Tying a blowback rig with a ring — a feeder hooklink for big carp

The video ties the channel's favourite feeder hooklink: a blowback rig with a ring. It is aimed at beginners, though the details of the knot are useful to more experienced anglers too.

What you need: a size 8 barbless hook, 10 lb hooklink line, a small metal ring, a hook aligner, plus scissors, a loop-tying tool and a puller — an old baiting needle will do for the last one.

The line passes through the hook eye front to back, from the point side toward the rear. The small ring goes on next, then a tiny loop at the end with a simple or double knot. The loop tool helps set its size; a proper puller, or the shank of a baiting needle, tightens it.

Hair length comes from a simple knot around the ring. Set it against a finger, or thread on the bait you intend to use. If the distance is off, move the ring with a needle — and one small trick: wet the line and it slides more easily.

The ring then goes up onto the hook, held with a finger in a position where it can just not slip over the bend. Holding it there, tie the knotless knot: wrap the line down the shank in tight turns as far as the hook point, then two turns back up, and pinch the line between two fingers.

From there comes the hooklink length: measure it, cut with six to eight centimetres spare, pass the end through the eye from back to front, and pull the knot up hard. Finally the end loop, with a figure-of-eight or a double knot, and trim the excess.

The aligner is threaded onto the hooklink with a needle, entering from the thinner end, then pulled on. Its thicker end goes onto the shank with the small tab facing the hook point — the packaging shows the correct orientation.

Why this is the favourite in the video: the ring runs freely on the shank, which gives the bait natural movement.

This is the hooklink the bomb feeder end rig is built on — the two go together. The closing frames also show the version made up with a short length of silicone tubing.