you more than once...youve spotted this before its too late.

 

Somewhere in my tackle box I have a Fox Submerged Pike Fishing float which I found , which does exactly the same job as the Carp Adjustable Zig rig.

 

The line goes through the middle of the float, same as a Drennan Zeppelin or other float in the range, so is easy enough to use. Thread a run ring on the line, then a rubber bead, then the float or whatever kind to your hooklink swivel. For the hooklink I use a length of about 30-60cm.

 

Cast it out, but instead of having a slack line as you would with a running lead, keep the line tight, as with zigs you may need to strike at any indication.

 

You can either have the bait close to the lakbed to start and work it upwards, or go the other way around, from the surface downwards.

[carpepecheur]

Being hard up I make my own zig rigs. Not only does this save money but, in my opinion, it works better.

 

This is a photo of my zig rig ready to cast. I typically fish in 7 metres of water and I like a distance of 3 metres between hook and float so that the latter does not spook the carp. Note how small and neat it is to cast. I call it the "Pocket Zig"

 

 

 

The next photo shows how it goes together

 

 

The main line, coming from the left, passes through the eye of a lead weight, then through the eye of the float and then through a rubber float stop passing on to the hook 3 metres away.

 

With the weight on the bottom the main line is released until the float is seen on the surface. At this point, all 3 metres of the hook link is on the surface. I now retrieve three metres of line and only the hook is now just on the surface. Retrieve a bit more line equivalent to the depth at which you want to fish the zig et voila.

 

On the retrieve the float comes against the top eye of the rod and further pulling slides the float against the stop towards the hook. This means you do not have to struggle with 3 metres of line between you and the carp if you do hook a decent fish.

 

The float is homemade from a wine cork, table-tennis ball, and wooden barbeque skewer stuck together with "no nails".

 

To get ready to cast, wind a short bit of pva tape around the cork bit of the float IN A CLOCKWISE DIRECTION . Then wind the 3 metres of hooklink around the cork bit of the float IN AN ANTICLOCKWISE DIRECTION. Then simply nick the point of the hook into the PVA to hold it place. When the tape melts after casting, the hook link unwinds.

 

I hope someone else finds this useful?

[rossmc]

Ive re4ally been thinking about zigs at the minute too, not many people use them on the lake so the fish wont have seen them too often, but my take on i8t is that the lake i fish if very very very weedy and full of naturals.

Now coming from a fly fishing background, I think the new zig bugs a total gimmick, apart from a deed bumble bee, they look like no nymph or owt like that. My train of thought is to tie up some large, very natural looking nymph etc. and use them as the zig instead of something to catch our eye rather than the fishes (zig bugs). Ive seen nymphs coming out the lake at about an inch in lenght so i can get away with making quite a large fly to replicate this and also get it boyant enough to use as a zig.

My problem is i cant get my head around having a inline float as this to me screams problems with getting bogged down in the weed.

Im on testing a few ideas with drop of cork floats, but has anyone come across this problem and how did they overcome it, if you did at all?

[mrdevon]

How about this Ross as an idea

 

Try float fishing your nymphs. Tie like a wet fly with enough weight and do the reverse of a sub float whereby you can still adjust the depth you're fishing at but using a surface controller float if you follow so nothing is gonna get bogged down in the weed

[carpepecheur]

Sorry Ross my "Pocket Rig" was designed for weed free situations.

[rossmc]

Already thought about that but if its windy then it gets blown all over the lake and causes no end of hassle. Its a high pressured water so I want to keep disturbance to a minimum. To give you an idea, if someone spods out on the lake, it kills the lake off, some even pack up and go home. haha