| * Sometimes your conventional rigs and baits lose | | | | hook with lots of bait will help counteract the bait |
| their 'edge,' and your catches start to slow down. | | | | robbing activities of smaller fish too while you wait |
| So what can you do instead to keep those big | | | | for the bigger ones to pick up your hook bait! The |
| fish getting hooked? Here are a few well proven | | | | advantage of a long shanked hook as opposed to |
| alternative ideas for you to really benefit from. | | | | a short shank hook is that it has in effect a very |
| Firstly, you could combine pepperoni sausage or | | | | wide 'gape' with a much longer distance up to the |
| luncheon meat, with a boilie on one or two 'hairs' | | | | eye of the hook. To improve the correct hooking |
| on your hook. Even making up a simple paste | | | | and 'pick-up' to landed fish ratio, the hook shank |
| dough, with perhaps blue cheese and yeast | | | | will have a slight curve to it so that the hook |
| extract with semolina and eggs, with amino acids | | | | 'turns' and digs in to your finger every time you |
| body building supplements added, could well be a | | | | pull your hook over it to test it. I believe this is |
| winner. Use this bait as a long sausage on a long | | | | also part of the success of the 'baitmaster' hooks, |
| hair. Add a few small beads on the 'hair' and a | | | | being very curved, and acts very similar to |
| couple fixed slightly above the hook to hold the | | | | 'line-aligner' type rigs in conventional modern carp |
| paste on. With this bait the hook will be taken into | | | | fishing. Again, using a 'long shank hook' you can |
| the mouth complete with bait, and the soft | | | | side hook with maize or sweetcorn and as above, |
| nature of the dough paste makes it more than | | | | add foam to your hook to 'balance' or 'pop' it up, |
| likely you will hook the fish, especially if the hook | | | | and again, use plastic corn on the hook too. This |
| is a large one like a size 4 or even a size 2. One | | | | method goes for soft pellet type baits too and |
| famous alternative along this kind of principle is | | | | also for using with pepperoni, spam or luncheon |
| the 'Greedy pig' type rig: Use multiple baits on one | | | | meat improved by soaking in amino acid |
| long hair. This could be boilies, pellets, or any | | | | compounds or 'palatants' etc. For catfish, bass and |
| combination at all. I have use a version very | | | | trout especially, maybe try side hooking small |
| successfully: I have used a string of 6 or 7 tiny | | | | pieces of fresh fish combined with large cut |
| boiled baits of around 8 millimetres in diameter. | | | | worms. (I confess that I have caught some big |
| These small boiled baits sit on the hair behind the | | | | carp on this too when they seem to be addicted |
| shank of the hook and not off the bend as is | | | | to 'natural food' like bloodworm.) Another version |
| usual. The hair is tied onto the hook link just | | | | is side hooking, using a large long shank size 2 |
| above the hook and ends tied to the back of the | | | | hook, with white bait or small dead or live fish. |
| bend of the hook forming a loop. Again when this | | | | This catches carp (especially at 'fry time,') and |
| is picked up, the hook is actually adjacent to the | | | | predatory fish like catfish, pike, perch, bass etc. |
| baits and is very likely to enter the mouth, turn | | | | This rig is great fun, because it can always turn |
| and hook the fish. The first time I used this | | | | up a big surprise! The author has many more |
| version it hooked one of the biggest fish in the | | | | fishing and bait 'edges' up his sleeve. Every single |
| lake! As an alternative to 'hair-rigging' your baits on | | | | one can have a huge impact on catches. (Warning: |
| easier waters, you can use a multitude of | | | | This article is protected by copyright, but reprints |
| 'side-hooking' method rigs. For example using a | | | | with a link are OK.) By Tim Richardson. 'The |
| larger 'long shank' size 2 hook with maggots fed | | | | thinking angler's fishing author and expert bait |
| onto it and even plastic maggots too, and foam | | | | making guru.' For more expert bait making |
| to 'pop-up' the bend of your hook. When the fish | | | | information and 'cutting-edge' techniques see the |
| picks up the bait, the bend and point being more | | | | expert acclaimed new ebook / book: "BIG CARP |
| buoyant will go into the fishes' mouth first so | | | | BAIT SECRETS! |
| maximizing chances of hooking the fish. A big | | | | |