Hair Rig Question

Lots of good questions there...sure signs that you have been bitten by the carping bug . I'll try to answer what i can...

First, yes you can make hair rigs in advance...i tie all of mine at home, varying the hooks i use, as well as the length of the hair, and keep them on a piece of cardboard to prevent tangling.

As far as gluing the hair when using the no-knot...a lot of people will do that using some sort of super glue or fishing glue...i've never really had to do it, though there have been times when the loop will slip a bit. Kind of depends on the style of hook you're using...but you can't go wrong with a dab of glue.

When tying my hair rigs (using the no-knot) i use braided line of a fairly heavy weight. Everyone has their favorites...i've used powerpro, berkley whiplash, and spiderwire stealth (which is what i use now). The most important thing to me is finding a braid that won't "unravel". Anything will work, though.

Just about any bait you can imagine can be used on a hair...which is one of the biggest strengths of this method of presenting bait. I mostly use corn/maize or boilies. Anything big enough and tough enough to put a bait needle through can be used...or you can even tie or glue a bait to a hair. As far as fishing doughbaits...theres a few methods. My favorite is to put a piece of maize (or other tough, small bait) on the hair and then mold the dough around the maize. Or you can use a piece of foam, cork, bead, anything in place of the maize...but i like to use maize for when the dough breaks down. Anothe popular method is to use a small spring (similar to what's in a ball point pin) and attach it to the end of the hair...this will hold the dough even better.

As far as how much weight to use...depends on whether you're using a fixed sinker (bolt rig) or a sliding sinker. For the bolt rig...i'd reccomend at least 3 oz of weight for most conditions...even though you can get by with 2 or even 1 1/2 oz. In fact, i'm only using 2 oz weights right now. For the sliding rigs...as long as it's heavy enough to cast you can get by with it. When using doughballs, etc., you can even get by with no weight at all if matched with the right rod and reel. All depends on what you're using and what you're comfortable with. I typically use a bolt rig with a 3 oz weight, or a running rig with a backstop and a 2-3 oz weight. In weedy, silty, or mud bottom conditions, i'll back off to less weight.

Hope all of this helped...and that's a good idea for a bait needle. Good luck in your carping adventures, and feel free to ask any other questions you might have...there are a lot of us on here who should be able to help.