Of all the rigs in a pole angler’s armoury, the humble paste rig might be the most misunderstood, which is mad, really, because it’s also one of the simplest to set up and arguably the most devastating when it comes to catching proper lumps.
There’s no two ways about it, if you want to catch carp, and I mean big, proper carp on the pole, the paste rig deserves a permanent place in your rig tray. It’s not fiddly, it doesn’t need a fancy shotting pattern, and it tells you the second your bait’s fallen off. What more do you want? Love it or loathe it? It can’t be ignored.
Find a flat spot
Let’s start with the most critical part, plumbing up. You need to get this right. Paste only works when it’s sat dead still on the deck, so take your time with the plummet. Drop it all around the swim until you find a nice flat spot. If it’s even slightly sloped, you’re wasting your time. Get this bang on and everything else falls into place.
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The paste rig
For an effective paste rig you want a buoyant float, with a robust stem, slim tapered body and a thick, long bristle. You’re looking for something that’s easy to see, rock steady, and able to support the sheer lump of weight you’re about to dangle beneath it.
The shotting? Couldn’t be easier. Just fix a bulk of shot around 10” above the hooklength and that’s it. The aim is to cock the float, so the full length of the tip is all that’s visible above the water, so the paste pulls the float down as it registers on the bristle, that way you will know if it has fallen off.
As for the hook, go big, aiming for something between an 8-12, depending on fishery rules. The beauty of paste fishing is that the bait is moulded around the hook, the fish aren’t inspecting your rig under a microscope, they’re hoovering it up like it’s the last meal.
Finally, it’s time to fine-tune the depth. Clip the plummet back on and drop the rig in. If the entire sight tip is sticking out, you’re too deep. Slide the float down until just about 1cm shows with the plummet in place. That’s perfect.
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Know when to rebait
Here’s the magic of the paste rig, the float tells you everything and it lets you know when the paste has come off the hook.
When the paste is moulded perfectly around the hook, the float will sit rock solid with just the 1cm of tip showing, but as soon as the paste breaks down, which it’s meant to do, the float lifts.
When a bite comes, you’ll know as the float either buries like there is no bottom on the lake, rises before vanishing, or starts bobbing its way out of the swim, whatever the indication, pay attention, the float won’t stop still when feeding fish are in the peg.
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Give it a go
Paste fishing on the pole is a tactic that regularly accounts for double-figure carp, real back-bending, elastic-stretching monsters. All with a rig so simple it’s almost laughable.
So, if you’ve been putting off paste fishing because it seemed a bit mysterious, don’t. Embrace it. Tie one up, mould on a lump of paste, and hold on, fish it long, short or in the margins. You might just land the biggest fish in your peg.
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