How To: Carp Fishing - Basic Hair Rig

There are many variations on the carp hair rig.  The following tutorial will show you how to tie your basic hair rig.  This is the very "bare bones" hair rig without any fancy twists to it.

To make your basic hair rig, you will need a hook link material, hook, and swivel.  In this case I have 50lb Powerpro, a Daiichi 2571 Boss Steelhead Hook size 6 and a size 12 swivel. 

Double over one end of the line.

Tie an overhand knot leaving a small loop at the end.

Leave a small loop at the end.  This is a little big actually for my taste.

Go to the other side of the line and thread it through the hook eye from the back to the front.

Slide the hook all the way down and hold it so the bend of the hook is towards the hair/loop you just made.

Starting away from the break in the hook eye, wrap around the shank of the hook 5+ times

Push the line back through the back of the hook eye and out the front

This is how the finished product should look on the hook side.  Notice the line coming through the hook eye comes in through the back and out through the front of the eye.  This is the most important part!

Double over the other side of the line and pass through one eye of the swivel to start the palomar knot.

Tie an over hand knot with the line that you just stuck through the loop.

Take the loop coming out of the overhand knot you just tied and pass it completely over the entire swivel

Pull both the tag end and the hook link end tight to cinch the knot tight.

Here is a picture of the finished rig before you put bait on.

Now that you've got the rig, you will need a bait needle, bait stoppers, and bait. Bait stoppers can be found at many of the carp fishing stores in my links section.  The bait in this case is two pieces of Enterprise fake maize for illustrative purposes.

Pierce through your selected bait with your bait needle.

  Use the hook in the end of the bait needle to hook the loop of the hair and push your bait down towards the hook.  Then unhook the hair from the bait needle.

Next you insert the bait stopper.  In this case they come in a section with several on a string.  Insert one section and then cut to fit. 

Slide the bait down to the bait stop to lock everything in place.

Here is the finished rig with the bait attached.  Normally I would look to have a little less room between the hook and the bait by adding a third piece of fake maize.  But you get the idea.

Wild Carp Club of Houston Event #1: Sugarland

The 2nd season of the Wild Carp Club of Houston kicked off in style on January 20, 2013 with an event in Sugarland, TX at the Fluor Daniel Swim.  This is a swim known to produce quality smallmouth buffalo, and despite having caught commons in other lakes chained to this one, we have never caught any common carp from this swim. 

New kit on a foggy swim

For this event we had seven anglers, myself, Brian, Justin, Loren, Alan (a new to carp angler!), Nick, and Alan.  Everybody was pretty hyped up for the first event and the competition, with the winner getting a Korda Krusha donated by one of our club members.  We all arrived at 6:30 per club rules and were donated by a dense fog.  Justin and Loren decided to go fish another part of the lake away from us and try their luck in their own swim.  I was able to try out my new to me Daiwa Emcast Evo 5000s also on this trip which was pretty exciting.  They performed well considering the circumstances. 

Loren with the first fish of the WCC Houston Season

Well like I said before, Justin and Loren decided to move to a new swim on the other side of the lake from where we were fishing.  This was Loren's second event since coming back to fishing and he struck first with a 7lb 4 oz smallmouth buffalo.  This was the first fish of the WCC Houston 2013 Season!  After Loren texted us that picture with the lead, things went pretty slow.  I was busy showing new to carp Alan the ropes and getting my swim and his swim set up - spodding like crazy.  Nick donated a couple of bank sticks and a set of alarms to Alan to use for the day, which helped.  I hooked him up with a baiting needle, bait stops, and some hair rigs to keep him engaged.  After this session Alan kept fishing for carp and ended up with some nice fish! 

Brian with his event winning smallmouth buffalo!

After Loren caught his smallmouth buffalo, Brian decided to strike next with a 12lb 8 oz smallmouth buffalo to take the lead.  I tacked on one additional 6 lb 13 oz smallmouth buffalo but it turned out to be a slow day and we just couldn't catch Brian.  Those three fish ended up being the only three we managed that day between all seven of us anglers.  They just were not feeling it.  However, everybody had a good time and it was great camaraderie.  The final results were Brian - First, Loren - Second, msyelf - Third, and then everybody else in fourth.  The season is still wide open. 

Product Review - Daiichi 2571 Boss Steelhead Hook

Those of you who know me know  that I am in search of the perfect hook for carp fishing.  What does that mean to me?  I'm looking for a versatile hook that does not cost $0.60 to $1.00 per hook like normal carp hooks do - but that can do the job and catch 50+lb fish if I go to those waters.  That's what I was looking for out of the Daiichi 2571 Boss Steelhead hook.  Here's what I found out:

The Good:

Daiichi 2571 Boss Steelhead Hook

• These hooks are pretty light weight for their size.  By the way, they run about two sizes smaller than a normal carp hook.  So a size 8 is more like a size 10 and a size 6 is more like a size 8.  
• These hooks do have a large enough eye that tying a hair rig is possible - always a plus for carp fishing. 
• These hooks aresuper sharp!  Tied the right way, they hook up fast and often.  Similar to other fly fishing hooks I have used.  They stay sharp too through several fish.  
• These hooks have a nice design to them.  Down turned eye and a longer shank help the hook turn quickly, especially when used with shrink tubing.  
• These hooks are priced right at about $0.25 each.

The Bad:

• These are not the most durable hooks I have ever used - so I won't buy them again.  On both snags and fish they seem to straighten out easier than other hooks I've compared them too - like the Gamakatsu G-Carp Hooks or the Korda Wide Gapes I've used.  However, I've never broken one of these before.  
• The point on these hooks is susceptible to bending/dulling easily if encountering a snag on timber or on a rock rendering the hook useless.  It seems like the point is less durable than other hooks I've used. 

6 lb Smallmouth Buffalo caught on a Daiichi 2571 Boss Steelhead hook

Recommended Use:

• These hooks are great if you are catching smaller fish and where it is relatively clean.  I still use them as I bought all four sizes and need to use them up.  They do have some very good benefits (sharp, cheap, nice shape), but I wouldn't trust the fish of a life time on them - a mistake I may have already made once.    

The Wild Carp Club of Houston 2012 Season

I apologize that it's been awhile since I've been able to contribute to this blog, but I'm going to do my best to keep up with it.  The inaugural season of the Wild Carp Club of Houston was a rising success.  Not only did it help the normal bunch of us friends get together and fish, it added a bit of competition as well - which made it exciting.  Everybody did their very best to attend each event - and we were able to introduce new anglers to the sport of carp fishing.  Below are some of the highlights of the season: 

Justin's Smallmouth Buffalo - 24 lbs

• Justin Mary came back during the last event of the season at Tom Bass Park with a 24.375 lb Smallmouth Buffalo to capture the largest Smallmouth Buffalo of the season and put him atop the Big 4 fish of the season with 72lbs.  He won a Gilbert Huxley carp rod and a Trakker NXG Bait Bucket.  He also won the event and 2.2lbs of boilies.  This fish also helped him storm up from behind into 3rd place for a voucher to an upcoming Wild Carp Companies tournament! 

Nick James with the only mirror carp of the season

• Nick James won three of our 6 events (even though he only attended 5) and took first place.  He also caught the only mirror carp and the largest common.  He won 2.2lbs of boilies on three occasions, a voucher to an upcoming Wild Carp Companies tournament, and a membership to Carp Anglers Group! 

New to carp angler Minh with a nice grass carp

• We introduced 6 new anglers to carp fishing in our 6 events.  Many of them have decided to make carp fishing a part of their lives, whether they are going to do so at the WCC events or on their own.  This is the best highlight for me!  

I want to thank all of the companies that sponsored us this past season:  Big Carp Tackle, Wild Carp Companies, and Jason Black (for his boilies).  If you'd like to sponsor our 2013 season, we are actively looking for sponsors for our events as well as season long prizes (like largest common carp, largest smallmouth buffalo, first mirror carp, first koi, etc).  Please contact me by leaving a message in the comments.  Thanks in advance!