Fake Weed Carp Rig

One carp rig that I have used to good effect on many fishing sessions is the fake weed rig. I have caught numerous carp on this effective rig although, none have been of any real size, the biggest carp caught was 18 pounds. But, because I have a few of these already tied up I can easily and quickly tie them on and target fish immediately on arrival at any peg I want to fish.
I sometimes use this rig if the carp in the lake are pressured and have probably seen many different carp fishing tactics before. This rig has the benefit of covering most of the end tackle and seems to give me an edge for fooling the wariest of carp. It is also useful to use in the shallow water or the margins, especially along the edges of weed clumps.
The plastic weed actually floats so I find it best to use with pop up presentations. The weight from the lead causes the weed to stand straight so it blends in well with other weeds or amongst other debris.

Creating the Fake Weed Carp Rig
In the above picture it shows the fake weed rig completed. The rig line is threaded through a few small clips on the weed stem and the clips are pushed back to hold the line against the weed. I use separate mono line to whip the line of the rig and weed together in 3 separate places to make it more secure. The whipped line is glued in place. This holds the weed and line from the rig together and makes the whole system much stronger so it lasts for months. To complete the weed section a standard swivel is tied on the bottom end of the weed. The fake weeds can be left in the tackle box ready for quick set up on arrival at a fishing peg.

When I'm ready to fish with this rig I'll place a free-running lead (usually a Stonze type) to my main line push on a rubber bead and then tie the line to the swivel at the bottom of the fake weed. For the top part of the rig I can quickly clip on a short pop up hook link onto the swivel at the top of the weed. I usually have stiff mono hook links already tied so I only have to tie on a pop up boilie using bait floss. I always make sure I have a swivel positioned at the top of the weed as this allows the pop up bait to turn through 360 degrees. If a carp approaches the bait from the opposite side of the hook point the pop up rig link will turn when the fish sucks at, or picks up, the bait.

Flexible Carp Rig
The picture above shows how flexible the fake weed rigs can be. I can easily and quickly change hook size, bait, link length and presentation points. In the weed shown above I have the rig line exiting the weed at mid-point rather than through the top, this means I can pull the line down until the pop up bait is positioned right next to the fake weed. Doing this will make it look like a bait has fallen down and caught between weed stems. This different rig presentation has helped me to bank a few more carp from the edges of weed beds.

Carp Safety
I prefer to use barbless hooks for this type of carp weed rig. If a big carp manages to break the line at the hook link or before the lead, it can get rid of the hook link easier and wont have to drag a piece of fake weed around in its mouth. Safety for the carp is also the reason why I only use a free-running lead set up with this weed rig. If a fish manages to break the main line during a fight, the lead will fall off the end leaving the carp a chance to get rid of the weed link.


Fake Weed Range
The company that makes the weeds have a large range of different weed styles and colours. There are some small detailed versions and some long types which look just like Canadian pond weed. Below is a picture of a few in the range. I bought mine from a large pet store in Merry Hill shopping centre in Dudley.