Rig mechanics

[Kappa]

Hi all,

 

I read loads of nonsense about rigs but I'm not sure where to find decent information.

 

Has anyone ever written a sensible book about rigs and how / why they work?

 

Rich

[Phone]

Kappa,

 

Top question on the year.

 

Phone

[Andy Macfarlane]

Hi all,

 

I read loads of nonsense about rigs but I'm not sure where to find decent information.

 

Has anyone ever written a sensible book about rigs and how / why they work?

 

Rich

 

I suppose all books have a crack at it but I think experience more than anything will tell you when a rig is right or wrong.

 

I rarely, if ever, copy rigs exactly as shown in books or mags. I always tinker with them in some manner, either simplifying them, making them safer or just more productive in my opinion. Just because someone says a rig should be done this way or that, doesn't mean is by any means perfect or even remotely suitable for you.

 

I find I learn a lot about rigs by sitting with a pencil and a bit of paper, dreaming up rigs with the tackle I have at hand. I draw and revise rigs and imagine all the pros and cons until I'm satisfied enough to actually give the idea a try. Very often I end up using a setup that is unlikely to have appeared quite the same in any book or article. It might work well. It might not.

 

You can also learn a lot with a box of tackle and a bulk spool of line. By knocking rigs together dismantling them, altering the make-up, imagining how they might perform before finally trying them, you can understand the reasons for doing what you are doing. Don't just use a rig because someone told you it works. Try and imagine what every component is doing and it's reason for being there. If you can't see the point, don't do it. If you think it can be improved upon, by all means try.

 

The one thing I would say when putting any rig together, is to make sure it's fish-safe, should the rig come off for any reason. You don't want to design a tether rig, no matter how productive it might appear to be.

[Anderoo]

None that I'm aware of, I'd also love a book like that. All the stuff on rigs I've seen (DVDs, articles, booklets) have been produced by tackle companies and/or sponsered anglers, and have been designed to sell you expensive bits of plastic rather than explain the genuine mechanics behind it all.

[John Weddup]

Hi Rich

 

I picked up a free dvd from nashtv.

 

Its called rig evolution

 

Some of it is about selling their bits and bobs but much of ity is very interesting with Kevin explaining the development of modern rigs from the early days of carping. It really helped me to understand and then think about how I could adapt to my style of fishing.

 

Well worth watching may even be on youtube.

 

Infact just done a search using nash rig evolution and they are all there.

 

John

Edited May 8, 2012 by John Weddup

[Dick Dastardly]

Plenty of stuff showing rigs but as Rich says very little explaining the thought/mechanics behind them.

[ayjay]

Many rigs are thought up to cover a single situation and used shamelessly everywhere until the next craze comes along.

 

There's one chapter covering some basic stuff (about 10 rigs in all, with some of the thought processes outlined) in Rod Hutchinson's book, *The Carp Strikes Back*, probably a bit old hat in terms of rigs conceived since the 80s but I expect most of them still work.

[Phone]

Kappa,

 

While I haven't seen one, and don't know of such a book in a single volume I'd say the "how to" book would be possible.

 

It is the "WHY" book I've looked for all my life. I guess there isn't one because circumstances and angler confidence change the answer to "why". I'd believe a WHY book would be larger and equally argumentative as the internet.

 

Just asking, wouldn't/couldn't the same rig serve different purposes for different species and venues (i.e. various cyprids in lakes or rivers)?

 

Still, it would be a "nice" book to have even if it was written generally in the third person.

 

Phone

Edited May 8, 2012 by Phone

[Errrm]

I keep thinking maybe I should actually try and apply my job (computer programming) skills to fishing some how and write a rig simulator which would allow you to design a rig and then run it over several thousand simulations of a fish picking the rig up with slightly different directions and swimming speeds etc to see how effective the rig is...... I don't think it would be that hard to write the simulation.... the editor to design the rigs might be the hardest part though...... maybe one for the winter :-).

[Chris Plumb]

Rigs and End Tackle by my mate Alan Tomkins is worth getting hold of - occasionally comes up on e-bay.

 

 

C.