zig rig how good

[thedddjjj]

Sorry but I invented this (for myself) 22 years ago when I was about 10 years old fishing the Leg of Mutton pond in Bushy Park.

 

Wow it was complex.

 

bomb, split shot, 6 foot of line to size 8 hook with chum.

 

No swivels, lead clips, leadcore, flourocarbon, hooklinks, foam or anything else.

 

You could buy little plastic sleeves which you stretched round the chum and hooked onto the the shank of the hook, but when everyone discovered what i was doing they caught just as much hair-rigging it.

 

Why do people try and complicate things? Its just a running rig with a longer hooklink and some chum.

 

[tryzard]

Is that the adjustable zig???

 

Yes, if it looks something like this:

 

 

[canontroop]

absolutely waste of time in my opinion

 

Thats pretty much how I feel about zigs too. No doubt they catch fish but I just cant abide using them. They are an utter pain in the rear on the cast and then when playing fish its just a farce if you have a long hooklength.

I can see the adjustable one with a pilot float being the one to use, only a 3-4ft hooklength has got to be easier to manage than a 12ft one.

 

Anyway to quote the late Pete Broxup...

 

Real men catch them on the bottom

[tryzard]

Real men catch them on the bottom

 

There is absolutely no answer to that!

[zander1]

Yeh its similar Tryzard, I haven't got the float trapped on my set up- it runs like the lead does- as its bouant it just sits behind the hooklink swivel

 

Its the adjustable zig thats a pain- it tangles no matter how good you are at casting

[tryzard]

Yeh its similar Tryzard, I haven't got the float trapped on my set up- it runs like the lead does- as its bouant it just sits behind the hooklink swivel

 

Its the adjustable zig thats a pain- it tangles no matter how good you are at casting

 

The float trapped on a length of stiff link virtually eliminates tangling.

[salokcinnodrog]

I just cannot catch on Zigs, no matter what I do. It may be me or it may be the waters I fish, whatever, when I try it I have absolutely no joy.

 

It is not even used as a last resort as I often think, "ah hah, fish moving about, either mid depth or near surface, so on with the zig", yet I get no joy. I've tried various baits, bright pop-ups, dark baits with no additional flavour, black foam, cork balls etc.

 

I can catch on surface baits, reasonably well (usually freelined) and bottom baits, but the zig just doesn't work

[zander1]

Yeh its similar Tryzard, I haven't got the float trapped on my set up- it runs like the lead does- as its bouant it just sits behind the hooklink swivel

 

Its the adjustable zig thats a pain- it tangles no matter how good you are at casting

 

The float trapped on a length of stiff link virtually eliminates tangling.

 

I will give it a try the next time i use an adjustable zig

[thedddjjj]

Try binning the swivel, the float, the bead, the stiff rig, the other swivel and the silicone tubing and you might find out how it works. Pretty tricky for a piece of chum to hold all that dangling around in the water and if you think that looks subtle to a carp you need your head read - no wonder people are having problems.

 

This is sad. Its just straight-through mainline with a bomb to get it out there. And it absolutely destroys places where people haven't used it.

 

It was 'designed' because controller floats were not working very well as the carp could see the line floating around next to the chum. So it seemed a good idea to present the floater with the line underwater. Hardly rocket science really.

[tryzard]

Try binning the swivel, the float, the bead, the stiff rig, the other swivel and the silicone tubing and you might find out how it works. Pretty tricky for a piece of chum to hold all that dangling around in the water and if you think that looks subtle to a carp you need your head read - no wonder people are having problems.

 

This is sad. Its just straight-through mainline with a bomb to get it out there. And it absolutely destroys places where people haven't used it.

 

It was 'designed' because controller floats were not working very well as the carp could see the line floating around next to the chum. So it seemed a good idea to present the floater with the line underwater. Hardly rocket science really.

 

The whole point of this rig is to be able to use a zig rig in deep water and avoid casting and tangling problems with very long hooklengths. That is what it was designed for - nothing to do with controller floats on the surface. It's simply a development of a setup that pike anglers have been using for a while to present a bait midwater. There is no point in using it in shallowish water.

 

The bait or foam used only has to support the weight of the hook and a short hooklength, the float supports the rest.

 

I suggest you don't knock it until you've tried it - it works, and I've caught plenty of carp on it (so have others, particularly on St Johns at Linear where I think it was first used). On the face of it, it would appear to be a helluva contraption to have in the water but the carp don't seem to mind!