Rob Hughes’ solid bag set-up
Rob Hughes takes a below-the-surface look at the popular solid bag rig. Find out how, when and why to use it in your own fishing...
THE solid PVA bag. It’s been around since the early 90s and has stood the test of time, catching literally thousands of carp around the country.
That said, it’s fallen out of fashion a bit these days, as it isn’t as easy to use as many other rigs. It takes a bit of prep to get it set up, but when tied properly and used in the right place, it can be devastating. Tie it badly or put it in the wrong place and it can wreck your chances completely.
It’s a brilliant rig for getting you out of trouble if you suffer from tangles and provides you with a great way to get free bait right around your hookbait.
STICK WITH HARD BOTTOMS
The best place to use a solid is on a hard bottom, ideally clean, but it will overcome a very light covering of weed. It’s definitely not a silt rig either, because the bag can sink into the soft stuff and disappear – taking your hookbait with it! Why make it hard for the carp to find the bait even if they do root around in silt?
The other ‘no go’ is heavy weed, despite what some anglers say. Chucking a solid into thick weed is a really bad idea. Stick with hard bottoms like gravel, clay or sand. If you can feel a “donk” with a lead, then you can present a bag there.
MULTIPLE BENEFITS
The main advantage of a solid bag is
that you’ve got a pile of free bait bang on your hookbait – a parcel of attraction in exactly the right place. You can put all sorts of bait in it too, from pellets to crushed boilies.
I like to inject a load of liquid into my solid bags to give them a boost. In summer that tends to be Dynamite Krill Oil. In winter, I’ll put in a soluble PVAfriendly liquid, depending on the venue I’m fishing.
Boosting your bags with liquid, especially different colours, takes them to another level and the Dynamite oil bottles have a nozzle on the top that you can simply push through the bag to squeeze the liquid in.
Another major benefit of the rig is that when the hook and bait are packed into a bag with bait loaded properly, your rig cannot tangle on the cast. Everything’s safe in the bag, so you can be sure your presentation is good. They can be fished small if you need to cast far, or tennis ball-sized if you’re in the edge or lobbing short distances.
DITCH THE CHERRY ON THE CAKE
A sneaky edge if bags are used a lot on your water is to use a pellet-coloured boilie wafter as hookbait. Most anglers use a bright pop-up which stands out like the cherry on a cake – the carp will have seen this presentation many times. A dull bait sitting in the pile makes it look safe, as it appears the hookbait has been reeled in.
“Boosting your bags with liquid, especially different colours, takes them to another level”