What is a D-rig and how to use it for carp fishing

A D-rig is basically a way of attaching your hookbait to your rig and describes the way that it attaches to the hook via a D-shaped loop formed using a piece of monofilament or fluorocarbon line.

This rig is nothing new and has been around in various forms for years, and is also incorporated into many other rigs as the way in which the bait is attached.

It is a popular way of attaching pop-ups to rigs, including chods and hinged stiff rigs, but it is also a very effective rig where the focus is on the mechanics of the D and the freedom of movement that it gives the bait.

How do I create a D-rig

The simplest way to do this is to tie a knotless knot to your hook using monofilmant or fluorocarbon, them simply take the tag end that would normally form the hair, thread a micro swivel, bait screw, or similar on, then poke the tag end through the hooks eye, back to front.

Once you’ve set the size of the D that you want, trim the line protruding from the front of the eye of the hook but leaving enough that you can blob the end of it with a lighter, so it can’t go back through the eye.

A ‘proper’ D-rig will have a longer D, usually being tied to the shank opposite the barb via some form of whipping knot, then threading on your micro rig swivel, micro ring swivel, or Bait Screw Swivel, so it sits against the knot. Then simply pass the end of the hook link through the back of the eye and form a long D, which you can set how large it is, before securing it in place with a standard knotless knot.

You can also form Ds by using a whipping knot to attach the D of mono or fluorocarbon at both ends – one opposite the barb and the other by the eye – and this works well on long shank hooks that you want to use with other rigs, and which can simply be tied on in the case of something like a coated braid, or attached via a spinner swivel if fishing it on a Ronnie rig.

The overall size and shape of the D will depend on exactly what sort of presentation that you are trying to achieve, both in terms of how the hook sits with the bait attached, and also the way it behaves when a carp picks it up and how much movement the bait has relative to the hook – the longer it is, the further the bait can move.

How does a D-rig work

In the case of pop-ups, a bait sat fairly tightly to the hook on a small loop by the eye leaves the hook sitting up at an aggressive angle, with the point hanging down and ready to catch in the bottom lip of a carp.

When used with a larger D arrangement with a pop-up it makes the hook sit differently, and is especially effective with longer shank hooks in this situation, and it also gives the bait a lot more freedom of movement, independent to the hook, if it gets spat out and travels back along the D to towards the eye.

For wafters and bottom baits it tends to be used with a longer D due to the rig mechanics that this gives, not only helping the hook to turn over and catch hold in the bottom lip, but also giving the bait plenty of free movement as well, up and down the length of the hook shank, especially if a carp realises its mistake and tries to eject the rig.

The way the hook hangs down when the rig is taken into the mouth of a carp helps to make the point ‘heavy' and gives it a good chance of taking an initial hold. It has superb anti eject properties compared to many other rigs.

Should i use a stiff hooklink material

You want a D-rig to be fairly stiff so that the loop retains its shape and the micro rig ring swivel, or whatever you are using, can easily slide around it around.

So usually the D is constructed from either a monofilament line, fluorocarbon, or thicker stiff hook link materials such as Korda Boom or Mouth Trap, which can create that effect.

You also need to be able to blob the end with a lighter for most types of D-rig, and this necessitates having a nylon type of line which will melt and form a hard blob afterwards – unless you’re planning on using a whipping knot at both ends.

This can either by tied using a continuation of your hook link material, or whipped on separately where the hook link that you want to use isn’t one that can be blobbed – coated braid such as N-Trap for example.

IQ D-rig carp rig

One of the most popular rigs of this type is the IQ D-rig, which Danny Fairbrass has long been a big fan of, and the set-up became widely popularised by him and accounted for countless big fish from all over the country over the years.

It is a rig that many of our other Team Korda and Mindset anglers also swear by, including Scott Sweetman who has had a lot of success using it with wafter hook baits.

The IQ D-rig is tied using the Korda IQ2 fluorocarbon, which is fairly stiff, although not so much so that the hook sits at too aggressive an angle where the hook link exits the eye – you want it to be aggressive but not so much that the gape of the hook is closed up and the point is sitting in a way where it has less chance of catching, which can happen with an in-turned eye hook. The IQ2 also has the advantage that it is almost invisible in water due to its refractive index and so is very unobtrusive on the lake bed.

This rig is designed for use with wafters in particular, but it is also very effective with a snowman hookbait or even just a straight bottom bait. It can also be fished with baits other than boilies, such as balanced tiger nuts or Korda Fake Foods plastic baits such as corn.

The rig is so popular that there is even a ready tied version of it available if you don’t fancy making them yourself, which is tied up exactly how Danny would use it, and with a Kurv Shank hook, so you can simply just attach it to your line, mount your choice of hookbait, and you’re ready to cast out.

A big advantage of this rig is that the hook link material used helps to prevent tangles and helps to kick the rig out, as it has enough stiffness, but IQ2 is still supple enough that it will present well over any type of lake bed, whether hard clear spots or silt, and won't stick up like some stiffer materials can be prone to doing if the bottom is uneven.

What type of hookbaits can I use

A D-rig can be used with any type of hookbait, whether it is popped up, a slow sinking bait like a wafter or balanced bait, or just a straight bottom bait.

The type of D-rig which is suitable for each will vary, as will the overall rig that it is being presented on, but this type of arrangement for attaching baits to the hook is very versatile.

So, whether you’re looking for a pop-up presentation; wanting an effective way of fishing wafter baits, including snowman hookbaits, plastic baits, or balanced tiger nuts; or just looking to fish a standard boilie straight out of the packet, there is a D-rig set up that is effective for each.

D-rig Kickers

To take all of the hassle out of tying D-rigs, and especially the longer variety that involve tying whipping knots, which some anglers aren’t confident in doing, Korda came up with the D-Rig Kickers.

These kickers are basically a ready-made D, constructed from stiff and durable rubber, and which is simply pushed over the point of the hook, adding your own micro ring swivel or bait screw to it before pushing the other end over the hook point as well.

The D-Rig Kicker is then simply pushed around the hook, so one end fits neatly over the eye, and the other end of it is positioned wherever you want it on the shank, ideally opposite the barb which creates a nice long D.

You will have seen Danny Fairbrass using these kickers regularly in his videos, often for his favourite Ronnie rig set-up, as these kickers push far enough over the eye that they will keep the hook in place on a spinner swivel.

They can of course also be used on any other type of rig where you require the hookbait to be attached D style, and take all the hassle out of constructing these rigs, as once the D is in place you can simply attach your chosen hook link material to the eye of the hook.

These D-Rig Kickers are also reuseable, so should your hook become blunt and need changing, then simply crush the barb, thread off the kicker, and fit it onto a new hook instead.