Specimen Fishing Tips | The best big roach rig - Ryan Hayden

The most popular and effective type of bolt rig for roach has to be a helicopter set-up. 

It is 99 per cent tangle-free and when used in conjunction with short 2ins or 3ins hooklink, it is a very effective self-hooking rig. 

The helicopter rig - 60g blockend feeder and a short 2-inch hooklink

I like to use a relatively heavy bobbin to ensure that the line between the rod tip and the feeder is kept fairly taut to increase the self-hooking properties of the rig even further. 

Use a heavy bobbin to increase the self-hooking properties of the rig

When fishing like this for big roach, bites will often be proper drop-backs (a fish picking the bait up and swimming towards you), or line will be taken. Either way, ensure that the freespool mechanism on the reel is set loose enough not to pull the hook on the take.

I use 1.25lb test curve Avon-style rods, with small freespool reels loaded with 8lb mainline. Feeders are 40g-60g blockends, fished alongside short 2in-long hooklinks and size 18 hooks.

A 3lb 10oz roach caught on this devastating set-up