I recently watched the Tom Maker Video where he shows his version of a D Rig. I'd like to give it a go myself as he was quite adamant about how good the rig was and it also seems so simple to tie!

I was just wondering what hooks people use for this rig and if there is one you are ‘meant' to use

Thanks in advance
Scotty

In reply to Post #1
I use atomic chodda in size 5/6 or old fang twisters in the same size. I rarely ever use wide gapes like Tom's rig and personally prefer the chod hook sits. I tie it with amnesia clear in 20lb it if I want it stiff as a board I use esp stiff rigger in 25-30

I've seen people use chod patterns and Tom uses a straight beaked point. Trying to get to the bottom of what is more effective before I tie some up

In reply to Post #3
Any chod style hook is good. Beaked or straight point is fine, I'd use beaked on gravel. Can use hooks with a straight eye aswell like an gardner incizor or parapoint esp. All very effective patterns. Avoid hooks with interned eyes I would personally but people catch using them.

In reply to Post #4
YouTube the clone rig good video from garnder on the d rig

In reply to Post #1
I've used curved hooks with inturned eyes to good effect.

People fear the fluorocarbon snapping due to the stress of it being pulled over the eye of the hook but I've never had this happen and as a result I don't worry about which way the eye is turning

I have been using D rigs exclusively in my bottom bait and wafter fishing and do prefer a beaked point with a wider gape. Currently using ridgemonkey apex beaked in a size 4.

In reply to Post #1
I use D rigs quite frequently, and my hook choices are Solar 101's, Gardner Muggas and Kamasan B175's.

Three totally different types of hook, a straight shank, a curved shank and a straight shank with inturned eye.
All work!

The 101 and the Mugga I tend to tie up with a shrink tube line aligner, but a simple kicker of shrink or just plain silicon tubing on the B175.

Interesting! Thanks for all the advice lads. So from what I gather, the pattern isn't actually that important?

In reply to Post #8
I would just choose a hook pattern your confident in and go with it

In reply to Post #7
how do you tie the 'D' if you have a shrink tube kicker?

In reply to Post #10

how do you tie the 'D' if you have a shrink tube kicker?

15lb Amnesia, You do a knotless knot, rig ring on the tag end, push tag end through eye, lighter blob.

Then you thread shrink tube down the line, over the eye and shrink in kettle steam.

It is that simple

In reply to Post #11
101 almost exclusively

In reply to Post #1
i used size 5 ESP Grippers with mine (20lb clear amnesia) and they have an interned eye (though not hugely aggressively).

I used to use their d-7's which also had an interned eye, and beaked point. no issues with hook holds of the hooklink breaking.

In reply to Post #13
Gardner muggy is my go to hook

In reply to Post #4
I've seen it many times the hook link snapping at the eye when using fluoro with inturned eyes. I would def use a chod style hook in that instance (using fluoro). Also keeps gape open, not sure what the fascination is with the ultra claw like approach, can be detrimental

In reply to Post #15
I only use a palomar knot now when tying hooks to fluorocarbon, had the hooklink snap too many times when using a knotless knot or whipping knot. (Not applicable to D rig though)

In reply to Post #15
I suppose it does depend on the fluorocarbon hooklink material you are using. If it's a stiffer material then it will be an issue but using something softer like IQ 2 or ESP soft ghost (which is what I use) I think it's less of a problem.

I'm also swapping rigs after each fish so there isn't a chance for continued stress to form in that area as a result of catching several fish on the same rig.

Everyone has their own experiences I suppose, which is why we tend to do things differently.

In reply to Post #17
ESP chod hammers (not the longer shanked trig hammer) are my new go-to for this rig. Points go over on them failry easily (because theyre so sharp!) but I dont mind this as I dont catch much anyway...

In reply to Post #18
I love the trig-hammers on a D rig. Again, sharp and hard to deal with for the carp I think.

I was thinking to use IQ2 with these. Its a hooklink I really rate and have got on well with in the past. I'm still torn as to the hook pattern though. Seems very 50/50 with Chod vs other style hook patterns

I use the Gardner chod hooks sharpened by J Hayward. They work for me. You must have a couple of each pattern about the place to tie a up a few tests and see what you feel.

In reply to Post #1
Hi Scotty,

Couldn't work out how to add a picture here - help appreciated

this is a twist on the D rig I'm currently testing, I normally use 20lb Amnesia to a Gardner chod hook size 4 but wanted to use Muggas

the trouble is, it closed the gape up too much for me (Someone here said about using shrink tube) Anyway check out my FB Picture link, using the coated braid allows me to use a Mugga and keep the gape - I do however end up with the small supple section so not stiff all the way through. No idea on effectiveness yet, any feedback welcome

Thanks

*** Pic posted above

In reply to Post #22
Your link to picture isnt working for me.

Try using imgbb, select HTML (medium) dead easy

In reply to Post #23
Thanks Mate

Feed back very welcome lads, update - tried the shrink tube with amnesia + mugga thing and didn't like it

In reply to Post #3
The single most important aspect of the rig is where it's put mate. I would use 25lb clear amnesia cheap as chips and reliable. A chod style hook is the best pattern when using amnesia I have found. I've seen how Tom ties this rig and I believe he ties it direct to the swivel and covers with a anti tangle sleeve?. Now he catches an awful lot of fish so I'm not knocking him. But tie it with a perfection loop knot to the swivel and drop it in the edge. You will notice on the decent the hook is hanging down in a perfect position. Tie it straight to the swivel and cover with a anti tangle sleeve you will see it sits awkward and most of the time the point is facing skyward. The loop at the swivel is an absolute must for me.

In reply to Post #24
I don't strip the coating back and tie them as below , very good hooking rig that has caught me countless fish on cray infested foreign venues , I do strip it back after I've tied the rig to create a hinge though sometimes ....

In reply to Post #26
Nice, I may well have seen your rigs on another post. I spose the term D rig is fairly broad for any type of D on shank, yours is like the DF IQ one but with coated braid, where as mine is slightly closer the original amnesia D at the hook eye. I'm sure both will do the job, will test my Mugga version out and see how it performs against the straight through chod hook version. Again I think they'll both catch fish.

Appreciate the pic

Excuse my ignorance but is this not known more as a slip d rig? I was thinking to go more with the version Tom Maker referred to as D Rig. I like the simplicity of that version. The D rig with the whipping knot looks fiddly and that kind of put me off. (It's probably really simple to tie) If I was going down that route I would probably use a D Rig Kicker.

I literally wanted to double the ‘hair' back through the eye to make the d. That is why I was questioning the hook pattern!

Scotty

In reply to Post #28
The Tom maker rig is what I call a D rig, originally (I think) tied with Amnesia so I refer to it as the D rig or Amnesia D rig

The slip D is stripped back and a doubled up loop on the shank acting as a soft D, that's able to "slip" shown in this video
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h38SM3YyMz0

Or yeh just copy Tom Makers, I much prefer a fixed rigid D as it never tangles and is always reset. The soft slip D you can't guarantee its not tangling without PVA and even then its possible to tangle on fish rejections. Looks like he's using a wide gape beaked point in the pics I saw

The two pictures me and Carpe posted are just different takes on the "D" concept, ie a hook with some form of D on the shank for bait separation.

Hope this is useful
D

In reply to Post #1
Size 5 esp chod hammer to 20lb clear amnesia for me , bomb proof 👍

In reply to Post #24
Like the look of this a lot

In reply to Post #26
I used to use the exact same but instead of cutting the first tag end short, kept it long and made it the hooklink with a knotless knot, then fed the D straight back through the eye without the whippings making it a smaller D, this aided bait seperation.

I took it one step further and whipped bristlefilament to the shank with cotton and glue, then did very long D's coming back in through a shrink tube kicker about 2cm up from the hook, that was really good. pain in the a*** when you need a new hook though lol

In reply to Post #32
Huge fan of the D rig
I use 20lb clear amnesia and size 6 kamakura choddys, or 25lb and Size 4

Tie a knotless knot with a tag end where the hair is, whip down level on the shank with the hookpoint
Put a micro ring swivel on the tag
Feed the tag back through the eye and blob it with a lighter

Couldnt be easier and catches loads
I always use a wafter hookbait

i like a slip D personally. TA camskin and a size 4 trighammer.

In reply to Post #24
Looks very nice that Doobz , I may try that rig , looks a lot less hassle to tie than my rig

In reply to Post #35
Thinking anglers chody hooks for me but I slightly adjust the eye with a pliers inwards slightly, solid hook holds.

Brent

In reply to Post #10

 Interesting! Thanks for all the advice lads. So from what I gather, the pattern isn't actually that important?



In reply to Post #7
how do you tie the 'D' if you have a shrink tube kicker?

The advantage of the shrink tube kicker on the inturned eye B175 is that it gives very similar hooking as the (banned) bent hook, but without risk of the mouth damage the bent hook could cause

Hi Lads,

Just an updated version of my D rig, should anyone wish to use curve shanks and not close the gape up too much, Tied this coated and stripped section but could use anything straight through as well.

Please note I haven't tested this rig yet, but think it's gonna tick a lot of boxes for me. This was thought of as I like the amnesia D rig, but wanted to use a curve so i tried the slip D which is fab but sick of having to PVA the D on each of my missed casts, also more confident in this staying set should a fish do me over. Slip D I think can unset and sit funny after fish movement or aborted take. Any feedback welcome

In reply to Post #38
Hi,

Im looking to fish with a similar type of rig.
I want to fish a balanced snowman on a d rig, I will probably use a d rig kicker but unsure on hook pattern. I'm thinking either a esp trig hammer or a chod type?

Hooklink would either be IQ2 or esp tungsten.

Seems the consensus is mixed.

In reply to Post #39
Hi CJM,

Yes this is essentially what you would achieve with a D rig kicker.

IQ, won't give you the option of any flex near the hook. Depends if you think that's important or not. I reckon the coated braid option gives more movement, but does that matter. I don't really know, both will catch.

IQ definitely less tangle prone, the ESP I find too soft for Heli setups at range and have had some tangles. Also an alternative to IQ is amnesia, I love the stuff and its probably 10x cheaper than IQ. 5 quid for 100M,

20lb clear all the way for me, in my pic I tied that D with 25lb Amnesia

In reply to Post #38
Have a look at this doobz ....