How To Tie The Hinge Stiff Rig

Rigs Advanced

One of the most effective pop-up presentations ever! The Hinge Stiff Rig has been around for many years and has accounted for some of the UK's biggest carp. Darrell Peck shows you the exact steps he takes to tie the perfect Hinge Stiff Rig.

You will need:

Choddy Hook

20lb Hybrid Stiff Coated Braid

20lb Mouth Trap

Rig Ring

Small Krimps

Size 11 PTFE Ring Swivels

Dark Matter Tungsten Putty

Bait Floss

Shrink Tube

Krimp Tool

Razorblade Scissors

Pulla Tool

Creating the Hinge Stiff Rig boom section

Step 1

Thread a crimp and ring swivel onto eight inches of Hybrid Stiff coated braid

Cut 8 inches of Korda Hybrid Stiff coated braid from the spool, thread it through one barrel of a Krimp (Small), then through the eye of a size 11 PTFE Ring Swivel (or a standard swivel if using this with a lead clip rather than a helicopter rig).

Hybrid Stiff can be crimped to give you the perfect rig for pop-up fishing, using this as the boom section rather than the stiff Korda Boom fluorocarbon material

Step 2

Pass the tag end back through the crimp and position it

Pass the end of the Hybrid Stiff back through the other barrel of the Krimp and position it so that only a small tag is protruding from the crimp, and that the crimp is located against the eye of the swivel.

Crimping Hybrid is as strong as when it is tied properly, and a ring swivel is ideal for use with a helicopter lead arrangement

Step 3

Use your Krimp Tool to crush the crimp down for a secure connection

Take your Korda Krimp Tool and carefully locate the Krimp in the ‘small’ slot so that it is sitting flush in the tool. Now squeeze the Krimp Tool tightly closed to crush the crimp. Hybrid Stiff is the only coated braid that can be crimped securely without it potentially failing under pressure.

Use a Korda Krimp Tool to secure the crimp on your hinge stiff rig boom section - you can attach it to a normal swivel if using a lead clip rather than fishing it helicopter style

Step 4

Push a piece of shrink tube over the eye and barrel of the ring swivel

Cut off 1.5 inches of Shrink Tube and slide it onto the other end of the Hybrid Stiff. Then push it over the eye and barrel of your Ring Swivel – you will steam this and shrink it once you have finished tying the rig.

A piece of shrink tubing at the lead end of your stiff hinge rig helps kick it away from your lead for the perfect presentation

Step 5

Crimp on a size 11 Ring Swivel at the other end of your hook link

Pass the other end of the Hybrid Stiff through another Krimp (small) and through the ring of a size 11 PTFE Ring Swivel. Then pass it back through the other barrel of the crimp, so that it is sat tight against the ring and measure it to the desired length, so there is five inches between the two swivels. Take your Krimp Tool and crimp it in exactly the same way as in Step 3. Your Hinge Stiff Rig boom section is now complete.

Repeat the process at the other end of your hinge stiff rig, this time crimping to the ring of the swivel to allow enough movement to give you perfect hook holds, usually in the bottom lip

Step 6

Attach a Choddy hook to Mouth Trap chod filament with a knotless knot

Cut around eight inches of Korda Mouth Trap Chod Filament from the spool. Take your Choddy hook and attach it via a seven-turn knotless knot – ensuring that the tag end is long enough that it can be passed back through the eye of the hook and blobbed. Thread a Rig Ring onto the tag end.

The chod section - which is just like a chod rig - uses Mouth Trap material, which can be curved to the perfect angle to ensure that the hook point has a good chance of taking hold in the mouth of a big fish

Tying the Hinge Stiff Rig hook section

Step 7

Create a 'D' in the cage end of your knot, through the hook eye, and blob with a lighter

Pass the tag end of the Mouth Trap back through the eye of the hook – from back to front, ensuring the Rig Ring doesn’t fall off, and so a ‘D’ is formed. Carefully blob this tag end with a lighter – being careful that the flame doesn’t touch the Mouth Trap material (if it does, it will weaken it or even burn through it). A windproof lighter is ideal for this when out on the bank. It should like the below image, with a neat ‘D’ and the blobbed end sitting flush against the eye of the hook – a Chod It Tool helps form the perfect shaped ‘D’.

Create a D in the Mouth Trap, on your stiff hinge rig hook, which your hook bait will be attached to via the rig ring

Step 8

Set the length of the hook section - this dictates how far your bait is popped up

Take the boom section that you tied earlier and pass the tag end of the Mouth Trap through the eye of the swivel (not the ring on the swivel at the other end of the boom!). Fold over the Mouth Trap material to set the hook section at the correct length – this will determine how high off the lake bed your pop-up sits.

The hook section is attached to your boom via a simple two turn blood knot

Step 9

Tie the hook section to the boom using a two-turn blood knot

Tie a two-turn blood knot – after you’ve set the correct length - and moisten it with saliva. Take two Korda Pulla Tools and locate the bend of your hook around the crook of one Pulla, and the ring from your Ring Swivel onto the crook of the other Pulla, and carefully but firmly pull on both to tighten the knot and bed it down. Do the same with the two Pulla Tools, one in the ring of each swivel, and give it a good pull to ensure that the crimps on your boom section are holding securely – if they are going to slip, then this will be when it happens.

Take two Korda Pulla Tools and use them to bed down the knot on your hook section, as well as checking that the crimps on your boom hold securely

Final adjustments to finish your Hinge Stiff Rig

Step 10

Use steam on the shrink tube, and also to straighten the Hybrid Stiff

Boil a kettle and use the steam to shrink down the Shrink Tube at the swivel end of your boom. Give the rest of your boom section a steam as well as this will ensure that the Hybrid Stiff material is dead straight.

Steam the shrink tube on your hook link swivel using a kettle, and also use this to straighten the boom section

Step 11

Mount your pop-up and balance it with Dark Matter Putty

Pull off a piece of Dark Matter Putty and mould it neatly and securely around the crimp at the hook end of your boom. Now mount your chosen pop up on the Rig Ring using a piece of Bait Floss to attach it (either piercing the pop-up with a baiting needle and blobbing the end, or lassoing the pop-up with the floss and tying it tight onto the ring via the tag ends.

Take a piece of Dark Matter rig putty and mould it around the crimp at the hook section end of your boom

Step 12

Manipulate the hook section into a slight curve - Mouth Trap has a high memory

Your Stiff Hinge Rig is now complete and ready to cast out, and all you have to do is attach it to your chosen lead system. Before casting out, manipulate the Mouth Trap material so that it has a slight curve in it, which will make your rig sit properly and maximise its hooking potential – this material has a very high memory and so can be bent into your desired shape.

Your hinge stiff rig is now ready to cast out and is the perfect pop-up presentation for big carp

Find out exactly how Darrell Peck uses this rig and all his tips and tricks to get the best from it, by reading Darrell Peck - Why I love the Hinged Stiff Rig.