Bolt Rig Basics - Zig Rig: Get it off the bottom

by Steve Sodbury

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North American Carp Angler

OK, we know carp are bottom feeders, and consequently carp anglers spend an inordinate amount of their time fishing baits that sit on or very close to the bottom. And there's no doubt this works. However nobody seems to have told the carp this. Consequently the little darlings spend large amounts of time swimming well above the lake bed right up to the top layers of water, particularly if this is where the warm water and food is.

Lets say that you're sitting by a lake and every carp you can see is in the top few feet of water - how do you catch them. Well obviously you can use a standard float fishing setup. However to do that requires light tackle, and the strong chance that even if you do hook up on a 30lb lump, you're going to struggle to land it to say the least.

Hence the zig rig ( see below ), which is realy simplicity that can go badly wrong

Instead of a bottom bait ( lets use boilies for example ) you use a bouyant boilie as a hookbait. Since you're fishing in 6ft of water, you use a 5ft leader. Easy eh? Now I know what you're thinking - tangle city Its going to happen sometimes and thats life but there are ways around it.

There are a couple of problems.

Obviously its all well and good for fishing in shallow water, but things get sticky if you're fishing in say 14ft of water. Thats one hell of a long leader, but casting it can be done.
1. Use PVA string. Carefully roll the leader up into a loop to shorten it, and tie the loop up with PVA string (which dissolves in the water.)
2. Use a mat, lay out the leader carefully on it and cast. Some people will roll the leader up in a bowl.
3. Always 'feather' the cast. Before the rig hits the water put your finger on the rim of the spool to slow down the line coming off. Stop the line feed just before the rig hits the water, which will help seperate the leader from the weight ( this is a technique you should get used to using, since it helps reduce tangles regardless of which set up you use )
4. Use a boom arm made with heat shrink tubing ( see below ) on the first few inches of the leader coming off of the swivel. This helps keep the leader clear of the weight set-up.

It may seem a bit tricky, but this set up has caught me loads of fish ( it even works at night ). You don't have to set it for just below the surface either. Ive used 3 rod set ups where the leaders have covered 3 different layers ( say 6ft on one rod, 8ft on another and 10ft / surface on the third. ) I also use an adjustable version sometimes ( see here ) which is a bit more tricky.