Hair rig or not to hair rig?

[Shotto]

Returning to occassional fishing after a 30 year lay off and it's all gone mad! Kids go to carp puddles and first fish is a 10 pounder caught on something orange and smelly, use 15 rods and a bivvy!!

Ok not quite. I have been fishing a local small commercial and catching some nice carp on light tackle and having some fun. Simple ledgered luncheon mean (little bomb on the line stopped with a split shot!) catches more than the chap alongside using a "spod" and it seems like he is chucking in depth charges! (I was alway taught to make s little splash as poss)

I have been hair rigging the meat on the ledger, but traditionally tying on the hook on a float road, using corn or similar. Seem to hook more on the hair than on the not hair...

What's the rule of thumb here? Size/type of bait?

[bpool81]

i carp fish but a lot of my friends hair rig a size 12/10 with pellet as hook bait.

[tjnorton]

Hair rigs were designed not to obstruct the hook point. I will always use a hair rig as I believe this gives me the best chance to hook a fish. I try to leave a cm gap between the hook and bait.

tj

[northern eye]

Hair rigs are a good choice for not only carp but other fish too. Having the bait mounted on a hair leaves the hook point clear and also allows the bait to be investigated by the fish without it feeling a hook and becoming spooked. The bait will perform differently in the water so if you have it on a hair then it will feel quite natural to the fish when it is checking it out depending on length and stiffness of the hair line. It is a great method for carp as they tend to suck in the bait and blow it back out again before actually taking it so when they do this they become more confident if the bait is unobstructed and moves freely. You can use all sorts on the hair from pellets and boilies to meat, corn and even maggots and worms can be threaded on a hair which work well in winter. I usually use a smaller hook when setting my hair rigs such as a 16 or maybe a 14 and use a longish hair about 2cm or a little more, made from very fine Bayer Perlon line. This will cope with big or small baits easily and feel natural to the fish who will check it out and then feeling no resistance, take the bait in and thats when your tip pulls round and you are in!! I would invest in a quiver tip rod for your legering, you may find you get more bites as the indication will be more positive than with a float rod and also, if you are setting your line tight, the fish will again feel less resistance because of the soft rod tip. I would also suggest you try setting your leger on a simple running rig. First put your bomb (or feeder) on your main line, followed by a rubber leger bead then tie on a small swivvel. (Drennan do packs of matching swivvel and beads which are great). Onto the other end of the swivvel tie on your hook length, and hair rig. This will prevent getting a weak spot in your line from nipping on the shot and also help to prevent tangles, the bead simply acts as a buffer between the bomb/feeder and swivvel. Its the simplest rig and every bit as effective as more complicated leger rigs. If you are using a floating bait on the hair like a pop up boilie or fake corn, try putting a few little pieces of rig putty along your hooklength, this will weigh the hook length down leaving just the hair rigged bait slightly popped up off the bottom and clearly visible to any passing fish. Hope this helps you out.