End tackle according to Jason Hayward

What's your view on rigs right now: are we hitting the mark or are we a long way off?
I reckon we are pretty close to the mark, with regards to rigs now. There is a rig for every situation, whereas in the early days we had just one rig. Carp, thank God, are always adapting and learning to suss out what we are doing and I hope it always stays that way, for their sake.

What's a bigger factor: the rig mechanics not working effectively or the fish not actually taking in the rig correctly because it's on guard because it can see/feel the end tackle?
Six-of-one, half-a-dozen of the other really. If the mechanics are not working properly, you have either set the rig up wrong or you're fishing the wrong rig for the situation. I suppose the rig not working effectively is the lesser of the two evils, as at least the bait will be in the carp's mouth and you have a chance. If the fish is on edge as a result of seeing/feeling your end tackle, it may not pick up your bait, in which case you will never catch it!

Do you think a fish does regulate its suction depending on what it's picking up – i.e. it guesses from the size of the object or does it have the same suction all the time? With this in mind, does your rig change depending on what you're fishing over and what the baiting pattern is?
This is an easy one: of course they regulate their suck, it takes a lot more 'suck' to lift a 24mm boilie than it does a grain of hemp or a bloodworm. My rigs change constantly. My rigs suit the bait and the situation I am fishing in, first and foremost."

Everyone's obsessed right now with lightening the hookbait. What's your thoughts on going the other way and making it heavier? Do you see any advantage to doing this?
I wouldn't make it heavier than my free offerings. Simple as that. Its' that 'suck regulation' thing again. I could see some benefit of making the hookbait heavier if it was just a single hookbait, but even then it's not something I have ever done, not when fishing on the bottom anyway. Making a floater heavier so it only just holds surface is a great trick, but if you think about it, it's achieving the same thing as a critically balanced pop-up... It gets sucked in easier.

What are your views on Hair length? Should we revert back to the old school way of super long, super supple Hairs?
Only if the situation dictates it! You mostly find that the less experienced an angler, the shorter a Hair he will use. It's not a criticism, but if you haven't observed carp feeding heavily over bait you might struggle with the long Hair concept. Your rig must be balanced though when using long Hairs. Anyway, as everything else has to follow into the mouth before the fish moves off.

Given the choice, what do you prefer to use a pop-up rig or a bottom bait rig? What hooks better in your opinion?
To be honest, I really don't care. I have very efficient pop-up and bottom bait rigs.  Bottom bait rigs can be just as effective if thought about, but at a push, I suppose it's a pop-up rig. We can do all sorts of clever things with the help of gravity and buoyancy... but that's for another time... perhaps.

How can you see the development of end tackle products progressing?
I can't really say too much without giving stuff away that I don't want too. I'm sure hooks will get sharper (not as sharp as mine though!), lines less visible, etc., etc. I have a really big edge that I stumbled on sort of by accident really. No one I have showed my set up too has sussed it (okay that's not many) and there is NOTHING on the market like it, which at the moment is how it's going to stay.