When you are fishing with braided mainline at range, you really have to think about the tackle that you are using.

A lot can go wrong with braid and although my rigs look simple, and they are, they are super effective and do the job perfectly. There are fish to over 60lb in the lake that I fished in the spring and I know that the tackle I used was more than capable to stand up to anything the lake had to offer.

A size 5 hook is a decent sized hook and using the Curve Points, I have never had any dramas to think they were not up to the task. I use a simple snowman rig, tied with the 25lb Camsoft, but instead of a knotless knot, I use a whipping knot. This allows the hair to exit the shank of the hook much neater and I don’t mess around with shrink tubing.

With the pop-up on top of the bottom bait, it allows the hook to hang down once it has been sucked in, positioning it perfectly to catch hold of the bottom lip. I didn’t lose a single fish, landing 11 in total, fishing 130 yards with braided main line, you can’t ask for more than that.

STEP-BY-STEP
NICK'S SIMPLE RIG

Start by taking a length of Camsoft.

Strip back a few inches of the coating.

Pick out a size 5 Curve Point Hook.

Tie the hook on the whipping knot.

Make sure the knot allows the hair to exit level with the point.

Tie the hair. Make sure it’s a decent length.

Add a Tungsten Dropper Bead.

Thread a 16mm Tuff One and 12mm Signature Squid Pop-Up on the hair.

The finished rig, super simple but very effective.

To finish it off, I add a couple of Tungsten Droppers, to help keep the hook link pinned to the bottom. I don’t like having to solely rely on using putty, as casting that range, there is always the fear that it could slip.

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