End Tackle According To... Dave Ellyatt

1. The game-changing rig moment which altered everything for me certainly wasn’t that dramatic. It was about twenty years ago, when I first used an inflatable boat on a small weedy club pit to help locate spots. I was fishing on a shallow gravel bar in about 5ft of water and the clarity was beyond gin clear. As I drifted over the spot I could immediately see my terminal set-up as blatant as anything against the pale gravel. My hooklink of choice at the time was green Kryston Snake-Bite which stood out like a sore thumb and I immediately became convinced that it was possibly compromising my chances. It was pretty much the only coated braid available at the time but not long after, Kryston brought out the Mantis hooklink which was a more subtle silkweed green colour and much finer in diameter than the Snake-Bite. As soon as I started using it, my catch-rate went up and culminated in catching the biggest fish in the lake—a proper old Oxford jewel.

 2. The last rig-related item I used and loved was the humble lighter—a loyal companion that is easily overlooked… until you lose it! I’m not sure I could angle effectively without one. For blobbing D’s, shrinking tube on a Ronnie, blobbing floss (which I flatten against the bait with the side of the lighter—I rarely use Hair stops now) and tag ends on hooklink knots, it has multiple uses, plus of course sparking up the burner!

3. On my wishlist for a future end tackle item is a fluorocarbon coated braid—I think this would be a big edge, especially if the coating could be made to behave properly in terms of having the right degree of elasticity to be forgiving on knots, durability for abrasion resistance and varying grades of stiffness to suit different situations. 

4. Who influences me when it comes to rigs? I’ve used the Hinged Stiff Rig a lot over the years so obviously Terry [Hearn], and of course the ubiquitous Ronnie, but I also tend to improvise quite a lot myself, whether that be tweaking things I’ve seen from other anglers or occasionally having a rare Eureka moment.

5. I have an excessive collection of… nothing! I try not to accumulate too much gear and only carry the bare essentials. My tackle box consists of a small ESP tackle case along with a little pouch for a few spare leads. My tools consist of braid scissors, bait needle, nut drill, a couple of splicing needles and a small pair of pliers. 

6. I guess in recent years the biggest rig development has been the Ronnie Rig. Although I’m sure a large degree of its appeal—aside from being incredibly effective—is that it is so easy to construct, much easier than a properly tied Hinge Rig for example, so loads of anglers adopted it and therefore it has caught a lot of carp. Many rig developments are small tweaks on a theme without necessarily being true innovations. Carp anglers can be quite a fertile bunch when it comes to thinking around a problem, or improving on an existing concept, so the re-invented wheel will keep on turning. 

7. One small tweak I made to a rig which had a massive outcome was removing the ring from a size 11 quick-change swivel for Ronnie Rigs. Something that seemed fairly innocuous and was done more for aesthetics than mechanics initially, simply because I wanted one ‘less link in the chain’ when attaching a Ronnie to a quick-change link on the end of the boom. It just looked a lot neater and less ‘jangly’. When I combined this way of constructing the rig with the then new Trig-Hammer hooks, the resulting hook holds were the best I’d ever seen so it became my standard for Ronnies. I think the lack of the ring may help concentrate the hook’s attitude and inhibit inconsistent movement (or something), while the swivel still provides a good degree of rotation.

Quite a while after I made this tweak, I remember Alfie Russell saying to me he was experiencing some less than satisfactory hook holds on the Ronnie so I suggested he cut the ring off the swivel. He did so and enthusiastically reported not long after that the hook holds were massively improved. ESP launched these ‘ringless’ swivels as ‘Quick Change Ronnie Swivels’ at the end of 2020 and I’ve noticed several other tackle suppliers have adopted the same design so the concept seems to have caught on.

8. Hand sharpening hooks is… very subjective! This question comes up ad nauseam and I’ve written before that I got into the whole sharpening buzz years ago and whereas I could confidently hone a point to make it significantly sharper, no matter what medium I used to prevent the bare metal becoming corroded, I never found anything effective enough and the hook points nearly always came back in feeling corroded and not as sharp as one straight out of the packet. I’m confident the Trig-Hammers initiated a new generation of ESP hooks which were supremely sharp straight out of the packet. Plus, when previously ardent hook honers endorse their sharpness and put away their files, you know you’re onto something.

9. My preferred hooklink length is very much dependent on the situation, the type of bottom I am fishing over and also the presentation. With a bottom-bait over clean ground I like to keep the hooklink quite short, around 4.5- to 5-inches and I’ll probably combine it with a heavier lead. If I’m fishing over silt or light weed I like to extend the hooklink to around 9- to 10-inches along with a lighter lead that will still plug in and provide enough resistance. 

10. When it comes to hooklink materials, I favour Tungsten Loaded coated braid. It’s certainly my go-to for most presentations and it behaves impeccably for a coated braid.

11. When it comes to mounting my hookbaits, for bottom-baits I tend to fish on a D-rig so use floss to a hook ring swivel. For pop-ups I used to always tie them on, then a few years ago I discovered the simplicity of using a metal bait screw and I’ve never tied a bait on since. The screws are so quick and easy, and a hookbait can even be put on without the aid of a torch when you’re avoiding causing any sort of ‘light pollution’. 

12. When it comes to hookbait choice, I opt for the ones that occasionally catch a carp! For bottom-bait rigs I tend to use a hardened boilie or a single balanced tiger. For pop-up rigs, if I’m matching the freebies, it’s usually a corkball pop-up or if I’m using a bright one it’s a hardened airball.

13. While carp tackle has become largely very generic, it will also continue to become more refined and perfected by the better tackle companies.