Nigel Sharp on the Hinged Stiff Link
There have been many methods and tactics used over the decades, but here’s Nigel Sharp’s top ten which have seemingly dominated the big carp scene for the past 20 years - first up, the Hinged Stiff Link
Dominance started: 1995
Influential anglers: Terry Hearn and Lewis Read
PB using rig: 44lb
The first time I saw a version of the Hinged Rig was on a video made during the early days of the Horton complex. I can’t remember who featured it on that occasion but I do remember the next time I saw it in the flesh and that was on the Yateley complex during the summer of 1995. The angler that showed it to me was Alan Welsh and his version was made completely from black Amnesia and incorporated an size 2 Super Specialist with an in-turned eye and a straight-through-the-eye Hair. At the time, both Terry and myself were doing better than most on a braided pop-up rig so we didn’t really see the need to change our tactics.
I think it was later in that year that Terry and Lewis Read started to play around with the presentation and if memory serves me well, Lewis came up with the idea of using the Hair as a ‘D’ and Terry’s Domhoff Knot complimented it perfectly. The Hinge stayed the same as Alan’s version and was constructed with loop knots and a Drennan ring.
The first time I knew that Terry was buzzed up about this rig was when he popped around to my house and almost ordered me to fill up the sink so he could show how it worked and how tangle-free it was. Literally days after, he caught Heather on the rig and, as they say, the rest is history.
I didn’t jump straight on it, as I was one for standing back and watching the results, but after about a year or so I could see that I’d miss out if I were to remain stubborn.
Since those days the rig has evolved a little by replacing the Drennan ring with a size 10 swivel allowing 360-degrees rotation. It’s also benefited from Stiff Rigger type hooks with out-turned eyes like the boilie hook of Tel’s original choice. And Bristle Filament hooklinks have also seen the hooking section become curved to help hooking efficiency. Luckily our 12mm corkball pop-ups were bang-on at the time so only small tweaks have been made since its early days and the rig seems to becoming back into its own since the overuse of the now famous Chod Rig.
As for how many fish I’ve caught on it, well, I wouldn’t have a clue but I’m still using it to this very day.