THE BALANCED NUT STALKING RIG

Instead of sitting in the sun behind a rack of motionless bobbins this summer, grab a stalking rod and a handful of bait, tie up this rig and go in search of your quarry instead.

HIGH summr, and it’s high time for stalking big carp out of the edge.

At the majority of waters – club lakes, syndicates and day-tickets alike – most anglers ignore the margins… until the end of their session, when they underarm any unwanted bait into these otherwise neglected areas.

So, if you can find a few neglected spots on your lake and keep them ticking over with bait, you could end up taking your catches to another level.

When it comes to rigs to use on your ‘stalking rod’, nothing beats the hooking potential of an inline lead set-up lowered on to the spot. And because you’re not having to worry about casting it, use as heavy a one as you can get away with – something in the 3oz to 5oz range is ideal.

When it comes to hookbaits, a balanced tiger nut has few parallels. Most anglers will be using boilies, so tigers are treated with far less suspicion by the carp which, in any case, find them utterly irresistible.

This rig is best fished over small baits like hempseed, pulses and broken tigers and, as the fish won’t be moving far between mouthfuls, it’s best to use a short hooklink of 4isn-6ins.

The reason for balancing the nut with a small plug of cork is twofold. Firs, it negates the weight of the hook and helps the hookbait to act like the freebies; and second, it makes the hookbait sit over the hook and conceal it from the carp.

To fine-tune its mechanics even further, add a small blob of tungsten putty just before the break in the hooklink coating. This help pull the hookpoint down into the ‘prone’ position once the fish takes the hookbait.

The addition of the shrink tubing on the hook bend and over the eye makes the hook flip over aggressively once the bait is inhaled. Tie this one up and you’ll see why it’s so effective. As you do so, the hookpoint will keep snagging your skin, proving how effective it is. The bottom line is, as soon as a carp picks up the hookbait, it’s game over!