hair rigging "whats the point"

[thuramario]

im no expert (thats something we can all agree on), but i am not having this method is any good. my mate swears by it. the way i see it i would rather have the hook in the mouth and miss, than never have the hook in the mouth to begin with, yes when you strike i imagine it is with more force as the hook doesnt have to penetrate through the bait in order to hook, but surley you can miss..............cant you? and surely just the sight of the hook MAY scare them, it would scare me lol. maybe i give fish to much creddit than they deserve, but i have found the sneakiest approaches have always worked better in fishin for me. also off the subject i have just started learning knots (i feel lke a scout), so now i want to know which is the best e.g. the strongest, and the most subtle. (for hooks and ties). cheers

[Neil G]

I'm not a massive carp fisherman but I think the idea of the hair rig with semi fixed lead is that it's self hooking therefore removing the need for a huge strike. Not had any issues with fish being spooked by the hook whan barbel fishing but then they tend to use their barbs for finding food when the water is coloured so probably wouldn't mater either way.

 

As far as knots go I always use the palomar with braid....never slips and I've actually snapped 30lb wire trace without the knot going

[Peter Sharpe]

I've reached the stage where I don't feel confident with any bait unless it is hair rigged. In fact it feels incredibly strange to put a hook through a bait. How on earth did I ever used to catch fish on worms?

[thuramario]

I've reached the stage where I don't feel confident with any bait unless it is hair rigged. In fact it feels incredibly strange to put a hook through a bait. How on earth did I ever used to catch fish on worms?

yeah i understand with worms n the like but meat is pretty soft, can the hook not glide through that with a decent strike?

whats better strike rate?

[poledark]

This question keeps popping up for me as well. I have been fishing with bunches of maggots on a No6 or 4 hook and find no need to hair rig them. In fact I am absolutely convinced that putting maggots on a clip causes missed bites, especially with Tench and Eels. Jury is still out with carp though.

 

Hard baits have to be hair rigged.

 

Before using any method of hooking the bait, ask yourself what effect you hope to achieve re presentation. When boily/hard bait fishing you are looking to self hook via the lead/bobbin/tight line setup. Even slack line heavy leads or any combination of these.

 

Luncheon meat can be used without a hair, but it is fairly soft. Even so, I would hair rig it myself, especially if playing the waiting game. Rolling it through the swim, I would bury the hook.

 

So many variables, but for some reason hooks don't seem to scare fish when bottom fishing (or maybe we don't see their reactions), they often try not to actually eat the hook (eels and Roach again) Certainly when surface fishing for carp, they can become very hook shy.

 

I think the modern trend among carpers to strike is mostly down to ignorance of how the hair rig works, and the terrible hooks they are conned into buying at huge prices.

 

Den

[Guest Rabbit]

The reason hair rigged baits work well is the fact then when fish mouth a bait and reject it when they sense something is wrong ,the hook catches in the mouth. That and the better presentation of baits, boilies and pellets, nut and so on would be impossible to mount on a hook. However I still do mount bait on the hook, small meat, corn and maggots, which work just as well. Bait bands for pellets work well to, and can out fish the hair at times, easy to change the bait too, idela in low light and night fishing.

The main consideration however is about balance, selecting the right hook length and hook size is paramount

[lyn]

The hair rig works best with fish that suck the bait in like carp & barbel. I always hair rig my baits for barbel. My 14.2 from the Stour was caught on a hair rig meat ball. You can get these little wire thing that twist into soft meats and hold them on really well.

 

A lot of it, like anything, is down to personal preference. I always take on board what people say, try it, and if I don't like it then I don't use, simple as that.

 

lyn

[Newt]

Carp have a number of external sensors that help them locate things that might be fit to eat. However, the final test is a taste test where they suck in an object and then decide to swallow it or eject it.

 

If your hair rig is done properly, they eject the bait and the hook point catches in the inner portion of the lip on the way out. It is more likely to do so with a hair rig since the bait is being rejected but the hook is hanging free and should be ('rig done properly) situated so the point is toward the lip.

 

It does pretty well with catfish too although they do nicely with a bait actually on the hook as long as the hook is large enough to have plenty of the sharp end outside of the bait.

 

Can't speak to Barbel or most other UK bottom feeders since I've no experience with them.

[BoldBear]

Whether I use a hair rig or not depends on several variables;

• What bait I'm using.
  
• Whether the bait is a hardish or softish one,
  
• The size of the fish that I am after.
  
• Whether or not the fish are feeding confidently.
  
• Whether the fish are taking the bait right into their mouths straight away or whether the fish are rolling the bait in their lips first to detect anything suspicious before taking the bait fully inside their mouths.
  

I would never use a hair rig without thinking about the above first; as sometimes it is more effective to use a hair rig (either using a short or long hair) and sometimes it is far more effective to use a bait mounted directly onto the hook.

If I am using a hair rig I would not use a shiny hook that could glint in the light and could spook the fish.

Edited August 27, 2008 by BoldBear

[Sean Anderson]

I have been using hair rigs with a method feed all year and have a decent strike rate.

 

Recently switched my float over to a rig, too and whilst the number of "bites" may have dropped a little, the ratio of strikes to catches has significantly improved.

 

Typical setup for me would be 10-15lb line with a 28g in-line feeder and a size 12 or 14 hook to 7lb nylon hair rig. The float has 10lb line and a 3g self-cocker with a size 14 hook to 7lb rig. Bait is usually 3 or 4 corn (depending on what fits, comfortably) and an occasional swap to luncheon meat, cheese, boilie, pepperami, etc.,

 

I've also taken to dropping the method feeder about 2-4 feet from the reeds by the bank (a bait runner is pretty much essential here, unless you've got some serious reaction speed) and that's improved the count, as the carp 'wander' around the edge of the reeds.