Trent Barbel Rigs

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Ron 'The Hat' Clay

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I know this section is devoted mainly to carp rigs, but I have had quite a bit of experience playing around with rigs to catch Trent barbel.

Maybe we can get Big Rik, Stuart, Frothey etc to comment on some of the rigs we use for barbel.

My standard Trent rig is as follows.

10lb fluorocarbon knotless knotted to 12, 10 or 8 hooks with a hair. I like the bait, eg pellet, boilie, lump of meat etc to be as close to the hook as possible.

The hook length is 3 to 4 feet long. At the top is a swivel.

To attach the rig, slide up the line a link swivel and a rubber bead. Then the line (at the moment 12lb Krystonite) is tied to the swivel. I use palomar knots here.

To the link can now be attached a whole assortment of leads depending on the current as well as a feeder if required.

This rig has caught me many barbel including quite a few doubles. The idea of the very long hooklength is to prevent the barbel being spooked by the angle of the main line in the water.

I used to use braid for my rigs but I found that the fluoro gives more positive bites.
 
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Steve Hall

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I read somewhere in coarse fisherman that the knotless knott is a bit dodgy with fluorocarbon instead tying a hair to hook then tying your hook on seperately, This i believe if i remember right was advice from the korda lads, As anyone had problems with fluorocarbon knotless knotts or do you feel that it is quite acceptable??
 
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Ron 'The Hat' Clay

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I have tested the knotless knot to destruction with fluoro. No problems whatsoever.

One thing I will point out however is to make sure your line comes out of the eye of the hook opposite to the closure of tne eye of the hook.

Otherwise you create a weak spot.
 
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Steve Hall

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Thanks Ron, I was more than happy using fluoro knotless knotts until i read that article, I will now go back to the fluoro on occasions in clear water because i felt at a disadvantage using braid under same conditions.
Cheers.
 
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Ron 'The Hat' Clay

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One of the big advantages of fluoro - I use Stren, which IS the best - is that it is heavy. SG is 1.83. It sits right on the bottom without the need for other weights on it.

Some time ago I had a discussion with Graham about fluoro hooklengths for barbel. Graham was of the opinion that they are superior, although I feel it should be Graham who explains why, not me.
 
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Cakey

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Ron, Im going to go the other way ,Im targeting some big carp in a weir pool and Im thinking of trying a 3' rig what do you reckon ?
 
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Ron 'The Hat' Clay

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Sorry mate me eyes are giving me problems.

(I need new specs)

Is that a 3 foot rig you are taking about? If so why not give it a try.

The only problem with casting a heavy lead with a long hooklength with a PVA bag full of freebies at the end is that you struggle to cast it a long way.
 
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Cakey

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This is an under arm flick to the middle of the weir pool ...........only small pool but some cracking fish
 
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Rodney Wrestt

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Stu you said in the piece:

" 80% of posts voted for the knotless knot and then went on openly to support their choice by stating that they couldn?t be bothered to tie the line aligner due to it being well, ?just too much hassle?"

I thought a line aligner was just a piece of tubing added to the rig (covering the knot and extending along the line from a couple of cm's up to an 2.5cm and curved if required) with the line exiting a couple of mm from the end, but through the side of the tubing rather than straight through, is this the case or have I picked it up wrong? if I'm right then where's the hassle these guys mention?
 
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Cakey

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Rodney the knotless knot I use (which is way different to the normal one) after tying you pass the braid or fluro back through the eye of the hook form a line aligner without tubing
 
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Rodney Wrestt

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Cheers Cakey,
So is there an accepted angle to aim for or is it just personal preference and why do other people bother to use the shrink tubing if your method works in the same way?
 
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Cakey

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I thinks its down to what your happy with .
with tubing use heatshrink then you can steam it to any shape but you still need the braid or fluro exiting the tubing before the end for a true line aligner
 
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Rodney Wrestt

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Cheers again Cakey, that's what I thought. Can't see what the people using the knotless knot without the aligner were complaining about, especially if your method creats a similar effect and takes so little extra time, can't see what the hassle they mentioned in Rik & Stu's article.

I've never used the aligner myself, but that's not for any reason other than I've found the knotless knot sufficient on it's own, so I've not really enquired about it but you've helped clear it in my mind or future ref. I've just got a load of shrink tbing after Stu pointed me in the right direction so I might start using it to see if there's a noticable difference in the rigs performance.
 
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Cakey

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Rodney get a copy of Jims book called Carp Sense .......pages 54 to 64
 
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Rodney Wrestt

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Ok, must be good...... there's none going on e-bay :eek:)

Looks like Amazon have it though, that reminds me Cakey did you ever get that DVD you ordered from them, Think it was Two lane blacktop?
 
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jason fisher

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i thought the way you describe the knotless knot was the only way to tie it cakey.

as for the 3' rig, you could try putting the whole hook length in the bag, the flow will soon straighten it out once the bag melts.
 
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Cakey

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Rodney ..no dvd as yet
Jason .. I found a rig that works for me and so I stick with it but there is no doubt that the line aligner with tubing is also the bollocks,may be better who knows ?
 
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