Terminal Rigs for Carp

Terminal Rigs for Carp

There are many different terminal rigs used in modern carp fishing. Until recently I used a simple freelining rig with a #4 or #2 Eagle Claw Laser Sharp baitholder style hook attached directly to the line with no weight or swivel. This system works well with paste baits ( doughballs ) and sweet corn. If it is necessary to use weight due to wind and or current or for longer distance use a sliding sinker ( slip sinker ) so that the carp will not feel resistance and drop the bait.

If you go to most other carp sites you will read the praises of such things as hair rigs, bolt rigs, stiff rigs and a bunch of variations of them for carp fishing. These rigs originated in England but are becoming very popular in the U.S. and Canada. I know I will hear about this but in my opinion they are close to useless, at least here on Clear Lake. I have done a lot of experimenting with the hair rigs and bolt rigs but caught very few fish with them.

I left the above paragraph on this page to illustrate how wrong I could be. I really had to eat crow on this one. After more experimenting and a little patience I have found the hair rigs, stiff rigs etc. to be a deadly method here at Clear Lake. Since there are so many sites that describe these rigs in detail, rather than duplicate their work I am providing a link to my favorite site on the subject: Carp Anglers Group The link goes right to the page on hair rigs and knotless knots but you really should check out the whole site and if you are at all serious about carp fishing then join the Carp Anglers Group (CAG) and help promote the growing sport of catch and release carp fishing in North America.