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