Scott Sweetman - The IQ2 D Rig

Arguably the easiest rig to tie, the IQ D Rig has been around for many years, and it’s still as effective as ever. It’s a rig I’ve been drawn to in recent years and in the past few seasons, I’ve had some mega results on it, catching commons and mirrors from some tricky circuit waters fishing for highly pressured carp.

I wanted a rig that was simple to tie, would eliminate tangles and still be an effective hooker of carp. For me, the D Rig ticks all these boxes. It’s essentially a knotless knot, with the hair bend back round and pushed through the hook’s eye, where it is then blobbed in place, leaving a nice rounded D at the rear of the hook, hence the name.

With the bait attached to a micro ring swivel and able to slide freely on the D, it creates plenty of movement for the hookbait, and also allows the hook to remain heavy underneath, with enough movement to catch hold once sucked in.

I favour adding a tiny section of silicone, trapping the D further up that shank of the hook, which in turn, extends the D itself, creating more movement for the bait, not only making it appear more natural, but also helping hookholds.

I fish this with a size 6 Kamakura Wide Gape X, a hook I’ve grown to love and since using it, I can honestly say I’ve not lost a single fish and taken mirrors to 43lb and commons to 45lb! As you can imagine, my confidence in this rig is so high.

I fish it on a length of IQ2, which is pretty much invisible in the water and stiff enough to kick everything neatly away from the lead, yet not so stiff it hinders hooking potential. As with all my rigs, I like to have a nice long hooklink, of around 10-inches or more. This just gives the carp another element to deal with and I also feel you receive a better presentation with a longer rig.

As with all my rigs, I fish it on a Heli Safe and the lightest lead I can get away with, usually no more than 1.5oz. Personally, I feel that with a slack line, there is enough resistance to hook a carp and with a razor sharp kamakura hook, they are pricked as soon as that bait is sucked in, so I really don’t believe a heavy lead offers any advantage.

I can fish this rig on a variety of lake beds, over a variety of baiting strategies. Clean silt, sand, clay or gravel would be my favoured bottom to fish this rig, any dirty silt or low-lying weed, then I would opt for a low-lying pop up on a spinner or hinge. In regard to baiting over this rig, I tend to stick to hemp and boilie, my favoured mix all year round, but it’s versatile for a variety of baiting situations.

Then finally in regard to hookbait with this rig, again, you can be quite flexible. You can fish it with a bottom bait, but I’d rather use a balanced hookbait, either a wafter, snowman or even a balanced nut. Keeping that hookbait light will allow the hook to stay beneath it when sucked in and help convert those chances.

A cracking little rig, super easy to tie and one, to this day, has not let me down.