How good is the hair rig

[lightdragoon]

I have caug plenty of carp on the float rod and never used a hair rig. Why do so many dedicated carp angler swear by the hair rig? Does it lead to more hookups?

 

[law]

Yes. When the fish tries to eject the bait, it cant get rid of the hook.

 

[Lord Paul of Sheffield]

If yuo are casting out a fair distance then the bait stay on the hair better than on a hook

 

[john step]

YES and YES again

 

[tikka]

I fully agree :thumbs:

 

[cg74]

I have caug plenty of carp on the float rod and never used a hair rig. Why do so many dedicated carp angler swear by the hair rig? Does it lead to more hookups?

I don't believe that hair-rigging does improve hookup rate but it saves on the necessity of staying awake and alert for endless hours. So it allows the angler to fish way beyond their threshold of lacking sleep.

 

[aebitim]

As always how big are the fish your fishing for and how pressured are they? No point in using hairs on a commercial unless it has bands attached so you can replace the bait quickly.

 

[cg74]

If you watch this and imagine that the bait was being held 2" off the bottom by a float, IMO you could have hit most of the dropped pickups:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=31M1ZlBxpKY

Some will say that it was the wrong rig etc etc but the fact remains, especially if you're fishing a fixed or semi fixed rig, you really don't know what's going on beneath the surface, unless you are stalking in clear water.

---------- Post added at 16:31 ---------- Previous post was at 16:29 ----------

As always how big are the fish your fishing for and how pressured are they? No point in using hairs on a commercial unless it has bands attached so you can replace the bait quickly.

How does the size of fish effect the success rate of fishing a hair rig?

 

[nicepix]

I have caug plenty of carp on the float rod and never used a hair rig. Why do so many dedicated carp angler swear by the hair rig? Does it lead to more hookups?

There are some baits that you can't really fish on the hook. Boilies, large halibut pellets to name two examples.

 

[symonh2000]

Hair rigs allow the fish to pick the bait up without feeling the hook or line.

The hair is usually soft braid or dacron which is more supple than nylon so the fish doesn't detect it as easily.

They don't necessarily help hookups unless you have tied them in a certain way so that the hook turns towards the fish as they try to eject it.

 

[laguna]

I read somewhere that anglers thought carp were much harder to catch before the advent of the hair rig - the modern day version is usually credited to Lenny Middleton, Kevin Maddocks and Arthur Clarke collectively.

The hair was introduced to the carp world in the 70's and mentioned in "carp fever" by Maddocks (some say he stole the credit for it) ether way Ive caught carp both with and without a hair, my first carp without was 18lb in 1982 on the Leeds and Liverpool on a size 18 hook while fishing for roach.

The advantages of a hair;
enables you to present baits which act more naturally in the water
they also allow you to fish bigger baits in comparison to the hook size
Hairs allow various presentations and rig designs and often prick the carp on a blow-back due to the way carp feed by sucking in the bait
etc.....

Much to many anglers surprise (certainly mine when I first started using them), other species can be caught on a hair rig too

 

[Philip]

Basically If your fishing long sessions & self hooking rigs then using a hair rig is a huge advantage over sticking the bait directly on the hook as you risk masking the point.

However if you are fishing short sessions and striking bites then looking at a float and striking is going to be way more effective to converting bites to hooked fish.

Worth keeping in mind the hair was orginally intended to fool wary Carp into thinking the bait was not attached to the hook. However this has for the most part been forgotten and most modern anglers just use it as a convenient way to mount the bait for self hooking rigs.

 

[pointngo]

the basic hair was designed to overcome presentation problems but nowadays it is an integral part of rig mechanics that you can manipulate to do what you want it to ie, hook fish.

the pivot point, where the hair meets the hook, determines how the hook behaves both sitting on the bottom (presentation) and when picked up... getting the hook point to become heavy and drop downwards to catch in the bottom lip is one example.

hair length can be critical as well.. a few mm out either way and you can end up losing fish to hookpulls or missing takes.

 

[stevejay]

I don't believe that hair-rigging does improve hookup rate but it saves on the necessity of staying awake and alert for endless hours. So it allows the angler to fish way beyond their threshold of lacking sleep.

Disagree with that view, the hair rig does not, in isolation, promote self hooking and therefore allow carpers to sleep behind their rods. That's down to the lead set up. You can still fish long sessions using bait mounted on the hook.....who remembers the old days of side hooking and potatoes.

Match men now use the hair regularly just due to presentation and the bite to hook up ratio. Also helps when using baits that would be hard to mount...e.g hard pellets.

It's just a very effective method for this and the other reasons stated by other posters.

 

[barbelboi]

I read somewhere that anglers thought carp were much harder to catch before the advent of the hair rig - the modern day version is usually credited to Lenny Middleton, Kevin Maddocks and Arthur Clarke collectively.

The hair was introduced to the carp world in the 70's and mentioned in "carp fever" by Maddocks (some say he stole the credit for it) ether way Ive caught carp both with and without a hair, my first carp without was 18lb in 1982 on the Leeds and Liverpool on a size 18 hook while fishing for roach.

The advantages of a hair;
enables you to present baits which act more naturally in the water
they also allow you to fish bigger baits in comparison to the hook size
Hairs allow various presentations and rig designs and often prick the carp on a blow-back due to the way carp feed by sucking in the bait
etc.....

Much to many anglers surprise (certainly mine when I first started using them), other species can be caught on a hair rig too

And smaller................

---------- Post added at 19:14 ---------- Previous post was at 19:04 ----------

]I don't believe that hair-rigging does improve hookup [/B]rate but it saves on the necessity of staying awake and alert for endless hours. So it allows the angler to fish way beyond their threshold of lacking sleep.

I disagree with that as well Colin, for some years in the 90's to early 00's when my son was constant fishing companion (before the realities of family life/work took hold) we carried out many tests using similar methods but different end tackle to compare results. For pellet waggler style fishing the banded hair beat the band on the hook hands down every time - I could go on and on in respect of quite a few other presentations..................

 

[Tee-Cee]

I'm confused...

Reading the OP Thread he says 'caught plenty of carp on the float rod, but never used a hair rig'................

So, and this is to 'lightdragoon'; Are you saying you want to use a hair rig with float tackle or are you asking about using a hair rig when ledgering ??

If it's float tackle you're considering; I have used them when fishing over depth with a very, very short hair ( in that the bait sits tight against the hook ) more as an experiment ( when continually missing bites with fine(ish) tackle ) and it can work, to a degree. The whole point was to keep the hook point free of bait and this it did, producing tench and crucians, via some some excellent bites AT THE TIME .....
I'm NOT saying this is the way to go for all species, but it does work !

If it's ledgering in one of it's many forms; I know for a fact that my catch rate improved considerably with the hair rig and IMO I believe it does offer something in the 'confidence' stakes as well. Without doubt the type of hook used needs thought as does the length of hair etc
Fishing with almost any bait, from beans to boilies, to meat et al, the fact remains the hook point is free from obstruction and able to do it's job BUT not for all species. For your intended species you could do worse than to really do lots of homework on it's use and give it a go...Try simple set-ups for a start is what I suggest !!

Good luck!

 

[pointngo]

I don't believe that hair-rigging does improve hookup rate but it saves on the necessity of staying awake and alert for endless hours. So it allows the angler to fish way beyond their threshold of lacking sleep.

Afraid I've got to disagree with that as well Colin. When the bait and hook are sucked in, and the carp does it's normal sifting action as it sorts the foodstuffs out, a hook separate to the bait offers better chance of the hook point finding a hold. The bait has the largest surface area so that is what will get blown out easiest.. a trailing, separated hook definitely gives you better hook-ups over a side hooked bait (with a reduced gape) at that moment, and can help stop them spitting the hook without you knowing, which is much easier for them to do with a hook buried firmly in a bait.

 

[thecrow]

There are baits that would be impossible to fish without using a hair, one that comes to mind is a large pellet, another that I have used in the past is a boilie that has been air dried completely and are to hard to side hook.

 

[laguna]

Afraid I've got to disagree with that as well Colin. When the bait and hook are sucked in, and the carp does it's normal sifting action as it sorts the foodstuffs out, a hook separate to the bait offers better chance of the hook point finding a hold. The bait has the largest surface area so that is what will get blown out easiest.. a trailing, separated hook definitely gives you better hook-ups over a side hooked bait (with a reduced gape) at that moment, and can help stop them spitting the hook without you knowing, which is much easier for them to do with a hook buried firmly in a bait.

As far as carp are concerned, that's probably one of the best explanations I've heard and fits in nicely with what I think too.

Regards other species that simply mouth bite the bait; a short(er) hair provides the angler with the benefit of presenting different types and sizes of bait alongside the hook rather than directly on it, its certainly revolutionised the way we fish - one of the best inventions if not THE best in my opinion.

 

[law]

Hair rigging undoubtibly in creases hook holds. Its one of the best revolutions in fishing!
If it didnt, and was solely so you dont have to stay awake all night, as put previously, why do matchmen hair rig so many baits now?
Not only does it set the hook when the fish tries to eject the bait, but wary fish can be targeted with long hairs, as they can suck the bait in slowly without feeling a hook, then suck the lot in and its too late. This is impossible with anything sidehooked as the fish feel the hook and spit it out, turning the point away at the same time.