Choosing a rig for the conditions
Explainer · Last reviewed 2026-08-14
The decision procedure that named rigs do not supply: work from the ground, the flow, the bait and the fish to the arrangement, rather than from a rig you know to a situation you hope suits it.
MOST ANGLERS CHOOSE A RIG BY HABIT AND THEN ADAPT THE SITUATION TO IT. The reverse order works better, and it is four questions.
QUESTION ONE: WHAT IS THE GROUND? Clean sand or gravel allows anything, and a running arrangement will not snag. Rough, rocky or weedy ground means the rig will be lost, so it should be cheap, simple and built to break at the lead. Soft silt or thick weed means a bottom bait will sink out of sight, so something has to hold the bait up — a standing hooklength, or buoyancy in the bait itself. Snaggy ground with a strong fish also means the fight has to be won quickly, which pushes everything heavier.
QUESTION TWO: IS THE WATER MOVING, AND HOW HARD? Still water lets a bait behave naturally on a long fine hooklength. Moderate flow pushes a long hooklength downstream into a straight line, which is fine and predictable. Strong tide or current does three things at once: it drags the weight, it lifts the bait, and it wraps the hooklength around everything. The answers are heavier and gripped weights, shorter and stiffer hooklengths, and arrangements that keep the hooklength clear of the body line.
QUESTION THREE: WHAT IS THE BAIT, AND CAN IT SURVIVE THE CAST? A soft bait needs a rig that does not whip it off — which means it goes on the hooklength close to the lead, clipped down if the cast is long. A large bait needs a hook and gape to match and will tangle a short dropper. A bait that crabs will strip in ten minutes needs to be off the bottom or checked constantly, and that is a rig decision as much as a bait one.
QUESTION FOUR: HOW CAUTIOUS IS THE FISH, AND HOW WILL THE BITE ARRIVE? A confident feeder in coloured water suits a self-hooking arrangement. A pressured fish in clear water needs to feel nothing, which means a running arrangement and an angler paying attention. At long range with the rod in a rest, self-hooking is close to essential because the strike will never arrive in time.
AND THE FIFTH QUESTION, WHICH IS NOT OPTIONAL: what happens to the fish if this breaks? The answer decides whether the rig you have arrived at is usable at all.
WHAT CHANGES DURING A SESSION. The tide turns and a rig that held stops holding. Weed starts running and a multi-hook rig becomes unfishable. Light goes and the fish move in. A rig chosen for the first hour is frequently wrong by the third, and the willingness to change it is what separates people who catch through a session from people who catch at the start of one.
Mapping the four questions onto what this catalogue actually holds
The decision procedure above ends without saying which arrangement each answer points at, which leaves a reader who has followed it correctly with nowhere to go. This is the map, and it is deliberately explicit about where the catalogue holds nothing.
CLEAN GROUND, STILL OR SLOW WATER, CAUTIOUS FISH. A running arrangement, so the fish takes line without feeling the weight — `running-leger-rig`. In a float context on the same ground, `waggler-rig`.
CLEAN GROUND, RANGE, ROD IN A REST. A fixed or semi-fixed arrangement, because a bite will never reach the rod in time otherwise — `method-feeder-rig` in a coarse context, and the clipped-down beach arrangement in a sea one.
SOFT OR WEEDY BOTTOM, BAIT MUST STAY VISIBLE. A standing hooklength holding the bait off the bed — `paternoster-rig`, with the tangle fixes in that record's own section applied.
ROUGH GROUND THAT TAKES TACKLE. A paternoster with a weak link above the lead, so a snag costs the lead rather than the trace — `paternoster-rig` with `weak-links-and-rotten-bottoms`, which Sprint 55 built as its own record after this map first named its absence.
SUSPENDED BAIT AT A CHOSEN HEIGHT, FINESSE, VERTICAL. `drop-shot-rig`, which is the only arrangement here that puts the weight below the hook.
A BAIT PRESENTED OFF THE HOOK FOR A LARGE CYPRINID. `hair-rig`, paired with a lead arrangement that produces the hooking force and that a fish can shed.
A PREDATOR WITH TEETH. `wire-trace-deadbait-rig`, and this one is a requirement rather than a selection — the wire is a welfare condition and not a performance choice.
Practitioner consensus
Widely and independently recommended by experienced anglers and specialist sources. This is real angling knowledge, not proof: controlled evidence for it is limited, and FishingHQ records it as convention rather than as a demonstrated effect.
- Sea Angler — Bauer Media (Specialist angling publication)Relied on for: Long-running published description of British sea angling practice, including trace construction, dropper loops and shock leaders.FishingHQ's interpretation of what it saysCitation checked — the work exists and is described correctly
- General angling website restatements of established technique — Various (Credible secondary source)Relied on for: Widely restated descriptions of established terminal and connection convention, recorded as practitioner consensus rather than as scholarship.Background and mechanism onlyCitation checked — the work exists and is described correctly
- Angling Times — Bauer Media (Specialist angling publication)Relied on for: Contemporary UK coarse, match, carp and predator practice as reported by practitioners, including terminal convention and its development.FishingHQ's interpretation of what it saysCitation checked — the work exists and is described correctly
- General angling website restatements of established technique — Various (Credible secondary source)Relied on for: Widely restated descriptions of contemporary rig convention, recorded as practitioner consensus rather than as scholarship.Background and mechanism onlyCitation checked — the work exists and is described correctly
The four arrangements added since this map was written, and the one deliberately left off it
The map above was written when the catalogue held seven arrangements. Four more were built in Sprint 56 to close the absences that map itself named, and one named absence turned out to be a decision rather than a gap.
MOVING WATER, FLOAT, BAIT TRAVELLING WITH THE CURRENT. `stick-float-rig`, attached top and bottom so the line stays on the surface and the float can be held back. A waggler is the wrong answer on a river and this map used to have no other.
SHORT RANGE, EXACT SPOT, VERY LIGHT PRESENTATION, NO REEL. `pole-rig`, where the shock absorption is elastic inside the pole rather than a clutch, and the elastic and hooklength must be matched as one system.
FISH FEEDING AT THE SURFACE. `surface-controller-rig`, which puts the casting weight in a float and leaves the bait unweighted. It is the only arrangement here presenting above the water rather than in or on the bottom.
ANCHORED BOAT, SHALLOW TIDAL GROUND, FISH PUSHED OFF BY THE HULL. `uptide-rig`, cast away from the boat on a grip lead that is meant to break out — where the bite is the rod tip springing BACK and the line going slack.
A FLY LEADER IS NOT ON THIS MAP, AND THAT IS A DECISION RATHER THAN A GAP. A leader is a tapered energy transfer between a heavy line and a nearly weightless hook, which is the inverse of every arrangement above — there is no weight to present and nothing for `resistance` or `groundTolerance` to describe. Modelling it as a rig would put an answer in the selector that cannot be compared with its neighbours. It is held properly by `fly-leaders-and-tippet` and `leaders-and-tippet-in-fly-fishing`, and that is where this question should go.
ELEVEN ARRANGEMENTS IS A FULLER SET AND IT IS STILL NOT A COMPLETE ONE. The known remaining absences are a pole or waggler arrangement for fast deep water, a down-tide boat arrangement, and anything for trolling or downrigger work. `npm run rig-selector` returning nothing for a combination frequently means exactly that, and this map is checked against the catalogue each sprint rather than trusted to have stayed true.
Practitioner consensus
Widely and independently recommended by experienced anglers and specialist sources. This is real angling knowledge, not proof: controlled evidence for it is limited, and FishingHQ records it as convention rather than as a demonstrated effect.
- Sea Angler — Bauer Media (Specialist angling publication)Relied on for: Long-running published description of British sea angling practice, including trace construction, dropper loops and shock leaders.FishingHQ's interpretation of what it saysCitation checked — the work exists and is described correctly
- General angling website restatements of established technique — Various (Credible secondary source)Relied on for: Widely restated descriptions of established terminal and connection convention, recorded as practitioner consensus rather than as scholarship.Background and mechanism onlyCitation checked — the work exists and is described correctly
- Angling Times — Bauer Media (Specialist angling publication)Relied on for: Contemporary UK coarse, match, carp and predator practice as reported by practitioners, including terminal convention and its development.FishingHQ's interpretation of what it saysCitation checked — the work exists and is described correctly
- General angling website restatements of established technique — Various (Credible secondary source)Relied on for: Widely restated descriptions of contemporary rig convention, recorded as practitioner consensus rather than as scholarship.Background and mechanism onlyCitation checked — the work exists and is described correctly
Where to go next
Gear this affects
- Drop shot rigThe only arrangement in the catalogue that puts the weight BELOW the hook, which is what makes it the spine's answer for a suspended bait at a chosen height, fished vertically and with finesse.
- Hair rigThe answer where a bait is presented off the hook for a large cyprinid, paired with a lead arrangement that produces the hooking force and that the fish can shed if the line parts.
- Method feeder rigThe answer for clean ground at range with the rod in a rest, where a bite will never reach the angler in time unless the fish hooks itself against a fixed or semi-fixed weight.
- Paternoster rigThe answer for two of the spine's cases at once — a soft or weedy bottom where the bait must stay off the bed, and rough ground that takes tackle. On rough ground it is paired with a weak link so a snag costs the lead rather than the trace.
- Pole rigShort range, an exact spot, very light presentation and no reel — where shock absorption is elastic inside the pole rather than a clutch, and the elastic and hooklength have to be matched as one system.
- Running legerThe answer to the spine's first case: clean ground, still or slow water, a cautious fish. The line runs through the weight so the fish takes without feeling it, which is the whole point of the arrangement and the reason it is the wrong answer at range with a rod in a rest.
- Stick float rigThe spine's answer for moving water with a float, attached top and bottom so the line stays on the surface and the float can be held back against the current. A waggler is the wrong answer on a river and the map had no other.
- Surface controller rigThe answer when fish are feeding at the surface: the casting weight goes into a float and the bait is left unweighted. It is the only arrangement on the map presenting above the water rather than in or on the bottom.
3 more
What these connections rest on (11)
Practitioner consensus — 11 connections
Widely and independently recommended by experienced anglers and specialist sources. This is real angling knowledge, not proof: controlled evidence for it is limited, and FishingHQ records it as convention rather than as a demonstrated effect.
Drop shot rig
An arrangement joined to the decision record that selects it. That record's own section names eleven rigs against four questions and the graph carried none of them, so a reader following the procedure to its conclusion could not travel to the answer.
- Sea Angler — Bauer Media (Specialist angling publication)Relied on for: British sea angling practice: how tide, wind, swell and water clarity change where and how a mark is fished.FishingHQ's interpretation of what it saysCitation checked — the work exists and is described correctly
- Freshwater Fishing — Macdonald & Jane's, 1975 (Specialist angling publication)Relied on for: Comprehensive angling practice across disciplines, including water reading, seasonal condition and the tackle each demands.States this directlyCitation checked — the work exists and is described correctly
Hair rig
An arrangement joined to the decision record that selects it. That record's own section names eleven rigs against four questions and the graph carried none of them, so a reader following the procedure to its conclusion could not travel to the answer.
- Sea Angler — Bauer Media (Specialist angling publication)Relied on for: British sea angling practice: how tide, wind, swell and water clarity change where and how a mark is fished.FishingHQ's interpretation of what it saysCitation checked — the work exists and is described correctly
- Freshwater Fishing — Macdonald & Jane's, 1975 (Specialist angling publication)Relied on for: Comprehensive angling practice across disciplines, including water reading, seasonal condition and the tackle each demands.States this directlyCitation checked — the work exists and is described correctly
Method feeder rig
An arrangement joined to the decision record that selects it. That record's own section names eleven rigs against four questions and the graph carried none of them, so a reader following the procedure to its conclusion could not travel to the answer.
- Sea Angler — Bauer Media (Specialist angling publication)Relied on for: British sea angling practice: how tide, wind, swell and water clarity change where and how a mark is fished.FishingHQ's interpretation of what it saysCitation checked — the work exists and is described correctly
- Freshwater Fishing — Macdonald & Jane's, 1975 (Specialist angling publication)Relied on for: Comprehensive angling practice across disciplines, including water reading, seasonal condition and the tackle each demands.States this directlyCitation checked — the work exists and is described correctly
Paternoster rig
An arrangement joined to the decision record that selects it. That record's own section names eleven rigs against four questions and the graph carried none of them, so a reader following the procedure to its conclusion could not travel to the answer.
- Sea Angler — Bauer Media (Specialist angling publication)Relied on for: British sea angling practice: how tide, wind, swell and water clarity change where and how a mark is fished.FishingHQ's interpretation of what it saysCitation checked — the work exists and is described correctly
- Freshwater Fishing — Macdonald & Jane's, 1975 (Specialist angling publication)Relied on for: Comprehensive angling practice across disciplines, including water reading, seasonal condition and the tackle each demands.States this directlyCitation checked — the work exists and is described correctly
Pole rig
An arrangement joined to the decision record that selects it. That record's own section names eleven rigs against four questions and the graph carried none of them, so a reader following the procedure to its conclusion could not travel to the answer.
- Sea Angler — Bauer Media (Specialist angling publication)Relied on for: British sea angling practice: how tide, wind, swell and water clarity change where and how a mark is fished.FishingHQ's interpretation of what it saysCitation checked — the work exists and is described correctly
- Freshwater Fishing — Macdonald & Jane's, 1975 (Specialist angling publication)Relied on for: Comprehensive angling practice across disciplines, including water reading, seasonal condition and the tackle each demands.States this directlyCitation checked — the work exists and is described correctly
Running leger
An arrangement joined to the decision record that selects it. That record's own section names eleven rigs against four questions and the graph carried none of them, so a reader following the procedure to its conclusion could not travel to the answer.
- Sea Angler — Bauer Media (Specialist angling publication)Relied on for: British sea angling practice: how tide, wind, swell and water clarity change where and how a mark is fished.FishingHQ's interpretation of what it saysCitation checked — the work exists and is described correctly
- Freshwater Fishing — Macdonald & Jane's, 1975 (Specialist angling publication)Relied on for: Comprehensive angling practice across disciplines, including water reading, seasonal condition and the tackle each demands.States this directlyCitation checked — the work exists and is described correctly
Stick float rig
An arrangement joined to the decision record that selects it. That record's own section names eleven rigs against four questions and the graph carried none of them, so a reader following the procedure to its conclusion could not travel to the answer.
- Sea Angler — Bauer Media (Specialist angling publication)Relied on for: British sea angling practice: how tide, wind, swell and water clarity change where and how a mark is fished.FishingHQ's interpretation of what it saysCitation checked — the work exists and is described correctly
- Freshwater Fishing — Macdonald & Jane's, 1975 (Specialist angling publication)Relied on for: Comprehensive angling practice across disciplines, including water reading, seasonal condition and the tackle each demands.States this directlyCitation checked — the work exists and is described correctly
Surface controller rig
An arrangement joined to the decision record that selects it. That record's own section names eleven rigs against four questions and the graph carried none of them, so a reader following the procedure to its conclusion could not travel to the answer.
- Sea Angler — Bauer Media (Specialist angling publication)Relied on for: British sea angling practice: how tide, wind, swell and water clarity change where and how a mark is fished.FishingHQ's interpretation of what it saysCitation checked — the work exists and is described correctly
- Freshwater Fishing — Macdonald & Jane's, 1975 (Specialist angling publication)Relied on for: Comprehensive angling practice across disciplines, including water reading, seasonal condition and the tackle each demands.States this directlyCitation checked — the work exists and is described correctly
Uptide rig
An arrangement joined to the decision record that selects it. That record's own section names eleven rigs against four questions and the graph carried none of them, so a reader following the procedure to its conclusion could not travel to the answer.
- Sea Angler — Bauer Media (Specialist angling publication)Relied on for: British sea angling practice: how tide, wind, swell and water clarity change where and how a mark is fished.FishingHQ's interpretation of what it saysCitation checked — the work exists and is described correctly
- Freshwater Fishing — Macdonald & Jane's, 1975 (Specialist angling publication)Relied on for: Comprehensive angling practice across disciplines, including water reading, seasonal condition and the tackle each demands.States this directlyCitation checked — the work exists and is described correctly
Waggler float rig
An arrangement joined to the decision record that selects it. That record's own section names eleven rigs against four questions and the graph carried none of them, so a reader following the procedure to its conclusion could not travel to the answer.
- Sea Angler — Bauer Media (Specialist angling publication)Relied on for: British sea angling practice: how tide, wind, swell and water clarity change where and how a mark is fished.FishingHQ's interpretation of what it saysCitation checked — the work exists and is described correctly
- Freshwater Fishing — Macdonald & Jane's, 1975 (Specialist angling publication)Relied on for: Comprehensive angling practice across disciplines, including water reading, seasonal condition and the tackle each demands.States this directlyCitation checked — the work exists and is described correctly
Wire trace deadbait rig
An arrangement joined to the decision record that selects it. That record's own section names eleven rigs against four questions and the graph carried none of them, so a reader following the procedure to its conclusion could not travel to the answer.
- Sea Angler — Bauer Media (Specialist angling publication)Relied on for: British sea angling practice: how tide, wind, swell and water clarity change where and how a mark is fished.FishingHQ's interpretation of what it saysCitation checked — the work exists and is described correctly
- Freshwater Fishing — Macdonald & Jane's, 1975 (Specialist angling publication)Relied on for: Comprehensive angling practice across disciplines, including water reading, seasonal condition and the tackle each demands.States this directlyCitation checked — the work exists and is described correctly
Related reading
- Presenting bait in strong tideStrong flow drags the weight, lifts the bait and wraps the hooklength simultaneously, which is why it changes three decisions at once rather than one.
- Why rigs snag, and how to reduce itGround is the first of the four questions, and on rough ground the rig's most important property is how cheaply and cleanly it breaks.
What these connections rest on (2)
Practitioner consensus — 2 connections
Widely and independently recommended by experienced anglers and specialist sources. This is real angling knowledge, not proof: controlled evidence for it is limited, and FishingHQ records it as convention rather than as a demonstrated effect.
Presenting bait in strong tide
A mechanism edge from a record to the reasoning beneath it. How knots and rigs behave is established practitioner knowledge converging across independent angling traditions, and is labelled as consensus rather than as tested result.
- Sea Angler — Bauer Media (Specialist angling publication)Relied on for: Contemporary UK sea angling practice as reported by practitioners, including terminal arrangements and bait presentation.States this directlyCitation checked — the work exists and is described correctly
- Coarse Fishing — A. & C. Black, 1912 (Specialist angling publication)Relied on for: Classical coarse angling practice: terminal arrangements, shotting and bite registration.States this directlyCitation checked — the work exists and is described correctly
Why rigs snag, and how to reduce it
A mechanism edge from a record to the reasoning beneath it. How knots and rigs behave is established practitioner knowledge converging across independent angling traditions, and is labelled as consensus rather than as tested result.
- Sea Angler — Bauer Media (Specialist angling publication)Relied on for: Contemporary UK sea angling practice as reported by practitioners, including terminal arrangements and bait presentation.States this directlyCitation checked — the work exists and is described correctly
- Coarse Fishing — A. & C. Black, 1912 (Specialist angling publication)Relied on for: Classical coarse angling practice: terminal arrangements, shotting and bite registration.States this directlyCitation checked — the work exists and is described correctly
How this compares
What these connections rest on (1)
Practitioner consensus — 1 connection
Widely and independently recommended by experienced anglers and specialist sources. This is real angling knowledge, not proof: controlled evidence for it is limited, and FishingHQ records it as convention rather than as a demonstrated effect.
What a rig does, and how to read one
Two records a reader will be holding in mind at once, joined so that the distinction between them is visible rather than assumed.
- Sea Angler — Bauer Media (Specialist angling publication)Relied on for: Contemporary UK sea angling practice as reported by practitioners, including terminal arrangements and bait presentation.States this directlyCitation checked — the work exists and is described correctly
- Coarse Fishing — A. & C. Black, 1912 (Specialist angling publication)Relied on for: Classical coarse angling practice: terminal arrangements, shotting and bite registration.States this directlyCitation checked — the work exists and is described correctly
Sources for this page
- Sea Angler — Bauer Media (Specialist angling publication)Relied on for: Contemporary UK sea angling practice as reported by practitioners, including rig construction, leaders and terminal components.States this directlyCitation checked — the work exists and is described correctly
- Freshwater Fishing — Macdonald & Jane's, 1975 (Specialist angling publication)Relied on for: Comprehensive angling practice including terminal tackle, knots, leaders and the reasoning behind rig arrangements.States this directlyCitation checked — the work exists and is described correctly
- Angling Times — Bauer Media (Specialist angling publication)Relied on for: Contemporary UK coarse and match angling practice as reported by practitioners, including rig and knot convention.States this directlyCitation checked — the work exists and is described correctly
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