Hair Rigs and Hook Lengths

I had the day off today, but it was too cold, windy, rainy and cloudy to go carp fishing. Guess what I did? Yep...I tied rigs to prepare for two sessions this weekend when the weather is forecast to be much nicer. For those reading this who might wonder about hook length, hair length, etc. I posted a picture of my rigs.

Hair rigs for this weekend

When I started fishing for carp last year I went on YouTube and learned how to tie the basic rig. Then I started experimenting. I started with 7 - 8" hook lengths last year. I had limited success.

This spring I took the opposite approach and shortened up the hook length to 3 1/2 - 4". It worked great this spring, but when the bite slowed down this summer I think the shorter hook length hurt my average catch rate.

Yesterday I purposely changed to a little longer hook length and I believe it helped me catch more fish. So when I go out this weekend in search of my new personal best common carp or first ever buffalo, I'll be using these 5 - 5 1/2" hook lengths.

The hooks in the picture are all size 6 from Resistance Tackle, except one size 6 OSC hook. The line I'm using is 50 pound test Power Pro.

Longer Hooklinks and Shorter Hair Rigs

Last weekend's carp fishing exploits didn't yield many fish. I hooked 7 fish at one point and lost them all to hook pulls. It's time to change it up a little because, although my current techniques using a 3 1/2" hook link and 1" inch hair rig length, yielded me 40 - 50 carp year-to-date 2014. The hook pulls are concerning. I received a tip from a fellow angler with more experience that in warmer weather sometimes a longer hook length and shorter hair rig length work a little better.

I am heading out for a early session tomorrow and tied up some rigs tonight to prepare. I tied up some rigs with size 6 hooks, 5 1/2" hook lengths and 1/2" - 5/8" hair rigs.

Those tips sound reasonable to me. Check back tomorrow evening to see how they worked. Hopefully I'll have plenty of pictures as evidence.

If you want to read more about hook lengths and hair rigs; and how they apply to carp fishing, the article from Big Carp News is a good source of information.