Rigs

The Gigantica carp have pretty much seen it all over the years. They are under angling pressure 365 days a year, so a well constructed and efficient rig will certainly get you more bites.

Bottom Baits - A straightforward coated braid combi-rig takes some beating. The Dark Matter Coated Braid in 25lb is perfect for this situation in combination with a barbless beaked point hook in Size 2 or 4. Allow plenty of separation between the hook and the hookbait when tying up the hair.

Wafters - Undoubtedly the most used bait presentation on the lake, and the IQ D-Rig keeps on producing fish after fish. The beauty of the rig is that it will always be fishing, even if it has been picked up and dropped, the stiff material always resets the hookbait. We recommend IQ2 in 20lb to a Size 2 or 4 barbless Kurv shank hook. Lengthening or shortening the hooklink can make a difference with this presentation, especially if the bottom is slightly soft, but we recommend a rig around 7 inches should be okay.

Pop-Ups - The go-to presentation since it became popular has been the Spinner/Ronnie Rig. At least 90% of visiting anglers use this rig, and it continues to deliver fish after fish. We recommend a stiff or semi-stiff boom as it helps reduce tangles, and always resets itself. A barbless Wide Gape hook in Size 4 has proven particularly effective on this rig. The other presentation which does get used is the hinged stiff rig, which has got a good track record of picking off the better fish.

Zig Rig - We now allow only ONE ROD to be fished on a zig as there was so little bait going in at a critical time of year, and unfortunately we lost some big fish fish with zigs impaled in their pectoral fins.  If you do fish one rod on zigs you must use barbless hooks (Size 8 Mixa B recommended), a minimum of 11lb line for the hooklink and be sure to dump the lead on every bite, as this dramatically increases the hooked to landing ratio.  All these items are available to buy from us on site.

Black foam still gets the majority of the bites, sometimes topped with a flash of red or yellow. Try adding Goo or a glug to the foam which can get extra bites. To reiterate, you MUST dump the lead with zigs to give you a good chance of landing anything hooked.

With the water so deep in parts of the lake, we recommend when using straight through zigs, pair them up with the Guru Micro Lead clips as these can be wound down through the eyes of your rods, making it easier to land the fish. 

The message from us on rigs is to use components and rigs which you have total confidence in, and that have caught you plenty of fish. The bailiff’s are happy to advise and help out if needed or need any help or guidence on how to tie these rigs.