Rig ring or tubing for blowback rigs?

Q. Is it better to use a small rig ring or a piece of silicone tubing on the hook when making a blow-back rig? Or are there certain situations when you’d use one over the other

**A. Tom Gibson -**It’s personal preference more than anything. Neither give you a restriction on the movement of the hair unless you use shrink-down tubing. Both have their positives and negatives. Using a rig ring allows the hair to reset if it does get blown back out of the fish’s mouth without hooking the bottom lip, whereas using a piece of silicone will force the rubber towards the eye of the hook and potentially hinder the presentation. This can tell you when you reel in whether you’ve been done or not though. Personally, I prefer the freedom a rig ring allows you to have, but whichever you use, they add important elements to the rig. If you'd like to learn more about the subject, I'd suggest having a search for some of the bits Scott has done about his noodle rig. You'll find some great info on why he prefers to always use a rig ring as the weight transfer of the hookbait is dramatically increased. After seeing it on the underwater cameras too last year, you can’t disagree with his thoughts!