Bolt Rigs

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Stevie 12345

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To be the minimum size weight you would get away with to still use the rig as a bolt rig when your prey is carp/ tench up to around 10lb.

It just something I have been experimenting with recently and wondered what are the resident experts opinions on this
 
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Steph McKenzie

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Hi stevie,

Personally i wouldn't use any weight lighter than what i actually needed to cast to my chosen spot i wanted to fish.

If that means fishing with a 1 ounce lead for close in (margins) or 20 or 30 yards then that's what i would use.

The bolt rig is only a way for the hook to pierce the lip of the carp after it has started to swim away with the hook already in it's mouth.

You only need to use a larger heavier weight when you want to achieve greater distances on the cast.

Make sure that the hook you are using is nice and sharp and that the line you are using is up to the job in hand. Once the fish has taken the it and your alarms starts to scream, lift the rod in to the fish (no need to strike) and hey presto, let the battle commence.

I hope this helps.

Regards

Steph.
 
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eric hall

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to be honest the original bolt rig was designed around the concept of using a heavy lead irrelevant of the distance being cast, many modern day carpers stalk carp under the rod tip using a bolt rig with a 2 or 3 oz lead, (prefer the float myself but each to their own), I would recommend that you use a 2oz lead, and remember to make sure that the rig is fish friendly, ie that if the line snaps or the fish snags it will not be teathered to the line, and die.
 
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Trisantona

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Two ounce should suffice on hooks up to size eight,obviously the bigger the hook and the less the fish bolts so you may need more lead, i have caught most of my carp using no lead at all (freelining) and a fair few with just a yard of leadcore line.!!!/forum/smilies/thinking_smiley.gif
 
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Cakey

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lots pf theoriesie carp "feel" the lead and if they "feel" a 2oz lead day in day out wont take the bait but can be fooled by going heavier ie 4oz

the idea of a bolt rig is to make the fish "bolt" so the lighter you go the less chance you have of pricking the fishes mouth and making it "bolt"

remember that a 2oz lead on dry land is approx half in water

I personally use 2oz's for 99.9% of my fishing and my catch rate is no less than those around me

and remember semi fixed please ....no death rigs !

or running leads of course .....before someone picks me up !
 
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Trisantona

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Also the bigger the lead ,the bigger the splash,carp spook easily,/forum/smilies/embarassed_smiley.gif
 
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Cakey

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never found that .....................

the bigger the splash the more nosey they are
 
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Trisantona

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Oh in that case if i ever go carping again i'll take a load of house bricks.!!!!!
 
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Frothey

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put the lead in a pva bag full of bait, that way it wont make a splash.

if fish are going to bolt, they'll bolt whether its a 1oz or 5oz lead. its those that dont bolt that are the problem.....
 
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Andy "the Dog" Nellist (SAA) (ACA)

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Carp and Tench areinquisitive and noise can be a great attractor. I've had tench repeatedly take a bait on the drop casting distance intowater just 3 feet deep with a 2 1/2 oz ski lead.

You dont need much lead to make a fish bolt but the purpose of getting them to bolt is to start to pull the hook home so as to increase the bites/hooked fish ratio in your favour.

The amount of lead you need to do that depends on the hookand the nature of the bottom. Generally the smaller/sharper the hook and the siltier the bottom the lower the amount of lead required.
 
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Stevie 12345

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It is for a specific reason I am asking you allabout Bolt rigs, however it appears than the general consensus is that a 1oz lead should be enough to obtain the desired effect.

That said, if the weight of thelead is used to obtain the prick which in turn makes the fish bolt then why does the lead need to be so heavy.

If you tied anAAA on a hooklength tied to asize 10 or 12 hook andbrushedit across your hand it digs in, is this not enoughto get your prick and make this fish bolt.

I think a lot of the time we use heavy leads for distance rather thanfor a bolt effect
 
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Fred Bonney

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Ah but,what would be the weight of the pull across your hand , to make it prick?

Fish don't feel pain,so surely it's that extrabit of tension that makes the difference?

Logicly, an ounce weight (or more),would give more of abolt factor than an AAA shot.
 
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Stevie 12345

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Fred but would it not be the fish moving or sucking that causes the prick.

I totally understand the logic behind the heavier the lead the more chance it will prick but as Frothey mentioned in his thread sometimes the fish do not bolt or perhaps do they associate the pinned down bait as danger.

Is there a more happy medium where the bait is positioned by a lesser weight and would appear to be more natural looking and acting but still had that hook setting capability.
 
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Bully

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As Fred says, fish do not feel pain, so it is just the tension effect (well, thats what I had always thought). If fishing Bait runners why not just tighten up to the spool, with the indicators there for drop backs? My lead weight is decided purely by casting distance.
 
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Frothey

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i dont go with the fish feeling the prick of the hook thing either - most fish will be sucking in gravel, bits of twigs etc, so how will they know? they'dnever eat a caddis fly!
 
The Monk

The Monk

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No i`m not so sure about carp feeling a big prick and bolting (theres a joke in there somewhere), the basic concept of the bolt rig was actually a stone tied to a mealie pip rig (as used in the RSA), a corn type set up, as the fish moved away from the heavy stone it self hooked
 
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twitch

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I've used leads as light as 3/4oz and the bolt rig effect still worked. Fishing a tight line to the weight may have more to do with the effect than the size of the lead being used, having found the bolt rig effect to work with hook links of 3 inch up to 18 inches while using the method or a bomb. What i did notice was there was a difference between useing a piece of silicon as a hair aliner and a hair rig without one; but the bolt rig effect still worked if I was useing a bait on the hook (no hair).
 
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