Gaz Fareham explains why the Soft Boom Hinge aka 'The Cobra' is his go to rig - sharing his vast knowledge on the most effective set up to catch bites.
We ask Jimmy Hibbard - When tailoring your rigs accordingly for the type of substrate you’re fishing over, how much attention do you pay to rig concealment? What things are you likely to change from spot to spot and how do you determine what type of bottom you’re presenting over in the first place?
Let’s first start with how I find out the type of Bottom that I like to present over; A 3oz lead attached to braid gives you the best reading of the bottom but in very weedy conditions I drop to a 2oz lead. With this setup you can feel every transmission from the drop, whether that’s soft or hard, any flicks of gravel or the smoothest of the silt. I personally like to look for those areas that are smooth with those tiny flicks of gravel, this is a likely area that is recently been fed on so it’s a spot the fish will possibly visit again.
As for tailoring the rigs, as a rule I like to fish seven inches of a semi-stiff coated braid (Camstiff) when fishing over the areas I prefer, but there are times when I might need to adjust a few things, first thing being the length of the rig, this will mainly depend on how firm the bottom is. When fishing a firm spot which is mega clear, the lead doesn’t penetrate into the bottom of the lakebed and neither does any of the hook length, so for me personally, opting for a shorter hook length would be a much better option in this situation. In this instance I’d use a short, stiff rig made up from Think Link or Camstiff. When fishing in the softer stuff like in silt or over low laying weed, the longer, softer hook links are far more affective, a longer rig will take on the
contours of the lake more readily, offering you a much better presentation. In this case it’s about those softer materials such as Camsoft or Duo Fleck.
As for line concealment it all depends on the areas I’m fishing; leadcore or rig tubing helps to keep that last few feet down and out the way and in my opinion that two of three feet at the business end is all you need to concentrate on keeping well hidden. I believe when fishing anything past 20 yards there isn’t a lot you can do to pin the line out the way without it hindering your bite indication. When fishing those really clear shallow areas areas (usually in the edge) I’ll shorten my rigs to four to five inches, opting to use the Think Link with its clear and semi stiff property’s and I’ll fish this in conjunction with a really heavy inline lead, set up drop off style, with three feet of leadcore. In tap clear conditions or if I believe the fish are spooking off of the set-up the I’d use a Fluorocarbon leader with a couple of blobs of tungsten putty. For me though, having a couple of rigs you feel confident is the main thing, swapping and changing isn’t always a good thing, if it isn’t broke, don’t fix it.
Let’s first start with how I find out the type of Bottom that I like to present over; A 3oz lead attached to braid gives you the best reading of the bottom but in very weedy conditions I drop to a 2oz lead. With this set up you can feel every transmission from the drop, whether that’s soft or hard, any flicks of gravel or the smoothest of the silt. I personally like to look for those areas that are smooth with those tiny flicks of gravel, this is a likely area that is recently been fed on so it’s a spot the fish will possibly visit again.
As for tailoring the rigs, as a rule I like to fish seven inches of a semi-stiff coated braid (Camstiff) when fishing over the areas I prefer, but there are times when I might need to adjust a few things, first thing being the length of the rig, this will mainly depend on how firm the bottom is. When fishing a firm spot which is mega clear, the lead doesn’t penetrate into the bottom of the lakebed and neither does any of the hook length, so for me personally, opting for a shorter hook length would be a much better option in this situation. In this instance I’d use a short, stiff rig made up from Think Link or Camstiff. When fishing in the softer stuff like in silt or over low laying weed, the longer, softer hook links are far more affective, a longer rig will take on the contours of the lake more readily, offering you a much better presentation. In this case it’s about those softer materials such as Camsoft or Duo Fleck.
As for line concealment it all depends on the areas I’m fishing; leadcore or rig tubing helps to keep that last few feet down and out the way and in my opinion that two of three feet at the business end is all you need to concentrate on keeping well hidden. I believe when fishing anything past 20 yards there isn’t a lot you can do to pin the line out the way without it hindering your bite indication. When fishing those really clear shallow areas areas (usually in the edge) I’ll shorten my rigs to four to five inches, opting to use the Think Link with its clear and semi stiff property’s and I’ll fish this in conjunction with a really heavy inline lead, set up drop off style, with three feet of leadcore. In tap clear conditions or if I believe the fish are spooking off of the set-up the I’d use a Fluorocarbon leader with a couple of blobs of tungsten putty. For me though, having a couple of rigs you feel confident is the main thing, swapping and changing isn’t always a good thing, if it isn’t broke, don’t fix it.
"A 3oz lead attached to braid gives you the best
reading of the bottom"
"A 3oz lead attached to braid gives you the best reading of the bottom"
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