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Combi Rig Users?

David Maddison said:
I am seriously thinking about setting up some long combi links - 4 foot, with stiff flourocarbon and some korda sinkers along the link, with a small amount of sinking putty on the knot. Would a length of braid around 3 inch be ok?

Dave
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Dave, out of interest, what river/river conditions will you use the rig for? Also, what function do you want the stiff fluorocarbon to perform?
 
Howard Cooke said:
Dave, out of interest, what river/river conditions will you use the rig for? Also, what function do you want the stiff fluorocarbon to perform?
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Hello Howard. I would use combi rigs when the rivers i fish are low (swale, wharfe,ouse and nidd), and when the fish are cagey. I prefer the stiffer fluorocarbon as it helps reduce tangles in faster flows.

Dave
 
David Maddison said:
Hello Howard. I would use combi rigs when the rivers i fish are low (swale, wharfe,ouse and nidd), and when the fish are cagey. I prefer the stiffer fluorocarbon as it helps reduce tangles in faster flows.

Dave
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Yep, that makes sense David. Would a coated braid work (Ntrap for example) as that might avoid the need to combine two different materials? I do get what you are trying to achieve with the rig though.
 
Blimey is all this really needed?

So many different views on how to deliver a hook bait to a Barbel, I can't help but think we might be a little bogged down in rigs and things whereas for me the keep it simple stupid mantra is the best rig of all.

Well it is for a simpleton like me anyway :)
 
Same here Neil.fishing 4hr sessions and not every week at that because I am old I have had 157 barbel from a small river in the same swim in the last 5 seasons
And not a combi rig in sight.if you frighten them before fishing you won't get bites.i am not going down the carp road with rigs to catch barbel.no need to. As Neil said simple rigs will catch
Albert
 
Neil Smart said:
Blimey is all this really needed?

So many different views on how to deliver a hook bait to a Barbel, I can't help but think we might be a little bogged down in rigs and things whereas for me the keep it simple stupid mantra is the best rig of all.

Well it is for a simpleton like me anyway :)
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Hello Neil, I don't fish often enough to be able to prove whether a combi rig would actually improve my catch rate. But when i fish small (8mm) pellets i have used a separate fine braid hair, which i think offers a more natural presentation as oppose to being on a stiff mono or fluoro hair. So maybe the hookbait would appear more natural when in the swim when attached to supple braid?

Dave
 
The main reason i use the combi rig is that i always have at least a dozen hooks tied with 6inch of braid. If a hook blunts etc i simply cut the duff hook off the combi link and retie. I may do this upto 6 times only using up to 35mm of main hook length at a time. Imagine a blunt hook on coated braid?..... or mono using the knotless knot. So its not rocket science to me its actually quite econimical really. All you have to learn is one simple knot lads...
Not forgetting the excellent hooking potential of the combi...
 
David Maddison said:
Hello Neil, I don't fish often enough to be able to prove whether a combi rig would actually improve my catch rate. But when i fish small (8mm) pellets i have used a separate fine braid hair, which i think offers a more natural presentation as oppose to being on a stiff mono or fluoro hair. So maybe the hookbait would appear more natural when in the swim when attached to supple braid?

Dave
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I would agree with you Dave. The need to take the rig to that level though will, I guess, depend on river/fishing conditions and perhaps most importantly of all, confidence.

The Kennet is my local river and being small and generally quite narrow I have never felt the need to use a combi-rig as casts are generally underarm lobs and with a small PVA bag threaded down the hook length there is seldom any issues with tangles even with very soft/supple braid-my first choice hook length material. But this year I have started to fish the Wye and so have felt the need to give a bit more thought to the rig-particularly given I am often casting quite far and in the summer found I needed to use hook lengths of up to 6ft to get bites. I used fluorocarbon hook lengths for their stiffness and anti tangle properties but when tying the hair and attaching small pellets, I really didn't like the way the hook sat-it wouldn't rest flat even with a long hair. The fish were feeding so well and aggressively though it didn't seem to matter so I didn't feel the need to do something about it.

But, I could see how if bites were drying up I would start to agonise (perhaps unnecessarily so but again it's about confidence and my inexperience on the river) about the rig and the effect of the stiff hair. My thought process has been either a coated braid with the last few inches stripped back or, tying some fine braid to the shank of the hook and gluing the pellets to that. Another approach which I haven't tried but was suggested to me by a chap who knows a thing or two about catching barbel, was to use some shrink tubing on the eye/shank of the hook which should keep the hook flat.

I would generally agree with Neil about keeping things as simple as possible but I can see there are circumstances where something like a combi-rig has its place and uses-even if it only achieves an increase in confidence.
 
Howard that method of using shrink tube on the shank certainly is something I have tried, and worked on the Wye, but so did a hook without the shrink. But as you alluded to the Wye on song is not the best place to try out rigs for shy biting Barbel I guess:) Yes I too remember to those Halcyon summer days on the Wye, hand poised over the butt anticipating the next wrap round...

where was I ...

Oh! yes rigs, I am a firm believer hat it probably matters more than we match the correct hook size to the bait, not really convinced the hook length material matters a lot, but I keep an open mind about such things, that's the beauty of this place such great advice.
 
Albert Watkinson said:
Same here Neil.fishing 4hr sessions and not every week at that because I am old I have had 157 barbel from a small river in the same swim in the last 5 seasons
And not a combi rig in sight.if you frighten them before fishing you won't get bites.i am not going down the carp road with rigs to catch barbel.no need to. As Neil said simple rigs will catch
Albert
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Hi Albert

That's some return from the same peg, and how true that not spooking them is all important, I fish a small River too, and stealth is vital, bl00dy nettles don't half hurt though :)
 
Hi Neil,funny thing about that peg.i have stood watching people on it and not seen one of them fish where i fish.mind you I don't offer advice.i have always fished it from 12/30 noon till 4pm and always this side of midstream 10 ft away from where I am sat.i have a charge of £20 for this sort of info but because you are my friend it is free.
Albert:)
 
Albert Watkinson said:
Hi Neil,funny thing about that peg.i have stood watching people on it and not seen one of them fish where i fish.mind you I don't offer advice.i have always fished it from 12/30 noon till 4pm and always this side of midstream 10 ft away from where I am sat.i have a charge of £20 for this sort of info but because you are my friend it is free.
Albert:)
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Oh! thanks for that Albert :p I will apply the same tactics on my little River, but I know the boogers have a habit of moving, so I end up crawling around trying to find them again, however I think I know why that is, I spook them. Just how you can avoid that on something little bigger than a stream I don't know, but I guess that's why it's fishing not catching.

Your a one off Albert, they don't make 'em like you anymore :)
 
I have had 7 consecutive blanks on the peg among others.4ft deep and 7 fish to 8/12 one afternoon so that stopped me from cluttering my brain up with rigs I did not need.there I have gone and said it
Albert
 
Neil, theres a swim on the thames that barbel are caught and was catching since the 60s, that swims been sucessful for at least 54 years to my knowledge and maybe more, and lots more spots like it;) they move but usually come back to feed, timings critical in late autumn or winter mate, short windows and being there at diinnertimes is more important that speciaised bait or advanced rigs:)
 
My combi rig is different to others but it works for me and is is safe which is the main thing :)
 
John Walker said:
Neil, theres a swim on the thames that barbel are caught and was catching since the 60s, that swims been sucessful for at least 54 years to my knowledge and maybe more, and lots more spots like it;) they move but usually come back to feed, timings critical in late autumn or winter mate, short windows and being there at diinnertimes is more important that speciaised bait or advanced rigs:)
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Hi John hope you are all well.
Those 'super' pegs are fantastic, however I have ever known one such peg that you could stake your life on getting a bite first cast, mostly it was a Barbel but sometimes a big chub, but never a small Chub, approx 4-5 lbs and the Barbel were a good size too.
Joe (Fletcher) and I used to fish it a bit, but for some reason it just stopped producing, maybe because there was a huge branch that fell in it and after that it was never the same, changed the 'dynamics' I guess, but things like that on a small River can be a problem.
But it all proves that Barbel do 'hole up' and in Winter are right in the tree roots and undercuts, with the Chub, I need to get out I really do :)
 
Hello Albert mate:) and glad to know your still getting out there mate,
Neil, yes small rivers with trees across the river changes the bottom dramatically as you undoubtably know but if so they dont move far especially if they hole up under the undercut banks and moreso if theres some nice snaggy roots to lay up against but if theyre still there it needs round the clock weekends to find the really small feeding windows, sometimes maybe only 15/20 mins if food is there constantly and could be 2-4 days to find one short window, either that or theyre prefering deeper water with good depth and steady flow, good luck:)
 
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