Nigel Sharp's Solid 'NS' Rig

The NS doesn’t stand for Nigel Sharp (although he did come up with this presentation); it means ‘No Sh*t’. It’s a rig which offers a stiff kicker and a perfect exiting Hair but without the use of silicone, shrink tubing and any other gizmos cluttering up the rig. It’s minimal and effective, and here’s how you tie it…

What you need:

Stiff Ultra Skin (25lb)
Covert Incizor (size 6)
Hooklink Stripper Tool

How to construct Nige’s NS Rig

1. Strip back three-inches of the coating and then tie an Overhand Knot in the end for your Hair stop.

2. Take a Incizor hook and nick the point through the braid at the length you want the Hair to be.

3. Unlike 99% of all other rigs, you need to thread the braid through the back of the eye, not the front, and then secure the hook with a Knotless Knot.

4. You now have two options when it comes to finishing the rig. Using a Stripper Tool, either remove just half-a-centimetre of coating an inch or so from the hook. Or, you can remove all of the coating from this point, so you’re just left with a stiff kicker near the eye and then a very soft, supple hooklink boom.

5. Attach your hookbait - in this case a couple of tigers - and then tie a Figure-Of-Eight Loop Knot at the other end.

6. Pinch on a couple of No.4 or BB shots halfway along the hooklink - this is very important. If you didn’t remove all the coating, then pinch on each shot facing in opposite directions - this ensures the hooklink sits straight and doesn’t kick out at an angle.

7. And there you have it: a stiff kicker with the Hair exiting perfectly and not a simple bit of clutter on the rig.