20 of the best pieces of end tackle advice ever

1. Dave Ellyatt

“Before loading new line onto your reels always soak it first in water overnight. Nylon is hydroscopic (absorbs water) which makes it go soft a bit like braid and therefore easier to load onto the reel spool giving better line lay. Leave the bulk spool in a bucket of water when loading the reel.”

2. Simon Crow

“There are loads of good anglers about, all using different rigs. That tells you there is no such thing as a ‘mega rig’ so find something you are confident using and stick with it.”

3. John Elmer

“When using a helicopter rig in weed, tie on your lead with 3lb nylon. When the fish picks up the rig and shakes its head, the weak link breaks enabling you to play the fish in the upper layers, thus making sure the lead doesn’t snag up in the weed.”

4. Ian Bailey

“Use the lightest lead you can get away with; a square pear lead in 1.5oz is my personal favourite. They make less noise as they enter the water, especially handy when casting to showing fish.”

5. Jon 'Shoes' Jones

“Use a low-profile lead. Leads will sit down into silt, clay, sand and weed, so something that doesn’t sit too high will be virtually flush when it’s out there on the lakebed.”

6. Shaun Harrison

“Never follow through using the same material for your Hair when tying a simple Knotless Knot. By trapping a much softer material in place (I use rod whipping thread) the hook drops and grabs far quicker and more efficiently.”

7. Lewis Read

“Check your presentation in the edge prior to casting out. It’s well worth including a PVA bag or Stick when doing this as they can dramatically affect your presentation by twisting and buckling hooklinks whilst they are dissolving.”

8. Iain Macmillan

“Try having the tiny piece of silicone tubing pulled right round towards the point when using a blow-back rig. What this does is make the hook point heavy and will increase your hooked to landed fish ratio.”

9. Gaz Fareham

“I am a huge fan of balanced bottom baits, so I either make my own custom boilie hookers or use a cork drill and plug to add some buoyancy to standard ‘out-of-the-bag’ hookbaits like tigers and brazils. You will be amazed at how the quality of your hook holds improves.”

10. Mark Bartlett

“Smear a bit of lakebed into new rigs to take away that rig board smell. Carp are sensitive to foreign smells, so having a rig that smells of lakebed rather than plastic packaging is definitely an edge.”

11. Mat Woods

“Use the hook to balance your hookbait. It may look weird sometimes, but using a large hook to sink a pop-up catches me loads of fish and I think results in actually landing more hooked carp.”

12. Ian Chillcott

“Hookbait and hook separation is paramount to rig effectiveness. That is why I use long, flexible Hairs for practically all my fishing. The longer the hook is in a position to take hold, the more likely we are to hook the carp.”

13. Jon Finch

“Check every knot before you lob ‘em out. I am really fussy with knots because I can’t stand the thought of losing a fish because a knot goes.”

14. Tom Dove

“Use a piece of dissolving foam over your hook to ensure you’re tangle-free and presentation is on point. Only lick and stick the top edge so the foam is sure to come off within seconds of hitting bottom.”

15. Kevin Nash

My fishing of late has made me realise we are in big trouble. Really, I think we are back to where I was in the early 90’s when I realised carp were continually doing us and getting away with it. That’s when I invented the blowback rig, but I cannot see a way at the moment to improve my end tackle. Where I am making a difference is indication. The Sirens are catching me carp I would never have caught before. It is scary stuff, I can tell you, as I increasingly understand how much they have been doing us. So this is my tip: don’t only get your end tackle spot-on, but open your eyes to the fact that this is only one part of the jigsaw to achieve regular success.”

16. Lee Jackson

“Rather than tying on hookbaits or presenting them conventionally using a baiting needle, I often present them using a Slip Knot on the end of the Hair. All that is needed is a simple Two-Turn Grinner Knot and it’s then a case of placing the bait in the loop and tightening it around it or vice versa for removing it.”

17. Julian Cundiff

“Don’t take anything you have read, been told or shown on a pretty packet diagram as gospel but try it for yourself. Be it tubing that actually does float, weights that don’t sink the hooklength, stiff link material that goes white rather than clear in cold water – you’d be amazed at what tank tests tell you.”

18. Jason Hayward

“Keep the last few inches of your hooklink, at the hook end, as stiff as possible. This can be quite tricky to achieve when using bottom baits, but is a doddle with pop-ups. Carp find stiffer hooklinks far harder to eject than supple ones.”

19. Matt Eaton

“Don’t get tied up in knots. I stick to a handful of efficient, proven rigs that I am confident in. I’ll change materials (e.g. from Jel-E-Wyre to Stiffun) or the rig’s length to alter things when necessary. The road to confusion is littered with rigs.”

20. Rob Hughes

“Add a PVA bag or dissolving foam nuggets onto the hook. They’re ace for presentation and if you are worried about them falling off on the cast, jacket them in PVA stocking. Bingo! Tangles solved, presentation is improved."