How to tie the Ronnie rig – a step-by-step guide

The Ronnie rig, also known as a spinner rig, is one of the most commonly used presentations in modern carp fishing.

The Ronnie rig is incredibly versatile carp rig that can be used with all sorts of different hook patterns depending on your personal preference, and is typically used with pop-ups or wafters, or even bottom baits which some anglers fish on a hair attached to the micro ring swivel.

It can be presented over all sorts of different lake beds and used with any lead system, although if the bottom isn’t clean, then a helicopter set-up works best.

The Ronnie rig also has the advantage that it is pretty much tangle free, due to the stiffness of the hook link material, and when your lead hits the bottom that also ensures that your hook bait pushes away from it and lays out straight. This stiffness also means that if the rig does get picked up and ejected by a carp, it will reset itself, and of course it offers the benefits you associate with a stiff link in terms of hooking mechanics.

Unlike many rigs, this one doesn’t feature any knots when it comes to constructing it, and instead relies on crimps, which work perfectly with the stiff Boom material and give a very strong and neat connection, with the hook link material staying completely straight between the two crimps.

Instead of attaching your hook directly to the hook link, instead it is attached to a special spinner swivel, and secured in place with a kicker or piece of shrink tubing. This means that if you need to change your hook you simply de-attach it from the spinner swivel and put on a fresh one. That is probably the biggest reason for using this rig, as it makes hook changing so quick and easy and you can keep on re-using the same boom section each time.

It is a very easy rig to put together, as long as you make sure you crimp it properly, and that is made easy with a special Korda Krimp Tool which has marked slots for each size of crimp – just make sure you’re using the right size of double barrelled Krimp for the diameter or breaking strain of the Boom material.

Here is a detailed step-by-step explanation of how to make the Ronnie rig:

Step 1 – take some boom material

Take a spool of Boom material in your chosen breaking strain and cut off a length a few inches longer than you want your finished hook link to be.

Step 2 – thread on your crimp

Take a suitable size of double barrel Krimp to match the Boom you’ve chosen and thread one end of your hook link through it. Now select a Spinner Swivel or Spinner Ring Swivel and put the end of your hook link through that and then back through the other barrel of the Krimp. Adjust the Krimp so the tag end of the hook link is only just protruding from the Krimp, and the loop that is formed is the size that you want – often with a standard spinner swivel this is fished on a small loop to give it some movement, or if you’re using the ring version then you can buffer the crimp up against it, as the ring provides movement anyway, but does add more metal work, so it is all down to personal preference which you use.

Step 3 – correctly crimp the rig

Locate the Krimp into the correct slot on your Korda Krimp Tool – each slot is marked for the size of Krimp it is designed to be used with. Carefully close the tool and make sure the crimp is sitting flush within the slot – otherwise it won’t crimp securely. Once the crimp is in place, firmly squeeze on the handles of the tool and then remove the crimp from it, and it should be neatly crimped.

Step 4 – add an anti-tangle sleeve

This step is optional and involves threading a Dark Matter anti-tangle sleeve onto the other end of the boom, from the thin end, and is always used if you're using some sort of QC swivel to attach your boom to. If using a lead clip or inline lead, this helps make the rig kick out away from your main line/leader, so your hook bait will land on the opposite side of it your lead, rather than having the risk of the bait being sat on top of a leader. Some anglers prefer not to use the sleeve though, and to give the boom some movement at that end – via the crimped loop or ring swivel which forms a hinge.

Step 5 – crimp the other end of your boom section

Thread another Krimp onto the other end of your hook link. You can then add any type of swivel, including ones that form part of a Hybrid lead clip, or if you are intending to use the boom section in conjunction with a QC swivel, then simply form a small loop which will be used to attach it, before poking the tag end back through the other barrel of the crimp.

Now take a Rig Safe, Tackle Box, or anything else that a ruler on it, and adjust the crimp at the swivel end until your hook link is the desired length – somewhere in the 5-7in. range is most popular.

Step 6 – check that you’ve crimped it properly

Now crimp this connection in the same way that you did previously, taking care to make sure the Krimp is properly located in the tool. Once crimped, use a pair of scissors to trim the tag end neatly and fairly tight to the crimp.

Step 7 – test the strength your crimped boom and straighten it

To check that you have strong crimped connections, take two Pulla tools (or the end of a Chod-It tool) and put the hook on each through the loop or ring on each end of your finished boom, then give it a good pull to check everything holds – if you haven’t crimped it properly then at this point it should fail, if not, then you are good to go. This also helps straighten the Boom material as well.

Step 8 – choose a suitable carp fishing hook

Select the hook that you want to use. Different anglers prefer different hook patterns for this rig, and there are a number that work well with it, including, but not limited to, the Wide Gape, Krank, Kurv Shank, Straight Point, and Spinner patterns from the Korda range, in either the standard versions or Kamakura where available. In terms of hook size, a size 4 is probably the most popular with this rig, although some anglers favour a size 6 – it tends to be fished with quite a large hook relative to the hookbait size.

Step 9 – add a kicker or shrink tube

Take a Korda Kicker, in the appropriate size to match the hook that you are using, and thread it onto the hook, from the point end, and with the fatter end of the kicker going on first. It is important to use the correct size of Kicker or you will; struggle to pull it over the eye of the hook.

You can also use a piece of shrink tubing but won't be able to re-use that when you change the hook.

Step 10 – add your hook to the spinner swivel

Place the hook eye onto the crook of the spinner swivel – it doesn’t matter if you go through the eye from front to back, or back to front, and is up to personal preference.

Once the hook is on the spinner swivel, pull the kicker over the eye and then over the crook part of the spinner swivel as well, so that it is covered and the hook can’t become detached.

This is all that is needed to hold it on, as all of the pressure is taken by the metal crook when playing a fish and there is no chance of the hook coming off.

Step 11 – add whatever you are going to attach your hookbait with

Now add to the hook whatever you are going to be mounting your hookbait on – usually this will be a micro ring swivel (the ring part of this goes on the hook), but can also be a bait screw, or even just a rig ring (for instance if you’re planning to fish a bottom bait on a hair, that can then be tied to this). You can make up a few hookbaits in advance that are already attached to micro ring swivels etc.

Step 12 – thread on a hook bead

Carefully thread a Hook Bead onto the point of the hook and slide it around the bend until it is roughly opposite the barb, as this seems to be the optimum position for your hookbait to sit.

Step 13 – use floss to mount your bait

To mount your choice of hookbait, take some Bait Floss and put one end through your micro ring swivel, so you end up with the floss on it and with both ends roughly the same length.

Now take a baiting needle and use it to thread your hook bait onto both ends of the bait floss, and then slide it down until it is sitting on the eye of the micro ring swivel.

If you’re using a bait screw, then simply screw your hookbait onto it.

Step 14 – use a lighter to blob the tag ends

To secure your hookbait on the floss, either use a Floss Cap or just blob the tag ends of the bait floss (after trimming them to a suitable length for this) with a lighter without the addition of a cap. Either method will hold your bait securely in place. Your finished rig is now ready to be added to your chosen lead system and cast out.

If you are using more buoyant pop-ups then you may need to add some Dark Matter tungsten putty to your rig, or one of the special Korda Dark Matter Balancing Weights, which are designed to neatly fit onto the barrel of your spinner swivel, and pin down your pop-up hook baits.

Changing your hook on a spinner rig

To change your hook, simply repeat the process from Step 8, once you have removed the old hook. Items of terminal tackle such as kickers, hook beads, and micro ring swivels can all be re-used.