Hello Shaun

I need some help please I have just started to fish a lake which has a little weed on the bottom so I have started to play around with the reverse combi rig. I cannot work out how to tie on the supple braid for the hair part so I was just using IQ for both the boom section and for the hair. But after seeing a picture of your rig in Carpworld I think it could be the missing piece I have been looking for.

So I was wonder if you have the time if you could send me a few pics to show me how to tie this rig as you do as I am almost there my e mail is……..

The above is an email I received to-day. I have left the persons name off so that you can see I treat questions with confidentiality. If ‘Mr Stiff IQ’ wanted to keep this as a little trick up his sleeve on the venue he is fishing then I’m not one to alert the anglers there as to what he is doing.

This is a good question and one I have received several times since I first published it after my success catching Buffalo Carp on it in Texas exactly this time last year.

A reverse Combi-Rig is as it says on the packet. Most people tie combi’s up with a stiff part from the swivel to keep the rig relatively anti tangle, then a soft tag end to allow free bait movement and hopefully less detectable by the carp. The reverse rigs I tied up in Texas were soft from the swivel and stiff at the hook which allows free bait movement but a very difficult to eject stiff section.

The soft hair pivot definitely makes the rig much more efficient. Hairs softer than the hook link make most rigs much more efficient. It seems such a tiny detail but believe me if you go to the trouble of tying a rig with a ultra soft hair and a rig simply following through with the hook link for the hair you will be amazed at how often the hook sticks in you with the softer hair – you need the bait in place to appreciate it properly.

Quite simply the soft hair allows the hook to up end and ‘grab’ much more aggressively that a conventionally tied rig. My preference for the actual hair material is Gudebrod rod whipping thread. I usually use ‘D’ guauge but sometimes drop down to the ‘A’ guauge when I feel the carp are being that little bit more careful. The ‘A’ does break quite easily though. You will find once the whipping thread has soaked the water in it becomes incredibly soft.

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A little bonus tip here I use different colour threads to make it obvious to me in a cluttered rig wallet which are barbless etc.

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Right then, no need for the pictures to explain.

  1. Pass the hooklink through the eye of the hook as though you are going to tie a conventional knotless knot.
  2. Now pass the soft hair through the eye too so you now have two pieces of line through the eye.
  3. Fold the tag end of the hair back so that you now have three pieces of line running up the shank of the hook from the eye.
  4. Start tying your knotless knot but after the first three turns stop.
  5. You now need to trim the tag end of the hook link and the tag end of the hair. You won’t be able to cut them too short so there will be plenty left to keep the rig secure once you complete your knotless knot.
  6. Continue the knotless knot and finish off in the conventional manner.
  7. Finished item has one very soft hair securely in place.

Hope you followed it clearly – I never use rigs with anything other than a very soft hair.

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