Are there any rigs for carp that are better for winter fishing? This was a question I was asked at the recent Brentwood Carp Show and it prompted me to do a post on what Winter Carp Rigs I use when the temperatures plummet and bites can be harder to find. Firstly its important to remember that there is no such thing as a wonder rig that catches carp every time, it just doesn't exist! There are however, certain rigs that are better for the type of fishing I do in the winter which is either maggot fishing or single hookbait fishing a lot of the time.
The Spinner Rig (Ronnie Rig)
Probably the most popular rig in carp fishing at the moment and it is not hard to see why. Fishing single, bright, high attract hookbaits close to the bottom of the lakebed is winning winter tactic and the Spinner Rig is perfect for that situation. There are still plenty of variations you can tweak, hook size and pattern, the boom section material, the length of the rig and the lead system you use it on for example.
99% of the time I fish the Spinner Rig with a Korda Krank hook in a size 6 and 14mm pop up, usually something bright and fruity. On a clear, firm lake bed the boom section of the rig I tie with the Korda Boom material, the stiffness kicks the rig away from the leader and ensures the rig is fishing every single time. If the bottom had low lying or dying weed then I would change to coated braid, it will still kick away from the leader and lead system and the slightly more supple material will take the contours of the bottom better.
Rig length varies between 6 inches and 12 inches, shorter for the clear spots and longer for the more choddy areas. A great opener for our look at the best winter carp rigs!
99% of the time I fish the Spinner Rig with a Korda Krank hook in a size 6 and 14mm pop up, usually something bright and fruity. On a clear, firm lake bed the boom section of the rig I tie with the Korda Boom material, the stiffness kicks the rig away from the leader and ensures the rig is fishing every single time. If the bottom had low lying or dying weed then I would change to coated braid, it will still kick away from the leader and lead system and the slightly more supple material will take the contours of the bottom better.
Rig length varies between 6 inches and 12 inches, shorter for the clear spots and longer for the more choddy areas. A great opener for our look at the best winter carp rigs!
The Mag Aligner
Made famous by the great Rob Maylin of Yateley fame. The Mag Aligner is a great way to fish maggots for big carp and it is so easy to tie and use as well. The rig itself is essentially a size 10 or 8 hook with a fake rubber maggot instead of a piece of shrink tube to create a line aligner style set up. You then nick on two or three maggots onto the hook, attach a PVA mesh bag of maggots and away you go!Once out in the pond, the PVA bag melts and the maggots explode over the spot leaving your hookbait in amongst them. I fish my Mag Aligner rigs on soft coated braid and a helicopter set up using an inline lead and large metal ring. I tie my PVA mesh bag to the ring and let it hang down beneath the lead, I then carefully nick the hook point into the mesh bag ensuring the hooklink is straight, impossible to tangle and guaranteed to be fishing every single time.
Chod Rig
For fishing single hookbaits at long range or when fishing over weed or other detritus the Chod Rig is a great option. It can also work really well on waters where the Spinner Rig has been used a lot. Chod Rigs can be tricky to tie but with a bit of practice they are quite easy to master and if all else fails the ready made rigs from the likes of Korda and ESP are superbly tied and a great option.
Often fished with a cork ball pop up the Chod Rig is essentially a single hook bait rig that is perfect for fishing over a spread of boilies or on its own. Traditionally fished on a leadcore leader helicopter style, it can also be fished naked (no leader at all) or on a fused leader such as the Korda Safezone variety. The rig sits free running and its effectiveness is due to the fish feeling very little resistance when they first suck the hookbait in to their mouths.
The Chod Rig is best suited for fishing with pop ups and is not really suitable for bottom baits or wafters. A great rig for ensuring the hookbait is always presented to the fish and a great addition to our list of the best winter carp fishing rigs.
Often fished with a cork ball pop up the Chod Rig is essentially a single hook bait rig that is perfect for fishing over a spread of boilies or on its own. Traditionally fished on a leadcore leader helicopter style, it can also be fished naked (no leader at all) or on a fused leader such as the Korda Safezone variety. The rig sits free running and its effectiveness is due to the fish feeling very little resistance when they first suck the hookbait in to their mouths.
The Chod Rig is best suited for fishing with pop ups and is not really suitable for bottom baits or wafters. A great rig for ensuring the hookbait is always presented to the fish and a great addition to our list of the best winter carp fishing rigs.
Solid PVA Bag Rig
Probably one of the most popular tactics in the colder months, solid PVA bags require a special rig to enable them to be fished as effectively as possible. I am a big advocate of small hook baits when solid bag fishing and I often use a single piece of fake corn or a trimmed down wafter hookbait.
One of the keys to the effectiveness of the solid bag approach is the length of the rig, I use mine no longer than 5 inches, this also makes filling the solid bags much easier than having inches and inches of hooklink to coil up and squeeze in. I use a simple braided hooklink with a wide gape style hook and a short piece of silicone tube tube to trap the hair against the hook, thats it.
I use the loop to loop method to attach the hooklink to my leader set up which usually consists of a very short length of leadcore about a foot in length. Hookbait colour doesn't matter to me as I believe the carp are taking the hookbait in by accident the majority of time, they are attracted by the pile of bait that has been left by the solid PVA bag melting and they start to hoover it up, your hookbait is amongst all that free bait and is sucked up in the process.
One of the keys to the effectiveness of the solid bag approach is the length of the rig, I use mine no longer than 5 inches, this also makes filling the solid bags much easier than having inches and inches of hooklink to coil up and squeeze in. I use a simple braided hooklink with a wide gape style hook and a short piece of silicone tube tube to trap the hair against the hook, thats it.
I use the loop to loop method to attach the hooklink to my leader set up which usually consists of a very short length of leadcore about a foot in length. Hookbait colour doesn't matter to me as I believe the carp are taking the hookbait in by accident the majority of time, they are attracted by the pile of bait that has been left by the solid PVA bag melting and they start to hoover it up, your hookbait is amongst all that free bait and is sucked up in the process.
Stiff Hinge Rig
Made famous by Terry Hearn but used by a lot of anglers around the same time, the Stiff Hinged Rig was designed to present a popped up bait using either a helicopter or a leadclip style set up. Personally I haven't used this rig much but a lot of people favour it for the colder months when fishing single hookbaits off the bottom so it is worth a talk about it. The rig itself is made up of two sections, the boom section and the hooklink.Now, where as a Ronnie Rig or Spinner Rig is fished low to the bottom the stiff hinged rig can be fished an inch or 5 inches off the deck depending on how long the hook link section is. Usually the boom section is a stiff material but the rig can be adapted and used with a coated braid to give it a little more suppleness along the lake bed and to hg the contour of the bottom much better. Again, great for fishing over spreads of boilies but in all honestly I would usually go for a Spinner Rig unless the lake bed is a bit messy or soft silt.
I know a lot of big fish anglers who still swear by the Hinge Stiff Rig and I have seen how good it can be. A very fitting end to our list of the best winter carp rigs!
As always if you need any help with your rigs or want any advice on rigs or anything else drop me an email [email protected]