The Hair Rig?

[Dave H]

Does a particle bait fished on a hair rig compared to the old way of it being directly pierced on the hook give you more chance to catch on still waters or have many anglers become totally obsessed with the hair rig and have now no confidence that the hook placed bait will perform better so it’s now gone into their room 101?

 

Looking around a few fisheries since I returned to fishing just about all particles I have seen fished are on hair rigs. The main pro I can see is in casting long distances but even short distance casting it is used and favoured.

 

Have the vast majority become duped too much by the hair rig to the point that nothing can be more successful and has the media, retailers unquestionably pushed the angler down that path or is it reality that it truly does catch you more fish on a still water?

[ayjay]

Does a particle bait fished on a hair rig compared to the old way of it being directly pierced on the hook give you more chance to catch on still waters

 

retailers unquestionably pushed the angler down that path

 

I believe you will catch more using a hair both on lakes and rivers, on the H.Avon you can watch the fishes reaction to baited hooks and a hair rigged bait will be picked up more readily than one straight on the hook. (I'm aware of balanced hooks - not needed them yet though - hair rig is simpler for me).

 

Retailers only enter the equation for those too idle to tie their own, I've never yet bought a hair rig.

[Phone]

Dave,

 

There is not any better method for catching fish on a hook than a snagging hair rig. Fish don't care and a bare hook provides the greatest chance the fish will get hooked or hook itself.

 

Snagging rigs beat baited rigs by a long shot.

 

Phone

[Dales]

For me hair rigs present the baits better and increase the amount of hook ups. The way the free hook moves and catches in a fishes lip/mouth does make all the difference. It might not please the old fuddy duddies but I use hair rigs for most of my non pred fishing and do you use them for some predator fishing. Only maggots, worms and bread go rirect on to J hooks now for me.

Edited March 27, 2012 by Dales

[RUDD]

Does a particle bait fished on a hair rig compared to the old way of it being directly pierced on the hook give you more chance to catch on still waters or have many anglers become totally obsessed with the hair rig and have now no confidence that the hook placed bait will perform better so it’s now gone into their room 101?

 

Looking around a few fisheries since I returned to fishing just about all particles I have seen fished are on hair rigs. The main pro I can see is in casting long distances but even short distance casting it is used and favoured.

 

Have the vast majority become duped too much by the hair rig to the point that nothing can be more successful and has the media, retailers unquestionably pushed the angler down that path or is it reality that it truly does catch you more fish on a still water?

It depends on the bait used - With Soft baits such as paste, expander pellets and bread flake the hook can be buried compleatly in the bait - therefore the fish cannot see the hook.

I would think this is a better presentation than having an exposed hook that fish can see with a bait on a hair. Although the hook has to get through the bait on the strike - this does not seem to be a problem as the bait is so soft.

For a hard bait such as a boilie or hard pellet a hair rigged bait would be more effective in gaining a hook hold as the point does not have to penetrate anything other than the fishes mouth.

Medium baits such as meat or corn - depends on method used - on the pole a directly hooked bait is effective as the pole tip is close to the float giving an almost instant strike and the hook is quickly puller through bait into the fishes mouth, for the waggler or feeder I prefer hairrigged - again for hooking properties but also to ensure bait stays on during cast.

Then we come to live baits, caster, pinkie, worm, maggots etc - these days mainly used in the cooler months for silverfish by alot of anglers - trying to even get them on a hair rig takes far to much time - direct on the hook works best for speed and efficientcy BUT how many times has a live wriggling bait somehow double hookd itself masking the hook point causing a fish to be bumped!!!

[AddictedToScopex]

I prefer the hair rig only when fishing for species that tend to hoover rather than pick. By this I mean for fish such as chub I will always put the bait on the hook as they tend to grab with their lips rather than just hoover up. A hair rig can often mean the chub misses the hook entirely as it just grabs the bait between its lips leaving the hook outside of its mouth. If fishing for barbel the hair rig really comes into its own and the anti eject properties of it mean it really can make the difference between a missed bite and the fish hooking itself.

 

I also never buy my rigs. I always make them myself. I could never trust a rig out of a packet over one I have tied myself. Plus I get to vary the length of my hair compared to what bait I intend to use.

[BoldBear]

Does a particle bait fished on a hair rig compared to the old way of it being directly pierced on the hook give you more chance to catch on still waters or have many anglers become totally obsessed with the hair rig and have now no confidence that the hook placed bait will perform better so its now gone into their room 101?

 

Looking around a few fisheries since I returned to fishing just about all particles I have seen fished are on hair rigs. The main pro I can see is in casting long distances but even short distance casting it is used and favoured.

 

Have the vast majority become duped too much by the hair rig to the point that nothing can be more successful and has the media, retailers unquestionably pushed the angler down that path or is it reality that it truly does catch you more fish on a still water?

I don't think you can generalise on this sort of thing; For me whether I am using a Hair rig or not depends largely on what fish I am after, the bait I am using and the type of conditions I am fishing in..

 

Eg.

• If I am fishing a waggler or a stick for Roach, Rudd & Dace etc. I prefer using fine wire hooks with baits mounted directly on the hook. I can always use buoyant bait to counteract the weight of the hook and make it react more naturally if it is necessary.
   
  
• If I am after Chub on a river I prefer to use a bait mounted directly on the hook or a very short hair rig. This is because of the way I have watched Chub often grabbing the bait in their lips before turning away from the shoal before swallowing it; they dont suck it into their mouths as much as other fish such as Carp and as Tench sometimes do; and on a normal length hair the hook is often left outside of the Chubs lips as they move off.
   
  
• If I am after Carp then unless I am using floating bread crust I will nearly always use a Hair rig.
   
  
• If I am after Tench it depends on the bait I am using and how I want the bait to react and the type of bottom I am fishing over eg. If I am presenting a bait amongst thick silt then a hook mounted bait is often fine, but on a harder bottom I prefer a hair rigged bait. If I am using a maggot or a piece of breadflake or a small redworm under a float then I prefer to mount them directly on the hook.
   
  
• If I am after Barbel then it largely depends on the bait I am using and the swim I am fishing; eg. If the swim is very weedy and my bait is sinking through the streamer weed and I dont want it catching in the weed I will often use a hook mounted softish meat bait with the point slightly protruding; however If I am fishing on relatively clear gravel then much I prefer a hair rig.
  

Keith (Boldbear)

Edited March 27, 2012 by BoldBear

[Anderoo]

If I'm using some kind of self-hooking rig for 'hoover' fish like carp/bream/tench, I usually use a hair with it. Having a completely bare hook usually helps the rig work properly. In most other cases I'll use bait straight on the hook.

 

I think there are 2 inventions that have made fishing that much easier in recent times. One is the hair rig, and the other is PVA. I have friends who were carp fishing around the time the hair rig became known about, and they describe situations where previously very tricky carp were suddenly getting caught all the time, by everyone - simply because they were using a hair rig. So I don't think its effectiveness in certain situations can be overstated.

[the_big_carp]

i hair-rig disks of bread for surface fishing

[Anderoo]

A friend also showed me a very clever little rig for hair-rigging lobworms. It means you can use a much smaller (and therefore lighter) hook then you'd have to use if hooking a lob conventionally.