The Ronnie, or Spinner rig, is no secret in the carp world these days, but despite its popularity and possible over-use, I see no reason to change it. In fact, I can’t imagine fishing without it!
But why is it so good? When we look at how the rig works, it mimics the also popular ‘360 rig’, but is far safer for the fish. Both are phenomenally effective hookers of carp. As the names suggest, the hook can rotate or spin 360 degrees to prick the fish, no matter what direction it’s approached from. I’m pretty convinced now, from watching fish, that as long as it’s balanced correctly, around 90 per cent of the time they can’t get away with it either – which is just about as good as it gets!
It’s a rig that seems to perfectly suit the stock in day-ticket waters too, which can be anything from doubles and twenties, right up to 40-pounders. There’s certainly something to be said for considering the size and shape of the fish you’re targeting when constructing a rig, which is why people often associate Chods or Hinge rigs with bigger carp. But the Ronnie seems to catch them all. I know anglers who’ve never used it and never will but, for me, it’s the rig I’ll have out the vast majority of the time.
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Lakebed types
These days I try to keep everything in my fishing simple, but that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t be prepared for every situation that might come your way. When it comes to fishing a Ronnie, I’m ideally looking for firmer areas, where my favoured 6ins fluorocarbon boom section and heavy lead combo come into their own. I actually don’t think the lead is playing as much of a part in driving the hook home as it might do with other rigs, but that little bit of extra weight won’t hurt in getting that point in a bit further. It depends on distance, but most of the time I’ll be fishing with leads of between 3oz and 5oz.
If I find myself in a situation where I have to present over softer ground, the Ronnie is still a winner, but I’ll swap the fluoro boom for a softer coated braid so the rig doesn’t sit up off the bottom, and will also extend this section to up to 15ins.
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How to fish the 'Ronnie'
One of the reasons why the Ronnie is always my number one choice is its versatility. As part of my job, I’m often travelling around and fishing lots of different types of venues. It seems to work everywhere, no matter how you fish with it.
I’ve done well with it fishing at long range with single hookbaits, I regularly fish it over big beds of particles, and it no doubt comes into its own fishing over a spread of boilies where fish are searching around for each bait.
If you haven’t boarded the Ronnie rig bandwagon yet, give it a go next trip. Before too long you’ll be just as much a fan of this awesome set-up as I am!
LEARN MORE FROM IAN ABOUT HOW TO FEED YOUR SWIM FOR BIG CARP HERE.
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