4 WAYS TO FINE-TUNE
CARPology’s crisis team rectify your most common problems
Bedding Your Knots Down
A steaming kettle isn’t just helpful in straightening your hooklink material and finished rig. Before you ‘bed’ down your next Figure-Of-Eight Loop knot on your coated hooklink material (we use ESP’s Tungsten Loaded), hold it in front of some steam for a few seconds. You’ll notice how much easier the loops pull together and how much neater the finished knot looks.
Rolling Your Putty
It’s a bold statement, but there’s nothing worse than a lumpy, clumsy piece of tungsten putty, semi-fixed halfway down your rig. Gah, awful! Rig finesse doesn’t cost anything, yet it can make a huge difference to your catch rate. Instead, aim for a smooth, aerodynamic, and streamlined piece. To achieve this, first warm the putty and then mould it around the hooklink using wet fingertips.
Aligning Your Tubing
As Terry Hearn wrote during his ‘An Audience With’ series for CARPology back in 2013, “It’s the one per cents that make up the bigger picture,” and that’s what this page and tip are all about. Whether you’re using a straightforward shrink tube kicker or fishing it line-aligner style, always ensure everything is perfectly aligned with the hook. You want the Hair/‘D’, hook, and kicker all in perfect alignment.
Whipping Knot Over The Knotless Knot
To get the best out of any rig constructed from a thicker material, such as fluorocarbon or Chod hooklinks, you need to learn to tie the Whipping Knot or Domhoff Knot. There is a significant difference between these knots in terms of how the rig will sit and perform. The Whipping Knot requires one less pass of material through the hook eye, making the knot less bulky and helping it sit straight.
