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The combination of the 360 degree rig makes it one of the hardest carp rigs to eject. The weight of the swivel and ‘rig ring’ can also help in the hooking of the fish. This just adds that little more weight that i feel is just enough to pull the hook point down towards the bottom of the bottom lip of your prey.

As the picture below shows, the 360 rig can move in 3 different ways; the hook can turn through 360 degrees, the swivel can move up and down on the shank freely, and the hook link can move a little back and forth upon the shank. In my own set up of this rig I personally choose to use a slightly shorter long shank, with the Gardner 'mugga' and the JRC '360 2 MBT' but i have also had good results using the 'longshank mugga' as most anglers i know tend to use the longer shank.

The 360 rig also has a blow-back system (anti-eject), this comes into affect when the carp tries to blow the bait back out of the mouth. All in all a very good pop-up rig to have in your armoury.

On my variation below I prefer to use a small rig ring for the hair. Again this is something that I personally prefer to use as it enables easy adjustment in different hair lengths and bait situations but there are many variations of this excellent carp rig about. The choice of using a larger rig ring which connects the ‘hook length’ to swivel, is also dependant on personal preference. Many people I know use it & some would just rather tie the line direct to the swivel.

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I’ve had many good bags of carp through the summer and winter on this rig when boilies are proving to be useless! This rig is highly successful when presenting imitation baits as a ‘pop-up’ method. For fishing with this rig I normally use it on the ‘method feeder’ to a 5 inch hook length with rig putty halfway from the inline ‘method feeder’ to hook with great affect. Just load your 'maggot clip' with immitation baits or half rubber, half real for that little extra movement.

Also, Instead of the small rig ring between both line stops on the shank of the hook, use either a size 12 mini swivel, I find the Solar ones are excellent and never let me down, or simply use it as I have in the picture and place your maggot clip onto the small rig ring. Opttions of a mini swivel or SOLAR 'SPIKER' is excellent when using imitation boilies or pellets (as pop-up's).

Many anglers again would use something like a long shank Gardner ‘mugga’ hook but I prefer the smaller Gardner ‘mugga’ hook and have had better results on it, the reasons I think this rig works better than the longer shank version is; when you have a slight undercurrent the ‘maggot clip’ will move back & forth over a shorter distance especially more so with 'live maggots' (asticots). This in turn will provide a more ‘jerky’ reaction when hitting the stops rather than gently sliding on a longer distance up & down the hook shank. My preferred rig any way!

BLOWBACK RIG

As it suggests, this rig is designed to prevent the carp blowing out the hook & bait. The baited hair, when blown out, is designed to move towards the shank via the running rig ring and finaly stopping some distance past the eye of the hook, leaving clear the hook bend and point for ultimate hooking capabilities. Again in my rig picture you will see that I have used a stiff hooklength  and I have stripped the coating back on the hair to reveal the inner braid. This is personal choice and everyone has their own preferences but a braided hooklength is the normal set-up for this rig. 

THE STIFF RIG

The ‘Stiff rig’ is predominantly used with a stiff mono like Kryston's Krystonite and used with good affect with pop-up’s. Here in Portugal I use this rig with a stiff coated braid such as Kryston ‘SnakeBite Gold’ when fishing on the bottom. It’s a rig that makes it very hard for the carp to eject.

I would never try this rig as a pop-up rig for the obvious reasons unless using a good mono like Kryston ‘Krytonite’ or a good 'Suffix' mono.

Again, predominantly used as a ‘pop-up’ rig enabling you to keep your stiff section of your hooklink (the boom) away from your bait area and leaving, easy, light and flexible movement in your final pop-up length. For my ‘hinged rig’ I use various Kryston hooklengths which are more than easy to strip back to the required depth of your pop-up as you can see in the picture. Once you have created your rig as below and stripped back the coating to your required length, simply place a portion of rig putty around the hinge (stripped coating) you have created.

There are many bits & pieces and ways you can create your own personal ‘hinged rig’ but this is my favourite for the waters I fish. Quick and easy!

THE LINE ALIGNER RIG

The ‘line aligner’ rig, is used to generate a much quicker hook turn on a take. There are many lengths & angles you can mould the shrink tube to, from extreme to slight, short to long. The most successful ones for me are the ones in the pictures.

To create this rig, using a simple braid hair rig; take a length of shrink tube around 20cm long. Use a baiting needle to peirce through the length around 0.5mm from one end of the tube. Peirce needle is then pushed through the tube to your on waiting hook length. Pull the loop (opposite end to your hair) of your rig which connects to your mainline through the tube and back out of the hole you have made. Pull the hook length all the way through the tube until the braid is pulled through and the eye of your hook is sitting halfway down the shrink tube.

I normally shrink the tube when half of the shank of my hook is in the tube. Onc you have it in place, either steem over a boiling kettle or if at home use the wife's 'hair dryer' like me, much quicker! Make sure the line runs out of the hole that the hook point, points to. The bend of the tube should look like the image above. Alternatively you can just pass the braid straight out of the other end of the shrink tube without peircing it with your needle.

In some examples of this rig, and there are many, some anglers place a more severe bend in the tube which allegedly gives maximum assistance in ‘turning’ the hook. I’ve used both ‘sever’ & ‘slight’ rigs and have had more success on the ‘slight’ variation, in fact, so slight it almost appears straight.