Perfect Paste Rig

Hi Chaps,

As promised. A little 101 in paste rigs. Some will agree with the follwing rigs, some may disagree, all i am giving you is a method i have used on 100's of occasions to win matches and catch over 200lb of Fish in one sitting.


Tip 1:

The float, as you may know - its good to have a long float for stability in the water. It helps masses for the float to have a fairly long stem to. I personally prefer the Preston Innovations PB22 - I like its slim body and i use sizes between .5 - 1g.

A long stem helps a lot to detect liners over real bites and it also keeps it stable in the water. The above float is all i uses for Paste fishing. (I also use it for Chop worm on occasions too).

Tip 2:

So we have our float sorted. Its time to actually make the rig its self. The next stage is to pick our line. I personally don't use anything other than PowerLine, I stick to what i know works for me and this has over the years. I carry a wide range of sizes but for the carp i will be targeting on these specific rigs are within 2-10lb region so i reckon 6lb will suffice for open water and 8lb for marginal swims. I will twin this with 13 & 15 Hollo Elastic from Preston Innovations. *Quick tip* I avoid using hook lengths while paste fishing as you don't want anything within 2ft of the hook if possible.

Probably the second most important item in the rig is the Hook. For paste specifically try to use the biggest hook possible (Whilst keeping to venue rules). I personally like Middy and Drennan Wide Gapes in the larger sizes - Around 8 - 12.

Be careful with silver hooks with picky fish.

Now we have our hook, its time to sort the weights and the shot pattern out. I opt every time for a mid shot pattern. Meaning if its a 6ft rig. I'll have my weight @ 3ft above the hook, just keep an open mind whilst setting up and try to keep your shot in the mid range between your float and hook. It'll save you striking and liner after liner.

Leave a small gap in your shots and you wontget the curly wurly effect as above!

The finished article should look something similar to this.....

Just like to thank the bit of Banana peel for acting as bait.

In my experience, i have found paste fishes well up to around 6ft of water. What I have also found paste fishing is that your hook doesn't stay sharp for too long. So the wise idea would be to tie several. I tie 2 Up to go on spare top 2's and 1 to stay in my box. So i have an immediate back up and a 3rd if need be.

Its also good to label your floats. In order to get the right one at each time. I only put simple info on my labels, such as hooks, line etc...

4ft Deep, 1Gram Float, Drennan Wide Gape 10 and 6lb Power line.

Paste fishing is an art form. Once you have mastered Paste you will improve your catch rate wonders. Its a bait that produces when no other baits will, Its also very effective when the fish are very lazy and basking. One of the bad point in paste fishing is the amount of fish you have in your swim at once. Its difficult to monitor but one thing i will mention and stick to every time is *****DO NOT FEED ANYTHING******

you WILL get liners and most likely foul hooked fish, but if you follow your tips above. You WILL catch more fish. Stay aware of your hook. Don't be afraid to change hook if you feels its not as sharp as it could be.

Come back tomorrow and i'll show you my ingredients, mixing, Tactics & Cupping the bait in.

See you tomorrow,

Nathan.