Winter Carp Rigs
Its that time of year when Carp fishing can be at its best. The nights are longer, it's colder and venues are at their quietist. The Carp are lethargic and only normally on the feed sporaidcally often later afternoon just as the sun goes down. They are not moving around as much so its vital you locate the fish and only feed for a bite as their metabolism slows down.
With the changing weather this does present a few slight changes to maximise your chances of a fish, The water starts to clear so rigs can become more visible in the water, so a stealthy approach will often bring you fish. The water level is normally up a little so all the depths you recorded during the summer will be slightly off, and the Carp will often be found in the deeper warmer water, and finally the Carp have become wise to rigs after being caught all summer.
To help you out I have put together a small selection of rigs that work really well in Autumn and into the winter.
Solid PVA Bag Rigs - The precision bait delivery system, you want to get the carp feeding on a small spot rather than a big spread of bait, what better way then offering a small mouthful of free offerings with your hookbait sat right on top of it. Solid bag fishing allows you to do this. Its guaranteed your hook bait is right on your loose feed and because the short hooklink only requires the slightest movement from the fish before the lead helps the hook to get hold the resulting takes are savage! The Solid PVA Bag can be fished on just about any type of bottom as they bag prevents the rig and the bait from getting buried.
Ronnie - Spinner Rigs - The low lying pop up or wafter rig really don't need any introduction. This rig accounts for many fish all year however in autumn when there is shallow debris on the bottom this rig really comes in to its own. The stiff boom means the rig is laying flat on the bottom yet the hook section will sit upright just above the leaves and debris leaving your highly attractive pop up in full view of any carp. Because of the stiff boom you can fish this rig effectively at any distance knowing it wont tangle and should you get an aborted take the rig will reset itself.
Fluorocarbon rigs - Either the German or the D rig are great rigs for wafters or bottom baits. As the water clears many rigs can become less discreet yet the Fluorocarbon rigs don't! The Fluorocarbon has the same light refraction as water which means this rigs are practically invisible in the water, the stiffness of the fluorocarbon also means they wont tangle and they react very quickly to any bite and like the Ronnie rig have some excellent self resetting mechanics. These rigs tend to work better over firmer compacted silt, clay etc.
The Slip D Combi Rig - Darrell Peck inspired, This rig works very much like the ronnie or spinner rig where as the coated sinking braid boom enables you to fish the rig at any distance, the supple hook section allows movement at the hook end to lay on top of leaves etc or to sit upright like the Ronnie rig. The Slip D element means that as the carp blows out your bait the bait can slide up to the eye of the hook giving your hook more time in the mouth whilst making the hook point heavy and pointing down this increases your chances of hooking the fish. The perfect alternative to the Ronnie rig for those who prefer less metalwork.
Combi Rigs - The all-rounder rig. This rig has the same stiff boom section as a Ronnie rig or spinner rig, but has a supple hook section made with Korda Loop Braid this gives you the same anti tangle and anti eject mechanics as the Slip D Combi rig. This rig can be used with all bait types very effectively due to the options of how to mount your bait, we offer a adjustable hair option which means you can use any size bait from a couple of grains of fake corn to a 20mm boilie or if you favour the german rig style you can have a screw, micro flexi swivel etc mounted on the shank so the rig works like a blowback rig. This rig is devastating when you use a tiny pva mesh bag of crushed boilies or pellets.
