The most important part of your carp fishing setup is your end tackle. Having the most expensive carp gear will not help you successfully land big carp if the gear you have is wrong. In modern carp fishing, the carp’s safety is the number one priority, and the right gear will help you keep the carp safe. There are many different types of setup; here we’ll outline the two most popular and regularly used by carp anglers.
Semi-Bolt Action Setup
The Semi-Bolt Action setup is a favourite with carp anglers. Starting from the left of the photo is the leader; this is either leadcore or silicone tubing. Leadcore is a cloth type material which has a core made from lead, so it’s extremely strong and will lay flat on the bottom. The leadcore must be spliced with two loops at each end for the mainline and hook link to be attached. Silicone tubing has a hole through the tubing so your mainline can thread through it; this acts as a safety leader to prevent line from cutting into the carp during the fight, and it helps the end tackle lay flat on the bottom of the water.
The Safety Clip System is where the lead clips on and then a rubber attachment slides over to keep the lead from coming off - but with high pressure it will come loose and release the lead. When you’re fishing in thick weed, where it’s important to lose the lead when a fish is on, simply have the rubber sleeve wet and only just attach it to the lead clip. When the fish snags, the clip will open and the lead will fall off, bringing the fish to the surface and out of danger. Additionally, when the line breaks the carp can shed the lead and can loose the hook without becoming attached to line lead and hook whilst it’s swimming around the lake on its own. This is an important safety feature; any lead which is fixed to your end tackle and can’t easily come off is considered a ‘death rig’, and must never be used. One of the many benefits of a safety clip system is the ability to quickly change the weights, shapes and sizes with out breaking line.
The Hook Link, or ‘rig’ as we call it, is attached to a swivel which is pushed tight inside the lead clip. This is the bolt action part; when the carp sucks in the boilie the hook meets the resistance of the lead, causing the hook to strike into the carp’s mouth - hard. Larger leads will increase the bolt action effect, but note that your line strength and leader plays an important part when casting out heavy objects. If you are using a boat and not casting, then the set up will be less complicated. The Hook Link is the piece of material used between the swivel and the hook, and there are many different types, the most common ones of which are the mono and braid.
Finally there’s the Hair Rigged Hook. The line is threaded through the eye of the hook with a small loop on the end, and then wrapped around the shaft four or five times. It’s then threaded through the eye again, and then after 6 or 7 inches it’s attached with another knot to the swivel.
The second rig in this picture is the Running Rig, this is the simplest of set ups. The lead sits freely on the line and meets a rubber bead next to the swivel, to protect the line knot from the lead. Again, in case of a snap-off, the lead can easily come free. This rig is aimed at shy carp which blow out baits when they feel resistance, and it gives the rig a more sensitive set up approach.
There’s another carp fishing breakthrough here; the quick release cork screw swivels. These have a standard swivel-loop on one end and a corkscrew loop on the other. What makes them so handy is that you can quickly replace the rig at any time, with minimal effort. The hook link end will need to have a tied loop so it can be placed on the corkscrew. Imagine that you’re fishing on the bottom with a bottom-bait boilie presentation, but when you reel in your rod you find your boilie and hook has weed on it. Not wanting to change spots because you’ve put bait out, you can simply remove the hook link by unscrewing the loop off the corkscrew and replace the old rig with a Pop-up rig. That’s the advantage of quick-release cork screws.
Pop-Up Rig looks very similar, but there’s a weight between the swivel and hook which determines the distance form the bottom that the popup boilie sits. The Pop Up boilie itself is made from cork or a similarly buoyant material, and then flavoured and coloured to look like a boilie. It’s extremely light and will want to sit on the surface; that’s why another piece of lead or putty must be used to anchor it down. Pop ups weigh much less than boilies, so they’ll quickly be sucked into a carp’s mouth when they’re feeding over a baited area. The importance of a popup rig comes when you’re when casting out and without knowing where your bait will land. It gives you confidence that it’s always in prime position, and the hook is not masked by debris on the bottom. A popup rig in a PVA bag of pellet or method mix is a devastating carp fishing method; this highly attractive food package breaks down around the hook and the popup sits directly over it.
To attach the boilie or pop up to the hair, you’ll need a boilie needle. These come in two sizes; standard needles for single or double baits and extra long needles for threading on many boilies at once onto stringers. The boilie needle has a hook or barb at the end, push the needle through the centre of the boilie and attach the loop of the hair to the end. Then, push the boilie up the hair once you’ve removed the boilie needle, and attach a boilie needle stop to prevent the boilie sliding off, as seen above.