You know I was brought up with tales of my Grandfather going out on the river with a stick
, some string and an old coke can pull ring with a worm on it to catch his dinner. Now things have changed as with most things fishing tackle has now become very technical and with good reason.
Now days the basic set up would consist of a number of items:
Rod
Reel
Good Line
Swivel
Lead Weight
Tubing to go over the line
Lead Clip
Tail Rubber
Hair Rig
All of the above is for the basic rig setup for putting together a standard carp tackle rig. Putting it all together into the basic rig you need to ensure that you set it all up properly.
The whole thing together sounds like that old song "them bones them bones" you know the one, "the thigh bones connected to the hip bone....." Well in this case.... You attach your rod to your reel (or your reel to your rod, depending on if you are a half full or half empty type of person) you then feed the fishing line through the eyes (hoops) on the rod. Once you have made sure that your line is through all your eyes and pull the line through so you have enough to work with in order to tie your rig.
Then you take the line and feed it through the end of the tubing, keep feeding it through until you get the tag end (this is the end that your rig will be attached to) all the way through. Take your tag end then feed it through your tail rubber and then through the lead clip. Tie your swivel from the hair rig onto the main line back to your reel. When you pull the swivel back into the lead clip you then attach your lead. Pull the tail rubber over the lead clip and hey presto you have what is a basic safety bolt rig suitable most carp fishing scenarios!
There are a number of different ways to tie your rigs and many people have their own secret sauce on that special rig that works for them every single time they go out fishing. At the end of the day it is in many ways trial and error, this is one of the many joys of fishing for carp it doesn't matter what carp tackle you use it is a case of experimenting to see what is best for you.
There are literally thousands of different makes and types of carp tackle and in all honesty it is trial and error and taking the advice of the experts that know what they are doing. I know that it took me a while before I learned to catch the big fish but when I discovered the right combo it wasn't long before it needed to be changed. Just remember its trial and error.