Even though all the different types of carp rigs can now be bought directly from a tackle dealer (hopefully soon over here), which generally are made to a good standard, I personally would rather use those I have made myself. It is also far cheaper in the long term to buy all the items necessary to produce your own and of course when making them yourself small alterations to length, hook size etc can be made. Catching a fish on a rig that I have tied myself gives me far more satisfaction than one bought from a shop, because I have taken the time to put what I have learnt into practice. Dealing firstly with hooklink materials, which can either be standard monofilament, braid such as Dacron or Terylene, or braided HPPE (high performance polyethylene), which can be single strand, multistrand, coated or uncoated. Also the hooklink can be supple, stiff or a combination of the two, there use will depend on how you wish it to react in the water or more importantly when it is inside the carp's mouth. The name synonymous to hooklink material is Kryston, with brands such as Snake-Skin, Snake-Bite, silkworm, super-silk, Merlin and Super-Nova, however Nash Tackle, Gardner and other companies also produce there own. The problem with a lot of hooklink materials is buoyancy which normal results in a loop forming between the swivel and the hook. This can be rectified by either using a hooklink that is denser than water or by added small pieces of a product called Heavy Metal, which will pin the hooklink to the bottom.
Hooklink Construction: To construct a hooklink the following items will be required, your chosen hooklink material, hook, swivel, silicon tubing (optional), needle and patience until you have mastered the art. I use no more than three different knots 95% of the time when constructing any hooklink, these are the No Knot Knot, Grinner and the Half Blood Knot. Tying a hooklink can be broken down into simple stages (see diag).The size of your initial piece of hooklink material is entirely up to the angler and 12 inches is only a guide, however for me this is normal starting length which will result in a finished hooklink of approximately 8 inches in length. It is vitally important during stage 3 of the process that the hooklink material goes around the back of the hook first and not around the front, this is to prevent the hooklink material being forced into any gap that may be present on the hook eye. Once the end of the hooklink has been passed through the eye again pull tight until all loops buffer up neatly against each other. The most important benefit to this knot is that there is very little constricting of the line, which results in virtually the same breaking strain being achieved. The use of a line aligner comes down to personal preference, there are situations in which I would use it as the main purpose of the line aligner is to encourage the hook to turn inwards into the carp's mouth. To any newcomer I would recommend practising at home first where it is nice and warm, as trying to tie one beside the bank when it is pouring with rain or even worse freezing can be quite fiddly.
Rigs: Once you have mastered tying a hooklink the next stage is to combine it with your chosen rig. The most popular rigs being used are either fixed, semi fixed both (bolt rigs), or free running. Most bolt rig set-ups will fall either into the In-Line or Helicopter type construction with variations on each theme (see diag). Once again the situation will depict which one to use or more often then not personal preference. Most anglers gain confidence by using rigs they deem reliable in regards to presentation, hooking properties and their anti-tangling qualities, especially when casting at long range. There is nothing worse than casting out your bait into the correct area thinking the trap has been set, only to find that on reeling in after hours of inactivity your hooklink totally tangled up, trust me I know from my early days of carp fishing. The easiest way of preventing such occurrences is by the use of anti-tangle tubing, which must always be longer than the hooklink in use. Other items can be used such as a lead core leader, once again it must be longer than the hooklink to prevent tangling. Lead core leaders are normal around 3 feet in length as they also provides the extra benefit of hugging the bottom close to where the carp will be feeding and therefore reducing the risk of spooking. Lead core leaders are quite easy to splice once mastered by the angler, however a new product from the Nash stable called the Limpet comes made up and can be used in conjunction with Limpet Linklets which produce a very deadly rig indeed. Helicopter style rigs can be used without tubing as the hooklink is designed to spin during flight when casting. With any type of rig the welfare of the fish must be your first priority and should always be constructed in such a way that if the line breaks the fish is not doomed to a slow agonising death. This type of rig carries the dubious title of the Death Rig. This means its construction has prevented the lead falling off or pulling through. The result more often than not will be the fish towing a lead around or even worse trapped in a snag unable to break free, there is no sight more annoying than finding a fish dead due to the stupidity of an angler. Prevention can be achieved by either the use of safety clip that will release the lead if trapped, or by ensuring nothing is tied on between the lead and the mainline. If a shock leader is required to prevent breakage's when casting at long range with a heavy lead, the leader knot must be checked to ensure that it will pass through both the bore of the anti-tangle tubing and the in line lead easily. If not you could be once again condemning a fish to a slow agonising death.
Pop Up Rigs: These types of rig can be very useful when the bottom of the lake contains a lot of debris or weed. The distance that the bait sits up from the bottom is governed by where the split shot or purpose made product such as Heavy Metal is placed onto the hooklink (see diag). Pop ups work very well in conjunction with PVA bags because when the bag ruptures the pop up will normal sit proud of the small pile of bait and therefore is sucked in first. The D ring hooklink set up works very well due to its anti-eject capabilities. I am not quite sure why a pop up works when it is sitting over a clean hard bottom, considering it will be acting totally different to all the free offerings that are scattered around. It has been suggested that the pop up can be spotted easily by patrolling fish in mid water, especially if the boilie is brightly coloured. Whatever the reason I have seen a lot of fish caught on this method and on some waters it will out fish all other methods consistently. A slight alteration to the buoyancy of a pop up or a gradual reduction in the size of foam supporting the bait will result in a critically balanced set-up. This means that the weight of the hook is slightly heavier than the buoyancy of the bait, which will result in the hook pulling the bait down very slowly until the shank of the hook rests lightly on the bottom. Once again this can be very beneficial when fishing over a silty bottom or low weed.
Zig Rig: This rig is once again used with a buoyant bait but unlike the pop up rig the hooklink is constructed with monofilament line and is usually at least a minimum of 3 feet long. The aim of this is to intercept carp that either just below the surface or cruising around mid water. The hooklink is tied to a swivel next to the lead which can either be fixed or free running, on some days this rig will be the only one producing.
Float Set Up: Apart from ledgering the float can also provide an additional weapon to the carp angler's armoury and provides a more delicate presentation, which in turn can produce very positive takes. This method is extremely useful when the carp are giving themselves away by causing the water to fizz as they search for food items amongst the silt or debris. A cast just beyond the carp's position and slowly drawing back so that the bait falls close by can often produce an immediate take. Normally the lift method is used and the results can be very explosive especially at close range and in shallow water. The use of the float is very good when the water being fished has an extremely silty bottom as it prevents the bait being dragged below the silt, which can occur on a standard ledger set up.
Surface Rigs: This must be one of the most exciting but often frustrating methods to catch carp. The most important element to this type of fishing is to get the carp feeding confidently and competing for food items between themselves. Carp have an uncanny knack of eating all the free offerings and leaving the hook bait untouched. Patience is a virtue here because the introduction of the hook bait too early will undoubtedly spook the fish. Casting wait is normally provided by a controller which is locked onto the line by either float stops, ledger stops or split shot at the required distance from the bait . A common mistake with this method is striking too early and not allowing the carp time to pass the hook bait back into its mouth. A good rule of thumb is to wait for the controller to move before striking.