To Hair Rig or Not To Hair Rig?

....that is the question

Corn and Meat are my preferred hookbaits these days and hair rigging doesn't seem to provide any benefits over hooking the baits directly.

Are hair rigs worth bothering about?

I seem to be reverting more to methods I used 20 years ago in preference to all these new fangled widgits and wotsits that are continuously rammed down our throats

Much depends on the style of fishing and fish being targeted. Hair rigs have their place. For me, that's when fishing heavier styles for bigger fish.

I prefer to hair rig certain baits, not just because I think there is a better chance of a hook up with a "clean" hook but also because I have more confidence that the bait is still on the hair after casting or an enquiry from a fish, especially with things like multiples of sweetcorn.

I think you need a reason to do it but where there is a reason it's a good way of doing things.

It does rather seem alien to some to present bait next to the hook not on it doesn't it? but it does have its advantages.....

For carp always hair rig, due to the way this fish sucks in the bait, same when fishing for barbel who often hoover up as they grub around on the bottom.
By contrast, directly on the hook for chub, due to the way chub mouth and steal the bait from a hair - without getting hooked.

Species aside, when fishing for smaller fish or using small baits like sweet corn place the bait directly on the hook or use a short hair. For punch and small particle baits, hook directly, for larger baits like meat - hair rig it.

Some baits lend themselves to being hair rigged and some don't. Boilies are usually hair rigged, paste is usually on the hook but can also be moulded around a cork ball or bait anchor, worms and maggots are usually fished on the hook.

laguna said:

worms and maggots are usually fished on the hook.

Click to expand...

my only prefered method of fishing worm and maggots is what i call the cornucopia rig,
hair rig a kernel of corn on a long hair then alternate dendrobaena chops with maggots and top off with another kernel.
messy but damned deadly lol

I only use a hair rig for hard pellet. I always opt for a lasso set up. This is primary for carp fishing. As I am not a big fan of carp that ain't to often but it do work well. Pete.

A simple solution to using tubing on a hair, used to prevent the hair cutting like cheese wire when you cast hard.
Many anglers who use meat and cheese often use a long hair so they can get the rig tubing inside... basically the setup consists of a hair twice as long as the bait itself or otherwise struggle to get the bait + rig tubing on.

The way I do it (other valid methods are available), is to tie a normal size hair, mount the bait and then put the rig tubing on afterwards... the rig tubing is simply split (cut with scissors lengthways) and slide on over the hook and pushed inside the bait which has been predrilled/punched to accommodate the tubing.

Clear as mud?

Thought so

I'm surprised no one has mentioned Bolt Rigs, the Hair Rigs fit comfortably with them and transformed many types of fishing, notably Carp Fishing.

Even with the invention of the boilie, they were not that effective until the Hair Rig and the Bolt Rig came along, before that we cut a slit in the Boilie and stuck it on the Shank of the hook.

The Bolting effect has been around for as long as fishing has been around, the Hair, the Bolt and the Boilie transformed fishing.

But any bait can be devastatingly effective on the hook, if the point of the hook is left exposed and a bolt type bite is experience, take Meat and Barbel as an example.

The Hair Rig can increase hooking effectiveness, but at what cost ?

The art of feeling for a bite and striking has to a large extent been lost to a whole generation of anglers who know nothing but Hair Rigs, Bolt Rigs, Buzzers and Hard Baits.

So yes, Hair Rigs catch more fish, it's a super way of trapping fish, but is it at the cost of educating anglers and enjoyment, if your only concern is how many and how big then Hair rigs are the way to go.

But from a fishing skills point of view, are they detrimental to the basics of angling and I believe the enjoyment you get from fishing ?

Bob

I once did an experiment with two identical set ups on two identical rods etc, except I added a leger stop above the lead on one rig to make it into a bolt rig and left the other as a running rig. On the bolt rig I hair rigged some sweetcorn and on the running rig I just hooked the corn on as normal. I cast out about 30 foot and had the baits withing a couple of foot of each other. Anyhow to cut to the chase, I caught seven tench on each set up!
Oh, forgot to say the fish self hooked on the running rig just the same as on the bolt rig (I fished tight lines).

I only hair on ledger set ups, mainly banded pallet. I used to band the pellet to the hook or justuse a small hair but now I find longer ones better.

On a float set up I'd always hook bait on the hook, although I'm going to play about with hair rigging on the pole this summer. So watch this space

Thats interesting about only hair rigging on ledger rigs.
I often fish for tench on the float with a hair rig mini boilie. I find this effective
as when I tried side hooking, the minis split.

They also split with a bait needle so I make mini bait spikes to put on the hair end.
For these I just snip the bend end off eyed hooks and use the eye to tie on the hair end. The remaining hook shank does not split the mini boilie. Simples.

john step said:

Thats interesting about only hair rigging on ledger rigs.
I often fish for tench on the float with a hair rig mini boilie. I find this effective
as when I tried side hooking, the minis split.

They also split with a bait needle so I make mini bait spikes to put on the hair end.
For these I just snip the bend end off eyed hooks and use the eye to tie on the hair end. The remaining hook shank does not split the mini boilie. Simples.

Click to expand...

I know what you mean regards bait splitting using a baiting needle.
Some years ago I discovered it was mostly the double over-hand loop knot (surgeons loop) that did more damage than the barb on a needle. Quick stops are also prone to splitting baits because they need to be forced in, or predrilled/hole-punched beforehand.

The best solution I could come up with was to roll my own minis and stick cocktail sausages in them to create a little hole for the hair and needle. When air dried, it was just a simple case of removing the stick to reveal the hole.

For bigger baits I use a sPUNCH (a hole-punch for soft baits prone to splitting) and SPLITSTOP's which don't require a hair loop or barbed needle.