Hooklinks Explained
If you are new to carp hooklinks click here for a Step by Step Guide to Constructing Hooklinks.
Probably the most important part of your set up is the hooklink that you choose.
There are many different types of material available for tying hooklinks. Many can be bought ready made, but to appreciate the different characteristics of individual links, it is best to tie your own.
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| Supple Links | Multi Strand Links |
| Combi Links | The 'D' Rig |
| Mono Nylon Links | The Nailer Rig |
| Stiff Links | More Rigs |
Supple Hooklink
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The supple hooklink is a great all round hooklink that is perfect for the beginner. It requires no specialist accessories to construct, is almost impossible to tie incorrectly, works very effectively on any water and is cheap and simple to make requiring only a length of braid, a swivel and a hook.
When used at close to medium range this hooklink is almost 100% tangle free so you can fish confidently knowing your hook bait is being presented correctly. When using supple hooklinks at long range you will need to add a length or rig tubing to your fishing line to avoid the hooklink tangling when you cast out.
Supple hooklinks can be constructed from supple material like braided fishing line. Braids come in many styles and colours but they all work in the same way.
Braided lines are low diameter and very strong. Some carp specialists believe that braids offer superior presentation due to the way they allow hook baits to move naturally in the water when disturbed by a feeding carp. This natural movement avoids the detection of the rig and makes your hook bait move freely among the free offerings in your baited area.
Braids are very resistant to abrasion which is an advantage when fishing very gravely waters. Good strong knots can be tied easily with braid.
Choosing a braid for your hooklink allows you to vary your bait presentation and you can also use super glue to stiffen sections of the braid to make combination rigs avoiding the use of expensive manufactured combi rig materials.
Our e-book features many more hooklinks that can be easily constructed without the need for specialist tackle, so no matter where in the world you are you will be able to make them, click here.
Click here to download our e-book containing dozens more hooklinks
Stiff Hooklink
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Stiff links can be constructed from high breaking strain fishing line, 20 Lb+, or by using one of the many manufactured stiff Hooklinks available.
Unlike supple hooklinks stiff rigs are rigid from the hook to the swivel and do not allow the hook bait to move naturally when disturbed by a feeding carp.
Stiff Hooklinks are a double edged sword in your carp fishing armory as they work in two very clever ways. Firstly
Stiff
links contradict what some say about supple links because they do not move
naturally when disturbed. They do offer one big advantage though. Once in
the mouth of a carp they
are very hard to eject.
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Combination Hooklink
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Combi links are a combination of supple and stiff rigs. Supple sections of the link can act as a hinge, allowing some movement of the hook bait.
The stiff sections can make the bait very hard to eject. You can make your own combi links by tying a stiff mono like Amnesia to a soft braid, but attaching the two together can be tricky as stiff mono nylon is hard to knot.
The best way to tie your on is to buy one of the materials available in shops. These consist of an inner and outer core. The outer core can be stripped off to expose the supple inner core.
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Multi Strand Hooklink
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Multi strand hooklinks are made up of hundreds of extremely fine strands. The advantage of multi strands is that they are almost un-detectable due to the strands separating when squashed.
A good link for fine presentation although it can pick up debris between the strands after some use, making the link prone to tangles.
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Mono Nylon Hooklinks
You can construct very effective hooklinks from just mono nylon fishing line. Lines of 15-20 lb breaking strain are ideal for this. Choosing a lower breaking strain line will produce a more supple hooklink while higher breaking strain line will produce a stiffer hooklink.
Follow the instructions for constructing a supple braid hooklink, as above, for tying a hooklink with fishing line.
This hooklink is well worth a try if your water has seen heavy use of braid hooklinks or you live in a country where specialised hooklinks are not available, this method is also the cheapest and most convenient way of tying your own carp fishing hooklinks.
Click here to download our e-book containing dozens more hooklinks
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Now lets look at a couple of more advanced hooklinks.
The 'D' rig takes its name from the small d-shaped section of hooklink material that is attached to the back of the hook shank. This 'D' shaped section of material replaces the bait mounting hair used in the previous rigs.
This extremely effective hooklink requires the addition of a small ring, easily found in any tackle shop or outfitters.
Simply take a length of line or braid about 12-inches long, tie a swivel to one end and your hook to the other.
Next, cut a small length of the same material and tie one end to the shank of the hook just below the eye, then thread a small ring on and tie the other end to the hook, just above the bend of the hook to form the 'D' rig.
To mount your bait simply use tie a small length of fishing line around it and then tie it to the ring as illustrated above.
The 'D' rig is a great hooklink for intermediate Carp fishermen and works well with all baits on all waters.
Although this hooklink takes a little longer than others it will reward you by giving you a real advantage.
Why go to the trouble of constructing this hooklink? Well, the 'D' rig offers you some real advantages that out-weigh the hassle of constructing it.
By removing the hair from the set-up and tying the bait close to the hook instead you are eliminating the risk of tangles while casting out and the bait is less likely to fall off ensuring the best possible presentation.
The biggest advantage of this hooklink is the way it aligns the hook with the inside of the carps mouth. Once sucked in it is almost impossible for the fish to spit it out again. Imagine a feeding Carp sucking this rig into its mouth, due to the shape of the 'D' the bait will be taken in first with the hook following. Note in the diagram how this would force the point of the hook away from the bait and create a claw shape inside of the Carp's mouth. If the fish tries to move away or spit the bait out the hook will be set firmly inside its lip.
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The Nailer Rig
Lastly, we will look at another easy to make but effective hooklink.
The nailer rig as it name suggests literally nails the point of the hook into a carps lip.
When this rig is sucked into the mouth of a feeding carp the bait slides along the shank of the hook towards the bend and like the nailer forces the tip of the hook outwards aligning with the inside of the lip, instantly the carp senses the trap and tries to blow the whole thing out forcing the bait back along the shank of the hook. The bait hits the eye and hammers the tip of the hook into the carp's lip.
This simple hooklink extremely hard for carp to spit out once picked up and offers tangle free casting.
Click here to download our e-book containing dozens more hooklinks