The Korda Rig Safe range and other hook length storage options to protect your rigs

When you go to all the trouble and effort of tying up your carp rigs in advance, then you need to ensure that by the time you reach the lake they are still as good as when you first tied them.

That means using some sort of carp rig box or other type of hook length storage system which has been specifically designed to protect them during transport, and ensure that they don’t get damaged – not just the hook points, but also things such as kinks in booms – or end up in a tangled mess before you even get a chance to use them.

You need something that protects all your hook links during transit, but also also gives you quick and easy access to them when you need to use them, and allows you to quickly find the one that you want.

So, when you arrive at the start of your session and want to get your rods out before doing anything else and most of your gear is still on the barrow, you can just grab your rig case, clip on your hook links, and cast out.

Korda have developed a range of rig storage solutions to suit any angler, whatever type of fishing you’re doing, and rig that you’re using – whether that be more conventional rigs, chods, or zigs – and also to cater to how many spare rigs that you want to be carrying with you, as those fishing prolific lakes are likely to go through them faster and to have more tied up to start with, and a wider variety as well to allow them to tweak things.

Rig Safe carp rig boxes

The most popular type of hook length storage system is one of the Korda Rig Safe range, as these clamshell rig cases not only have loads of storage space and have been purpose designed for carp rigs in order to protect both the hook link and hook as much as possible.

They are based on a clamshell design and constructed from rugged, high impact moulded plastic, in order to withstand being kept in a pocket of a rucksack, carryall, or your Carp Porter barrow bags, without getting damaged, and they are finished with a soft-touch rubber coating which helps ensure that they won’t easily slide off of your knee or bivvy table when in use, or anything else you stand them on which might be at a slight angle. You definitely don’t want your open rig case falling on the floor!

You also need to avoid it coming open during transit and potentially spilling out all your rigs, so all of the Rig Safe boxes have strong magnetic fasteners, which ensure that they stay closed, but are still easy enough to get open when you need to access them, even in the winter when you have cold hands.

Inside are foam rig boards – on both sides for the Rig Safe Large and Rig Safe Mini, and on one side for the Rig Safe Combi – which are made from a high density material which is built to last and ensures that you can keep on repeatedly sticking pins into it and they will still take a firm hold and won’t come loose or fall out.

Each one also features ridged, machined aluminium hook retaining bars which are designed to hold your hooks in place, and once you pin the rig out straight and tight, there is no way it can come loose.

The shape of the bar and recess also ensures that your hook points stay well protected and can’t come into contact with anything that might damage them, and if you are using kickers or shrink tubing extensions then this recess provides space for them and helps to keep their shape.

Each Rig Safe comes supplied with the pins you will need to use it – you can buy more separately, depending on how many rigs you intend to store – and features both single and double pins.

The single pins are used to pin your hook link swivel, or loop in the end of it, securely to the board to that the rig is stretched tight.

The double pins have been designed to allow you to use longer hook links than the length of the Rig Safe, with hook link materials that don’t have any memory, such as braid, and where you can use the double pin to effectively double them up in the case, and still use a single pin through the swivel or loop to secure them. So, if you have the larger 12 inch Safe, you can still easily use it for 18 inch (just as an example) long rigs if you choose to.

The Rig Safe Large is perfect for anglers who like to have lots of spare rigs with them, or who prefer to use longer rigs, as it has three hook bars and space for up to 90 hook lengths and is 12 inches long – all of the Rig Safes have a marked ruler on the outside of the case, which is useful when tying your rigs and trying to get them the exact length you want them to be.

For those of you who don’t need to carry as many rigs and who don’t need a hook length case that is so long, there is the Rig Safe Mini, which has two hook retaining bars and enough space for 60 rigs. It is nine inches long so will conveniently fit into your luggage, such as outer pockets for quick access.

Another popular choice is the Rig Safe Combi, which has a rig board on one side of the clamshell case, and on the other there are 12 flip top compartments for keeping all your essential rig components that you might need when getting your rods out, such as kickers, hook beads, shrink tubing, micro ring swivels, hair stops, and the like. At eight inches long, it has space for 20 rigs.

Damian Clarke Ronnie rig storage hack

These cases have all been designed originally for rigs that already have a hook attached and which can be hook over the retaining bar.

But these days a lot of anglers are using Ronnie rigs, or spinner rigs, as well as other set-ups involving a boom and some sort of quick-change way of attaching the hook via a spinner swivel.

Korda’s Damian Clarke, who was involved in designing the Rig Safe range originally, has come up with a handy little hack for that and for storing these types of rigs without needing to pin them at both ends.

The machined aluminium hook retaining bar can easily be popped out from where it is mounted in the case, and then all you need to do is take some large rig rings – Damian cuts his from size 8 ring swivels - and thread them onto the bar, with enough rings so you can position one in each groove once you’ve popped the bar back into place.  

Then it is simple a case of hooking the crook on your spinner swivel onto the ring and then pinning the other end of your boom tight. A very easy and neat way of strong your booms so they stay perfectly straight and with minimal hassle, and no extra pins needed.

Chod rigs need to be stored differently

Chod rigs tend to use a hook link material with a lot of memory – such as Korda Mouth Trap – which means that once you have bent or steamed it into the perfect curved shape, it will remain like that.

So, the last thing you want to be doing is storing your chod rigs stretched out straight on a conventional rig board, as that will end up taking all of the curve out of it, and your careful preparation getting them just right will all be wasted.

The Chod Safe carp rig boxes are cylindrical in shape, with a hard plastic cylinder inside, complete with machined aluminium hook retaining bars, and high density foam for pinning your chod rig swivel to, so as to enable you to store them so that their curve is maintained, and when you take them out of the box they are ready to use.

Like the other Rig Safe boxes, it is made from tough high impact moulded plastic, with a soft touch rubber coating, and magnetic fasteners to prevent accidental opening, but which still allow easy access.

The inner cylinder even has a pop out handle with grooves around it which help you to steam your chod rigs into the perfect curved shape, without burning your fingers. It also has space for three leadcore leaders, complete with Heli-Safe Systems, which can be wrapped around it, so you can literally get here chod rigs out on arrival, with everything you need in one box – just add your hook baits and you’re ready to go.

Zig rig hook length boxes

Zig rigs present their own problems due to the length of the hook links that you are using, even if using adjustable zigs, the rig is usually at least four foot long.

These lengths of finer diameter monofilament lines can easily end up in a tangled mess, or get damaged and kinked, if you don’t store them properly. You also want to be able to quickly switch between different lengths of zig whilst fishing them and be able to pick out a suitable one without having to unravel loads of different ones, or needing to tie one up from scratch.

The Korda Zig Box is a high impact plastic box with a tinted, hinged lid for ease of access, and inside there are four 45mm EVA spools, each with a lip on it to prevent line from sliding off of the ends.

You simply wrap your zig rigs around the spools and pin them securely in place, and you can easily use a marker pen to write on the spool what length the rigs are – for instance if you store all your ten foot zigs on the same spool. The high density foam Rig Spools are also sold separately, so you can store lots of different length zigs and just take the ones, in the Zig Box, which you are most likely to need for that particular session. They even come with a handy plastic canister which fits into the centre of the spool and holds all the spare pins.

These foam cylinders can also be used for storing different types of leaders – such as Dark Matter or Kable leadcore ones - as well, and will still fit in the box even with those and the lead system components attached.

Korda Boom Tubes

If you are just looking to store and protect your boom sections, then there is a very easy and compact way to do it.

The Korda Boom Tubes come in 6in. or 9in. versions, so are long enough for any typical size of boom section, and are designed to prevent them from becoming kinked or damaged prior to use.

You can fit up to 30 booms in each of these hard plastic tubes, which have secure rubber end caps on each end for easy access, but which won’t come off during transit.

These are a great option if you are just using rigs such as a Ronnie rig and only need a carp rig box which will store those, without the hooks attached, as 30 booms is enough to last you for a very long time.

Other hook length storage - tackle boxes

There is also the option to store rigs in some tackle boxes, along with all of your other rig bits, and this is the case with all of the Korda range.

The original Korda Tackle Box came with a rig board integrated into the lid, which had our machined, grooved aluminium hook retaining bar to hold the hooks securely, plus magnets for the other ends of your hook lengths which held them in place against the board.

The more recently released Tackle Box Large features a full how density foam board in the lid, along with two hook retaining bars and enough space for 56 pre-tied rigs, which are held in place via single or double pins – in exactly the same way as in a Rig Safe. It also features a special bar for attaching the crook end of spinner swivels to, which is great for fans of the spinner rig.

Even the Basix Tackle Box has some rig storage space, via removeable rig tray that has a foam board and a grooved hook retaining bar for up to eight rigs.

So, depending on how many spare rigs you tend to take with you, and the type of rigs you are using, it may well be the case that all you need is the hook length storage space that is provided in one of these tackle boxes, rather than a separate carp rig box, and you can store them along with all the rest of your terminal tackle all in one place.