Must Have Essential Terminal Tackle

Hooks The only item of your entire kit that actually comes into contact with the fish, which is responsible for maintaining the vital link during the take and the playing of the fish. Pattern Style and Sharpness are the factors which come into play during a take and Strength during the journey back to your net. Whichever brand you choose make sure it suits the water and the fish you are targeting. For 20lb fish, scale down, and for 50lb fish, scale up, both the hook sizes and wire thickness or gauge. Next the pattern style, Weedy Venue? Silty? Sandy or Stoney? While considering matching the pattern to suit the rig you intend to tie, Popup? Wafter? Zig? Then finally the bait - Boilies, Chops, Stacks, Single Particles, etc. Having the ability to assess the water and adapt to conditions or situations means keeping a selection of options to hand. Hook link Materials There’s no point in filling your box with all the different types of materials on the market. With experience you’ll fine tune the number of different ones you use, but there are a few must-haves in every box, a supple, stiff and fluoro option. Rig Building Bits Life’s become so much easier nowadays, with just about every little widget for building and fine tuning your rigs, so to help narrow things down here’s our must-haves. Rig Rings We prefer the Oval, but Round are also very good, generally the medium to large sizes. Transforms many rigs, opening up many more rig building options. QC Swivels One of the great innovations in Carp angling, which could cross over into most other forms of angling. A traditional ring on the one side, with a contoured hook on the other. Rigs can be Quickly Changed, without breaking down the lead system. The very small QC Swivels can also be used on the hook for a number of presentations. Soft QC Rig Sleeves Springy and easy to use. The QC System makes changing rigs easy and the sleeves help to keep the rig tangle free. Available in various colours also to help with rig concealment. Std Rolling Swivels Strong non-reflective, usually a Size 8 will suit most conditions. Ring Swivels – Same non-reflective look as the rolling swivel, with a small ring attached. Multiple uses in many rig variations and presentations. Tungsten Putty Aids in so many presentations, from counter-balancing buoyant baits, to improving hook turning efficiency and pinning hook-links down to the bottom. Shrink Tube Low Temp, kettle steam type, improve hook action in the fish’s mouth and used in many other rig construction situations. Bait Stops Huge array on the market now, with colours to match your baits, to extenda stops enabling you to fish larger baits on shorter hairs. An essential item but in a push, a piece of grass or twig will do the job. We especially liked those long chain clear ones, as it made it easy to push through the small loop, without a fiddly little piece between your fingers. Hook Puller A really good tool to have handy. In the past the loop on your scissor handle or an old broken needle was often used, but a dedicated hook/knot puller makes finishing off rigs, straightening hook links etc. so much easier, safer and faster. Buy two! Dental Floss Handy material available from most supermarkets, used to tie on baits to many different rigs. Lighter Listed here for the non-smokers, don’t forget one. Not just for making a brew but for “blobbing” off mono, and sealing off the dental floss. Safety Systems Modern Carp presentations must consider the safety of the fish, which also increases the potential of landing the fish, especially in snaggy or weedy waters. Safety Clips One of the oldest and longest running safety pieces on the market. Ingenious little piece of plastic which can drop your weight, while still keeping your fish on. The most important thing with any clip is that the lower arm must be sweeping and not a harsh loop. A sweeping arm will ensure the weight is dropped smoothly. A later update to the design was to include a pin system that locks the swivel in place - a great addition which assists with more secure hook-ups with with the full force of the lead coming into play. In addition it helps release the lead from the system. Available in several colours. Tail Rubbers Look for the ones that match your Clips, or look for the thin walled type. The small notches on the Clip hold the sleeve in place, which just helps on casting or positioning the rig, preventing the weight dropping off prematurely. Never push on the sleeve all the way as that diminishes the safety feature of the rig; half way should suffice. Korda’s Heli-safe Rig One of the safest ways to fish, with Korda’s very clever drop system for releasing the weight. For those anglers fishing Helicopter Style rigs, or the popular choddy approach, not only will the Heli-Safe rig protect the fish from becoming tethered, but might just make the difference between losing or landing that big fish. PVA MESH, BAGS & TAPE With so many different applications, PVA deserves a category on its own. Used mainly in rig presentation, it also aids in rig safety. Just remember - when using any type of PVA with Safety Clips, it is likely that the lead will eject on impact with the water when you cast. Instead of locking down with the clip, rather wrap a few turns of PVA Tape around the clip, preventing an early ejection, but still dissolving, leaving a safe rig in place. PVA Mesh Use with Boilies, Chops and Pellets. Available in a number of different sized tubes, for use in compact Dynamite-style sticks or the wide loose mesh for making tight ball-type presentations. PVA Bags Ideal for fine or small particles, liquids (PVA friendly), and total rig concealment. Just remember to pierce the bag with a few holes to let the air escape. PVA Tape Handy material, and preferred choice over PVA String. If used to create bait stringers, the tape’s shape helps keep the baits apart. Other uses include masking a hook entirely, making sure the hook point is available and hasn’t pricked a twig or leaf on the way to the bottom, or as mentioned to secure the weight for casting. MUST OWN TOOLS & ACCESSORIES Baiting Needles You must have three – a Splicing Needle, Std Gated Needle, Long Gated Needle and then some backups. Bait Drill Two types, one for drilling hard baits (trust us you’ll save your needles if you drill first), also a larger one to bore out boilies or large tigers to insert sections of cork to create buoyant baits. A decent drill will last a life-time (unless you lose it or lend it out, then it’ll last a lifetime for someone else!). Braid Scissors Two choices, either go very cheap and just buy new ones every 6 months, or expensive and buy every 24 months, depending upon use or when you lose them. Or buy both, and use the cheaper ones for general work and preserve your braid scissors for braid only. For years we used those haberdashery-style ones, then the small black handle ones from BFA, but recently the Korda ones have never let us down. Finally, you’ll need a decent box to store all this kit in. Here are a few: KORDA TACKLE SAFE The TackleSafe is the latest addition to Korda’s terminal tackle and rig storage range. It is designed to sit alongside the existing RigSafe and ChodSafe products. It is a compact end-tackle storage system within a hard clamshell-style case, secured magnetically, and with a soft-touch, non-slip outer coating, and featuring a ruler to assist with your rig tying. *Available from Mias Benoni and all Kingfisher stockists. NASH BOXLOGIC A high-quality impact moulded box with no ribbing on the lid to provide a smooth uninterrupted work surface with a lip to prevent tackle spill. Metric and imperial calibration enables accurate rig construction, with extra deep sections to accommodate Box Logic accessories. *Available Online. FOX F-BOX The F-Box Deluxe Set is fully fitted with integral storage units that are designed to accommodate all formats of carp fishing tackle. The box itself is designed to maximise storage space and enables easy access to all types of tackle components. *Available Online.