hair riging bait vs non hair riging

what do you guys prefer and why?
for me i can't really say as Ive done very limited hair rigging

It depends on things like bait, hook size, species amongst others. Generally I'll hair rig hard baits and hook soft ones, but it doesn't always follow.

nicepix said:

It depends on things like bait, hook size, species amongst others. Generally I'll hair rig hard baits and hook soft ones, but it doesn't always follow.

Click to expand...

Same here. It largely depends on the species I am after and the bait type and hook size I am using.

For example; a species like a Chub will often pick the bait up off the bottom physically using its lips and can move off with the bait still in its lips, whereas a fish like a Carp will be more likely to suck a bait off the bottom from an inch or more off the bottom and suck the free hook into its mouth together with the bait.

Also with harder baits that are hard to hook directly it is often easier to present the bait on a hair.

Keith

There's a few ways to present a hookbait...
For hard baits you can superglue them onto the hook, superglue them onto a hair, attach them directly to the hook with a bait band (use silicone or latex rubber bands or floss), mount them by piercing the band with the point of the hook (prevents bait roll), you can also band some soft hookers too providing the band isn't too tight and holds it on without cutting it in two. You can also hair rig baits both hard and soft, you can lasso them, hair rig a band and use that to attach pellets, use pre-drilled hard baits and a stop with a hair or create a hole in them with a nut drill (basically any small drill bit). Other times you can hook baits directly if they're soft and firm - soft hookers are perfect for this as are worms, maggots and corn.

Its simply a case of presentation as others have said. Knowing what to do and when in a situation comes with knowing your target and what your likely to catch. Generally you would directly hook soft baits onto smaller hooks for small silver fish, hard band harder baits for chub on the river and hair rig for barbel and carp. The length of the hair is arbitrary these days as they can be made adjustable using a splitstop so you could for example; use a very short hair for chub and adjust the length if you suspect barbel and carp are present.
As long as the hook size used is suitable for the size of fish you intend to catch, the bait can be as big, bigger or smaller than the hook when using a hair... you no longer need to exactly match the bait to the hook size when using hairs. that's not to say that a single piece of sweet corn on a size 4 intended for double figure carp would be better than a bigger mouthful... its all a question of balance.

I have found myself using the hair rig more and more.

I often hair rig Lob worms and live-baits for perch and have had better results with hook up's and I have found less of a tendency for the fish to be deep hooked.

Pretty much the only bait I'll hair rig are boilies and tiger nuts.
Although when tench fishing behind buzzers, I'll hair rig corn.

I've tried hair rigging meat, pellets and other soft baits and found no difference in hooking rate. Plus I find it quicker to hook baits normally.

I tried hair rigging worms before but found that they often mask the point. Well, I can only assume they do as I was getting savage takes and not hooking them.
Back to normally hooking them and back to hooking the fish.

I am a pleasure angler and feeder fish a lot for any species that comes along or the mood takes me. I hair rig as much as possible with barbless hooks and have found that I now rarely have problems with unhooking and go session after session without needing a disgorger. This alone is sufficient reason for me since I hate damaging the fish

It depends on how much you know about the mechanic's of a hair rig (the way it works).

Check out Simon Kings- Big Chub thoughts and observations

http://www.fishingmagic.com/forums/...ts/225496-big-chub-thoughts-observations.html

Bob

I will hair rig pellets . boiles (rarely use them) and meat

Meat is a bait I'll put straight on the hook if float fishing or hair rig if using the Method

Will be trying hair rigged pop-ups come June, see what happens, not used them before.
I tend to play safe and continue using the same rig & method a recent good catch offers, wasn't catching as much with meat on the hook so instead of trying it on hair I simply changed the bait altogether, to one that seems to catch me more fish over all, just happens to be a 14mm hair rigged pellet using the bolt rig, it works so am more reluctant to change it.
Still not tried the hair rigged Lobworm, haven't got round to ordering the syringes either to give them buoyancy, see what happens.

wes79 said:

Still not tried the hair rigged Lobworm, haven't got round to ordering the syringes either to give them buoyancy, see what happens.

Click to expand...

I've found that less is more when it comes to this Wes, it doesn't need much air to pop a lobbie up and you can easily end up having to add relatively heavy weights close to the hook to sink it again if you overdo it... Although it makes little difference to the take, it just avoids a faff if you can get it right to begin with.

Also try twitching an inflated lobbie across the surface especially where submerged weed almost reaches it, it's quite interesting when you see what will actually take it and some good takes at that

Or modify a method feeder by replacing the semi-fixed link with a swivel and bead to make it free running, squeeze the sloppiest mix of chopped worm and groundbait or fine soil to it that will hold together for the distance being cast and fish your inflated lobbie on a six inch hook link so that it suspends above the feeder and hang on to the rod

Most half decent tackle shops now stock syringes as standard.

I find a little piece of rig foam does the same thing and far easier than messing around with needles. Makes a good worm stop too if you use barbless and semi-barbed hooks :w

Hair rigged prawn, late summer.....deadly.

Saying that though, it was the bait band on a 10mm pellet that caught me my most Chub in one session EVER so far, so technically a hair but without the hair type thingy

Just Don't forget a handful of salt with every cast

(gave me a chuckle Ade)

---------- Post added at 13:48 ---------- Previous post was at 13:45 ----------

binka said:

Most half decent tackle shops now stock syringes as standard.

Click to expand...

I look like a bag head though