Why is the helicopter set-up so good?

The big question

When I’ve fished with you in the past, you predominantly favoured a helicopter type set-up, is this still the case and if so, why?

“Oh yes, the Estate Lake and the Blue Lake, lovely times mate. Basically the Hinge Rig is more suited to a helicopter presentation. If you were using a Hinged Rig with an in-line lead and it landed in an inch or so of silt or debris, the stiff nature of the boom section means that the whole hooklink is likely to be poking up in the air… or water rather… especially if your pop-ups are well balanced and slow sinking. You’d basically be fishing a pop-up off the lead. The Helicopter set-up is pretty much tangle-free too, and fishing the backstop as much as a foot away from the lead ensures that the hooklink can’t be pulled into any debris or silt, instead laying flat on top of it.

“I rarely use lead clips either, only on the Thames. In fact, if you looked at the rig I’m using today I think most people would be surprised. It’s like an old school bolt-rig set-up: no leader, clips or big dangly swivels, and being so much simpler it blends in on the bottom better than anything else.

“One of the main reasons I started using leadcore back when I was fishing the Yateley Copse Lake was because it added strength to that all-important point by the lead. I know that Lee will remember how it was common for the last inch or so of line by the lead to become damaged when playing a fish on a rotary rig, and how we regularly had to re-tie the lead after catching a fish. Well, once I started using leadcore I could forget all about that problem, as leadcore is so much more resilient to damage than monofilament. It’s just a shame that some of the anglers using Naked Chod Rigs today aren’t giving it as much thought, and I keep hearing about people getting cut off by the lead.

“I tell you what mate, if we went back 20 years and someone showed us some of the rigs of today, with lead clips and huge leads hanging down with chunky swivels attached, I’m sure we would have laughed. Lets be honest, some of these lead arrangements would look more at home by the seaside. I remember back in the mid-eighties on Bushy Park I used to use tiny little one-ounce Arlesey Bombs, 7lb Sylcast hooklinks and size 8 Super Specialist hooks… what happened?"