Zig rigs - what are they and how to fish them

Fishing in mid-water can be incredibly effective at times, but is something that many anglers are still wary of doing.

A zig rig is basically a buoyant hookbait that is popped straight up off of your lead so that it fishes off of the bottom, with the depth determined by the length of your hook link, and targets carp that are looking for food in mid-water rather than feeding on the lake bed.

Zig fishing can be incredibly effective at times when the carp aren’t feeding on the bottom, and although many view it as a spring tactic, it can be effective at any time of the year.

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A zig rig is a very effective way of fishing for carp which aren't feeding on the bottom

It is certainly true that the spring time is when many anglers do most of their zig fishing, as the carp are just starting to wake up and aren’t really feeding properly, plus they will take full advantage of warm sunny days and the warmth they bring, and will often spend a fair bit of time in the upper layers of water, meaning that rigs presented on the bottom are ineffective.

It also means that you can take advantage of hatches of natural food that are located in mid-water, such as daphnia blooms, as when the carp are feeding on this type of food they can often largely ignore conventional baits on the bottom, sometimes for weeks at a time.

Zigs can be effective at any time of the year though when the fish aren’t feeding on the bottom, as long as you can locate what depth they are swimming around at looking for food.

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Carp fishing with zig rigs can result in more fish, especially at certain times of the year

 

Traditional zig rigs

Zig rigs are nothing new and have been around for decades, but traditionally have always involved a lead – usually on a lead clip so it releases when you hook a fish and you aren’t left with it swinging around on the line a long way from the fish – and a hook link, the length of which is determined by how far from the surface you want your hookbait to be.

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A traditional zig is best used in depths of up to 10ft or so

Although an effective way of fishing in shallower water, it poses big problems in water over 10-12ft – as already mentioned, potentially having a lead bouncing around during the fight unless it is ejected, but also the fact that whatever system you use to attach your lead, such as a lead clip, won’t wind through your tip ring and makes netting a fish on a longer hook link very difficult, especially if you are on your own.

If you are fishing in shallower water though, the traditional way of doing it is still favoured by many anglers and is effective, as you set the length of your hook link, cast out, and without any messing around, you know exactly how far off the bottom your hookbait is – and if you’ve plumbed the area also how far from the surface it is.

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A simple knotless knot is the best way to attach your pop-up, foam or even zig bugs hookbait

 

Solving the problem of fishing zig rigs in deeper water

In more recent years zig floats have become a far more popular, and in many cases effective way of fishing in mid-water, as they offer a lot more versatility.

The idea behind systems such as the Korda Zig Kit is basically that you are using a float popped up off the bottom and with a fairly short hook link attached to that, and that the depth that this float is set at can be adjusted very easily simply by letting more line off of the spool or by tightening up.

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An adjustable zig makes the whole process much easier in deeper water, and also has good hooking potential

Basically, your main line runs through a lead – ideally on a link such as that provided with our Zig Kits so that it is clear of any debris on the lakebed which might otherwise stop it running freely – and also through the centre of an inline clear float, which is attached to your hook link swivel. A hook link of typically around 4ft is then attached to that swivel, which is long enough that you don’t have to worry about the float potentially spooking the carp, but short enough that when playing a fish the lead is close enough to it that it won’t feel horrible and increase the risk of hook pulls.

Takes on zig rigs are notoriously finicky, and can often be single bleeps with the rod tip knocking or pulling down, as the fish has so much hook link to play with between it and your lead. The resistance caused by pulling a Zig Float through the water though, just a few feet from the hook bait, potentially aids with hooking though and is another plus point for this set-up over a standard zig.

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Playing a hooked carp is much easier with an adjustable zig rig

 

How to set an adjustable zig at the right depth

Once you cast out you let the float all the way up to the surface – a pair of binoculars is ideal for this, but you can also do it by feel and once it stops trying to pull line from between your fingers you know it is on the top, and this is how you reset them at night when you can’t see the float.

You need to know exactly how long your hook link is, as often you won’t be able to see your hookbait on the surface if fishing at longer range or there is any ripple on the surface.

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Binoculars are essential for this type of carp fishing in the mid and upper layers

You then slowly start to tighten your line by a foot at a time – you want to do this with the rod in the rest so it is as accurate as possible – and once you get to the length of your hook link (eg a 4ft hook link and having wound 4ft of line back onto the spool) you know that your hook bait is just about on the surface. From there you can keep on pulling it down a foot at a time until you reach your desired depth.

If you want to adjust it, you can either pull it down more or let off a foot of line at a time to move it up nearer the surface. If fishing multiple zigs at different depths and moving them around, it can be a good idea to keep a note on your phone of what depth each rod is currently at, so if you do get a take you aren’t left unsure of exactly what depth you’ve had it at, as this information is often critical!

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The Zig Float can easily be adjusted

 

Zig floats allow you to fish an exact distance from the surface

Unlike with a conventional zig set up, where you know exactly how far off the bottom your hookbait is, an adjustable zig rig does the opposite and allows you to set it an exact distance below the surface.

This is far more useful for zig fishing as often you will have an idea of how far under the surface you want your bait to be – maybe only a foot or two under if you can see fish cruising around on or very close to the surface; or possibly lower down if the fish aren’t showing themselves as obviously but you know they are in front of you.

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With an adjustable zig there is no need to plumb your swim or even have a rough idea of the depth, unlike with a conventional zig where that knowledge can often be critical, so you don’t cause any more disturbance than necessary, and it also means you can move onto showing fish, cast a zig out and immediately have it working at your preferred distance from the surface.

As your hook bait is nowhere near the lakebed it doesn’t actually matter what is on the bottom, whether it is clear or weedy - although the latter can affect how easily your zig float pops up and is adjusted.

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Precision is essential with this type of fishing

 

Work the depths

Finding the right depth is usually critical and sometimes even an adjustment of six inches can make all the difference, and after having sat actionless for hours, can sometimes produce several bites in quick succession.

So, if you do get a bite at a particular depth it is usually a good idea to immediately adjust your other rods to that depth, as these windows can sometimes be small before the carp change depth once again – sometimes even as a result of one of their mates having been caught whilst swimming around at that particular depth.

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If you watch someone who is really good at this type of fishing, such as Tom Dove, who was instrumental in the design of the Zig Kit, you will see that they are regularly tweaking things and searching out the fish and trying to make a bite happen. Which is very different to how zigs often get fished, where they are thrown out almost as an after-thought on your third rod, and just left to fish at whatever depth they were originally set at.

Being aware of how the fish might behave on your chosen venue definitely helps with this as well – for instance, how does their behaviour, and depth, change if the sun suddenly comes out, or it clouds over?

Or even, how do they behave on clear nights with a full moon versus dark nights with no moon, as zigs can be just as effective at night as they are during the day.

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Good bite indication is essential as takes can be very finicky

 

Try different hookbaits – types and colours

Whilst the depth at which the carp are swimming around at is a big factor in terms of success or failure, as ultimately you need to get a hookbait in front of them to have a chance of them taking it, you also need to be using something that they actually want to eat.

Often that is purely about colour, but it can also involve smell in the case of adding liquid attractors to your hookbaits, or even movement when using live baits such as maggots and worms, in conjunction with something such as cork to give them some buoyancy.

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A small tweak to the colour of your hookbait, such as adding a small fleck of yellow or pink to the top of a piece of black foam – one of the most popular hookbait choices is black foam – can make all the difference.

Or sometimes it might require a complete change of hookbait, such as going from a piece of foam to a small pop-up boilie that has been glugged in flavour; or something like a piece of cork topped with maggots or pieces of worm to give a live hookbait that gives off plenty of movement as well as being visual.

Whilst the visual aspect of your hookbait is usually what makes all the difference, smell/flavour can also play a part, and using the same hookbait type but soaked in a different liquid can also sometimes turn your session around.

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A natural bait fished in the water column can work well

Playing around with hookbait types, colours, and even flavours, can sometimes make all the difference and it will almost be as if a switch has turned on, and you go from no action to several in quick succession.

Although of course, whatever type of hookbait you choose, you need to get it fishing at the right depth in the first place in order for a carp to encounter it and be able to decide whether to eat it or not!

 

Prevent tangles

One of the biggest issues with zig rigs is that the whole thing ends up in a tangled mess after you cast it out and therefore isn’t even fishing properly.

Years ago you would see people placing their hookbait inside their mug or on an unhooking mat with the hook link coiled up, before casting out in order to try and prevent tangles, and also stop the hook link getting caught up on undergrowth.

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The Korda range even includes a Zig Magnet which was designed to solve this problem and could be screwed onto the end of a bank stick and was magnetic enough to hold the hook in place until the force of the cast released it.

This worked very well with conventional zig rigs, especially if used in conjunction with something like a nugget of dissolving foam, which helped to keep some separation between your typically small and light hookbait, and your main line, and significantly reduced tangles.

With an adjustable zig though you don’t have to worry about that and typically the hookbait is attached to the Zig Float during the cast, via something which will dissolve once it is in the water – that is usually either a dissolving foam nugget that is stuck to the float, or by using PVA tape or string wrapped around it to hold the hook securely against the float during the cast.

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If you do this and your hook link is 4ft long, you are left with a 2ft loop hanging down below the float and lead arrangement, which obviously has far less potential to get caught up on anything during the cast, versus a longer trace.

Because the hookbait is attached to the float – albeit it temporarily until it is in the water and the PVA melts – there is zero chance of that tangling around your line. The only thing you have to make sure of is that the loop in your hook link is completely open rather than twisted – if it is twisted before you cast then the chances are that it will be once in the water as well and won’t be fishing properly.

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The Korda Zig Kit makes it very easy to get rid of any twist in this loop, as it includes a proper ball bearing swivel, with a quick link for hook link attachment and a tapered sleeve to cover it. This type of swivel allows for rapid rotation that is as resistance free as possible, and by twiddling the sleeve around you can easily remove any twist before casting out.

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The anti tangle sleeve helps ensure your hook link isn't twisted

 

Scale down

Tackle for zig fishing is a real balancing act, as you need it to be subtle enough for a carp to take the hookbait in the first place, yet strong enough to give you a good chance of landing anything that you hook.

Because your hookbait is positioned mid water, and often not that far from the surface and sunlight (or even moonlight) coming through the water, the hook and hook link material that it is attached to tend to stand out far more than they otherwise would do when on the lake bed.

That is even more the case when you take into account suspended solids in the water, such as algae or particles of silt, that will cling to your hook link and give it the appearance of being much thicker and really make it stand out as a solid line – you will probably have seen this with your main line going out into the lake from your rod tips sometimes, especially in the spring and summer. You can reduce the impact that has by recasting fairly regularly and also by cleaning your hook link with a cloth before every cast.

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A thinner hooklink material can make a big difference

Aside from that, it obviously makes sense to use a hook link that is as invisible as possible to start with, and whilst fluorocarbon might seem the obvious choice, it is heavy and sinks, so is no good for zigs, despite it being almost invisible in water due to its refractive index.

The only real choice is to use some sort of monofilament line, and ideally as thin as possible, and there are specialist lines designed specifically for this, such as the Korda Zig Line which comes in 7lb, 9lb, or 11lb breaking strains, and is pretty thin diameter for its breaking strain, as are other similar pre-stretched lines such as those in the Guru range that are favoured by match anglers, and have become popular zig lines with carp anglers as well.

If you go any heavier than this then you will dramatically reduce your chances of a take, and anything much lighter and you are running a real risk of not landing the fish and your hook link parting on anything it comes into contact with, or even just via the fish making a sudden lunge close to the bank on a short line.

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Small hooks, compared to what you normally use, will bring more bites

Your hook is also very visible, especially in gin clear water, and you want something that is strong, sharp and reliable, relative to its size. The Korda Mixa was originally designed for floater fishing, where hook size, and how obvious it is, also makes a big difference, but has found favour with many zig anglers as it is available in sizes all the way down to a size 12, yet is still strong enough to land big carp.

Other patterns will also work as long as they are a small enough size and aren’t too heavy a pattern, and a lot comes down to personal choice.

 

Storing your zig rigs

When you do find the fish at a particular depth and willing to take zig hookbaits, then you want to be able to maximise your chances as fish as effectively as possible, as they can quickly move to another part of the lake or change the depth they are at.

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Whatever depth you've caught carp at, you want to get a rig back out in the same position quickly

It makes sense to have some zig rigs already tied up and ready to go, as you would do when fishing on the bottom, and if you are using foam then you can have different colour combinations already on the hair and ready to cast, with several of each colour in case you suddenly find a winning combination and want to quickly change all your rods to that.

The best way to store your zig hook links is in a Korda Zig Box, which will keep them in perfect condition, and tangle free, until you are ready to cast them out. You can even buy ready tied zig rigs as well.

 

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