The Stiff D Rig
The Stiff Rig is primarily used to make it very difficult for the carp to eject the hook after it has taken the bait into its mouth. There are many variations of the Stiff Rig, but the basic principle is the same.
Using a stiff hooklength material has other advantages, for example, it has great anti tangle qualities when casting and when the weight/lead hits the lake bed the stiffness of the hook length material will throw the hook away from the weight/lead as it will not fold up on itself.
How To Tie A Stiff D Rig
To tie a Stiff D Rig you will need a suitable hook length material. There are many types on the market, one of the most popular being Amnesia, this is a very stiff material and ideal for tying the Stiff Rig.
Cut a length of your chosen hook length material 10-20 inches is ideal.
Thread it through the back of the hook and leave approximately 2 inches hanging down the back shank of the hook as if you were tying a normal hair. (diagram 1)
Now to tie the knot less knot, holding the 2 inch hair down the back of the hook wrap the line from the bottom of the eye, down the shank five or six times. (diagram 2)
Then feed the loose end, again, through the BACK of the hook and gently pull everything tight so as your rig now looks similar to diagram 3.
Now thread the "hair" of the line through the back of the hook eye until you have left a "d" shaped loop on the back of the hook. (a small ring can be threaded over the "hair" before this step if required to aid bait mounting).
Now for the careful bit, using a cigarette lighter, burn the tag end of the "D" loop so as it melts and forms a blob on the end of the Amnesia, which will not pull back through the eye of the hook, securing your "D" loop. The "D" loop can be shortened by burning more of the tag end away, BUT be careful not to melt any other parts of the hook length material while doing this.
This just leaves you to tie the loose end of the rig to your chosen swivel, depending on which hook length material you are using will depend on which knot you will use for this purpose but we will cover this in our Carp Fishing Knots section.
Carp Fishing Thoughts
"The landing of any carp should be seen as an achievement, and to capture a particularly wary fish is a truly remarkable event" - John Bailey - an excerpt from his book "Carp Challenge".