Rig Guide | How to tie a margin stalking rig

In the warmer months, you will find carp in the edge whatever size of lake you are fishing, assuming you stay quiet and employ an element of stealth of course. 

Catching carp in close is preferable for many reasons. You can observe how they are feeding and bait up accordingly, rig placement is much easier than trying to land your hookbait on a small patch of gravel at 100 yards, and few sights are more exciting than watching a big carp pick up your hookbait and hook itself.

This rig offers excellent hooking properties. The large inline lead and short hooklink mean that a fish will come into contact with the full weight of the lead almost instantly.

Most anglers fish a boilie hookbait in conjunction with a PVA bag of pellets. If you want to fool warier carp try using a pellet hookbait instead as this will blend in perfectly with the free offerings.

So you don’t have to drill a pellet so that it can hair rigged, simply use a bait band instead. This will enable you to attach a fresh hookbait in seconds.

A) Fish the hookbait in a hair-rigged bait band

B) You’ll need to keep a hooked fish away from any marginal snag so a strong hook of at least size 8 is essential

C) A blob of tungsten putty keeps the hooklink pinned to deck and reduces the chance of a carp coming into contact with it and spooking

D) The lead is set up drop- off style. This means the leader runs over the outside of the lead as opposed to through the centre. When a fish picks up the rig, the swivel pulls out of the base and the lead will fall away. It’s important to lose the lead if you’re fishing close to snags such as reeds or overhanging branches 

E) A heavy inline lead of at least 4oz offers excellent hooking properties

F) Use a leader such as leadcore or tubing to protect your mainline from any marginal hazards