36 Crafty Carper

In this latest instalment of Jake Wildbore’s Rig Clinic, our young carp-catching machine looks in detail at one of the most simplistic yet effective carp rigs ever designed.

No.2 The Mag-Aligner

“Something that sets this rig apart from many others is the fact that it

doesn’t use a Hair. Instead you simply nick two or three maggots straight

onto the bend of the hook”

This highly effective rig has been much publicised by Rob Maylin, who has taken a number of incredible catches on the

rig over the past few years. The rig is particularly effective during the winter months when the nuisance species are an issue. I think one reason it works so well in winter is that the maggots from the PVA bag of freebies don’t wriggle very much in the cold water, meaning you keep a big pile of maggots around your hookbait, making it irresistible to any passing carp. The Mag-Aligner uniquely allows anglers to present a large amount of maggots in a compact area, thus enhancing the attraction to carp. It must surely be one of the most simple rigs around to tie, yet its effectiveness is mind-blowing. The rig incorporates a buoyant rubber maggot threaded over the eye of the hook, to create a line-aligner effect. This not only makes the hook much lighter but also makes it sit at a more vicious angle, allowing it to turn easier when inside a carp’s mouth and gain a better hookhold. Something that sets this rig apart from many others is the fact that it doesn’t use a Hair. Instead you simply nick two or three maggots straight onto the bend of the hook, which helps to make the hook a lot less conspicuous.

The rig is designed to be fi shed on a Helicopter lead system with a large ring swivel under the lead, to which you can tie a large PVA bag of maggots. You then carefully nick the hook into the side of the bag, making sure you don’t pierce a maggot. By fi shing the rig this way, it’s completely anti-tangle both on the cast and as it descends through the water to the lakebed – giving you 100% confi dence in your presentation. Once the bag has melted on the lakebed you will be left with your light, little hookbait right in amongst a pile of maggots, then once a big carp comes along and sucks in a mouthful of maggots, the hookbait will fl y into the mouth and nail it. There is, however, a drawback to this presentation, which is the distance to which it can be cast. The large bag of

maggots isn’t very aerodynamic and is very heavy, therefore you will struggle to fi sh further than 60-80yds with it – unless, that is, you’ve got a bait boat. Another downside to the rig is the potential for foul-hooking carp. The maggots can cause the carp to feed very ferociously, and with such a light hookbait wafting around, it is possible in all the commotion that the hook may catch hold of the carp outside the mouth. I personally have never had this problem, but you do hear of it happening on odd occasions, so be warned.

Despite this, there is no doubting that when you are really struggling for a bite in winter this rig and presentation really can make all the difference. If you can fi nd some patches of fi zzing

simply fl ick a Mag-Aligner on top of it and it won’t be long before the rod is roaring off.

The colour of maggots you opt to use really is a personal thing, although many people do like to use red ones to imitate bloodworm. Personally, my two favourites are red and white. When picking a venue to fi sh this

rig, it is advisable not to pick a water containing a large number of nuisance fi sh such as roach and perch, as they will be able to snaffl e the small maggot hookbait quite easily. You will soon realise if they are causing a problem because you will start getting odd bleeps and twitches.

I have used this rig to great success during hard sessions, especially in the winter months. The carp featured in the picture accompanying this piece is a low-20 that was nailed on the Mag-Aligner when other rigs and methods didn’t do the business. Maggots are one of the all-time great baits and their attraction to fi sh is unbelievable. I have also found another successful way of fi shing this method, and that’s by stalking in the summer months, dropping the bag in the margins or holes in the weed; this causes a minimal amount of disturbance and I can be confi dent that I have perfect rig presentation.

The Mag-Aligner can produce

awesome results.

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Above are the components that Jake uses to construct his version of the Mag-Aligner.

Cut a 10ins length of braid and attach one end to a hook using a fi ve-turn Grinner Knot.

Thread a rubber maggot onto a baiting needle, as illustrated in the picture above.

Crafty Carper 37

Crafty Carper Under-21s

HOWTO...

TIE A MAG-ALIGNER

Form a loop in the end of the braid and then thread the rubber maggot onto it.

Slide the maggot down the rig and into this position over the eye of the hook.

Nick two or three live maggots onto the hook and the rig is complete!

Now turn over to read two-time BYCAC winner Rob Sutton’s monthly blog

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The No.1 bait choice for thinking anglerswww.ccmoore.com

You will need a very fi ne

mesh when using maggots so they cannot escape.

This setup requires a Safe Zone Leader, in-line lead, a small rubber bead and a Size 8 ring swivel.

1Thread the in-line lead onto the leader and position over the swivel, as shown above.

Slide the ring swivel onto the leader and then place a small rubber bead just above the lead.

Attach the Mag-Aligner Rig to the swivel with a fi ve-turn Grinner and the setup is complete.

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HOWTO...

CREATE THE HELICOPTER SETUP

Simply tie the big bag of maggots to the ring underneath the lead. Now you can simply nick the hook into the PVA bag, as shown in the main pic.

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