MAKE A BUOYANT CARP RIG


Carp Rig using Long Hairs

This is another balanced bait, or buoyant carp rig but, it make use of a longer hair. It also uses a rig ring for a more delicate blow-back or anti-eject system. 


Photo shows complete long-haired rigA long haired bouyant carp fishing rig set up

This one uses half a cork ball to create the buoyancy rather than rig foam placed above a bait, like this Balanced Carp Fishing Rig. With the above setup I have the flavour and smell coming straight from the boilie, and in direct contact with any carp that decides to check it out. 

I prefer to use this type of rig with longer hairs so the hook has complete freedom. This means it will drop easily to grab a hold inside a carp's mouth. I placed shrink tubing at the end to allow the hook to turn much more quickly once a carp takes the bait. 


Image shows good bait buoyancy in rigsCarp fishing rig using longer hair to give bait bouyancy

Making The Long Hair carp Fishing Rig

You can make this fishing rig with foam or a half cork ball. I used a cork ball and carved out the centre part so that the round part of the boilie fits nicely inside part of the cork. I make the hair long, nearly twice as long as the hook size. This gives me plenty of room to add the bait and cork, plus room to add some putty or a shot, if it is required. 

In the example above, I used a rig ring to form a blow-back section on the shank of the hook, I often use a piece of silicon tubing for this part, but I wanted a quicker blow-back action for this buoyant fishing rig. The hook I used was a Korda long shank X of size 6. I tied it to the braid using a knotless knot, then used shrink tubing on the end which matches the lake bottom to disguise the hook further.


Another picture of buoyant bait rigBouyant rig showing how to use long hairs for mounting light boilies

Presenting the Long Hair Buoyant Fishing Rig in Water

I like the way that this rig presents itself, the bait tends to float over the hook helping to hide it from any fish swimming over the top. If you manage to camouflage the rest of the end tackle by matching it with the surrounding lake bottom, then I think this buoyancy rig will fool many big carp in the lake.

In the pictures of this rig, I noticed that the bait blends in a little with the bottom. This was not done on purpose, I just grabbed some bait before taking the pictures. In fact this brings up a good fishing tactic, don't feel you need to use boilies that show up against the bottom of the lake bed. Using brightly coloured bait can actually spook some carp. I sometimes use bait which blends in nicely with the bottom, the carp can smell the food but cannot see it. This helps lower their guard as they mooch around trying to locate the food items. If the carp in your local lake are hard to catch then try this fishing tactic!


Close up Image buoyant bait rig in waterClose up of carp rigs with longer hair rig

This fishing rig shown here does NOT have a very long hair set up. It's possible to use hairs much longer than the one shown in the pictures above. I have used fishing rigs with hairs as long as 3 inches and STILL caught carp!


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