Making up a zig rig two ways — adjustable depth and beating the tangle

The video shows two zig rigs, and they are not for the same job. It was filmed at Bázis, on the middle part of the lake.

The first is the float-based zig kit: hook, hook turner, zig line, a zig kit with a small float that suspends mid-water, and a lead to sink it. The hooklink is exactly one metre, with a knotless knot at the end and the hook turner pulled onto it; the buoyant bait sits very close to the hook. The hooklink clips into the zig kit's quick link, covered with a rubber sleeve, and the other end goes to the swivel with a five- or six-turn clinch knot.

Depth setting is the whole point. The lead goes down, the float stands up. Pay out line until the float breaks the surface — from there depth is counted in turns of the handle. In the video the reel retrieves one metre per turn, so with a one-metre hooklink, one turn means one metre below the surface. No bites: go a little up or down.

The drawback is casting: the hooklink tends to wrap around the upper section, and once it wraps, the float cannot rise. Last time it took four or five casts to get a clean one. The fix is a PVA foam pad: wet the float, fold the hook back onto it and stick the foam on — it holds the rig together, then dissolves and releases it.

In its favour: the whole rig is compact, so the fish can be netted with a shorter rod, even fishing alone — no need for a two- or three-metre drop. In a deep quarry lake that is a real advantage. Against it: the float sits mid-water and fish may see it. A longer, one-and-a-half-metre hooklink softens that, putting the float further below the layer being fished.

The second method is simpler: a three- or four-metre zig hooklink on a plain leaded end rig. The mainline ends in a lead clip fixed with a small peg, so it does not slide. To cast, lay the hooklink out on the ground, cast normally, and slow it just before the water so the hooklink extends.

When netting on a four-metre drop, walk back a few metres along the bank — and watch that the lead swinging in the air does not hit your fishing partner.

The method works best when a well-clouding groundbait is spombed in at exactly the zig depth. It also works to spot fish moving somewhere and cast near them. In the video a pop-up drew nothing; a piece of foam did.