Elliott Gray on the Withy Pool Rig
A rig that strangely I don’t use particularly often, only in the winter, however, I have had several of my biggest winter carp on it to date.
I will use this with 10mm pop-ups, either over maggots or as a single hookbait. The reason I use it in winter is that it’s such an aggressive hooker. By anchoring the small but super buoyant pop-up with a shot and some putty you create a rig that spins. The shot holds it in place and allows the hook section to twist quickly as the carp’s lips touch the tubing. This will benefit you in winter when the fish are feeding slowly and without aggression. It doesn’t matter which direction the carp approach the rig from, it will turn under the smallest amount of pressure.
The Withy Pool Rig will twist aggressively, hooking carp no matter what direction they choose to approach the bait from. This is because of the contrast between a very buoyant bait and a heavy weight beneath it
The pop-up must be very buoyant for this rig to work effectively but it must also be anchored to the bottom. For this reason, I like to tie the rig using the Semi-Stiff N-Trap. The hook section sinks quickly and using a firmer hook link helps to push
the rig away from the lead.
Semi-Stiff N-Trap makes for an ideal boom section with this rig. This helps to kick away the bait, which has quite a heavy anchor point beneath it