How to tie the Horton Rig

The Horton Rig was the brainchild of Gardner Team member Lee Wagner, whilst fishing on the hallowed banks of the R.K Horton Kingsmead Complex. It is essentially a presentation tailored to catch the fish that are showing over an area that is both firm and relatively weed-free - and is his own tweaked/bespoke balanced bottom bait presentation. Lee believes that this rig is the ultimate (mechanically) effective presentation to use in this scenario and came up with it after thinking about getting everything to react as fast as it possibly could, from the instant the hookbait is sucked into the carp’s mouth. To this end, Lee believes that the rig is best fished in conjunction with an in-line lead as the full force of the lead comes into play as soon as the hooklink tightens.

To be more specific, he prefers an in-line drop-off system incorporating a Gardner in-line lead, as they are designed so that more of the weight is at the swivel end (the end closest to the fish) and this again helps transmit the full weight of the lead the second the hooklink tightens. As he so eloquently says, “There’s no wasted movement, unlike a lead clip system where there can be two- to three-inches (half-a-second) of movement before the full weight of the lead comes into play.”

The next critical detail is the whipping of the D. Specifically, where this finishes opposite the barb is not a specific design feature that has come about by accident, as it’s been carefully tweaked by Lee over years of focused big fish angling to give the rig its optimum efficiency - so in that the millisecond after the fish sucks at the bait, the hook’s already turning over before the bait’s even entered the fish’s mouth.

The lightning fast reaction of the aggressive Mugga pattern is further enhanced by adding in the additional kicker – that pushes the rig’s fulcrum point slightly further out (so the hook snares a couple of millimetres deeper) and the hook twists and flips even more aggressively.

As Lee would say, “No detail is too small” – and this cognitive/logical thought process in developing and fine-tuning the Horton Rig, in conjunction with long-term observation, is what sets this particular rig apart from other presentations. A true fish catcher…

1. Take a spool of Ultra Skin Super Soft.

2. Remove the outer coating using a stripper tool.

3. Cut off a length of around 10- to 12-inches.

4. Take one of Gardner’s new Specialist Sharpened Covert Dark Mugga hooks

5. Double over the hooklink and thread it through the hook eye, before passing on a size 20 Covert Hook Swivel.

6. Pass the loop over the hook Multi Rig style.

7. Using the hooklink section, whip a long Knotless Knot (approximately 21 turns).

8. Thread the end of the hooklink through the back of the eye of the hook.

9. Pass a large Covert Hook Aligner down the hooklink.

10. Push it over the eye of the hook & down the shank of the hook.

11. Tie on your chosen wafter.

12. And here’s the finished rig.