Fishing Rigs

By Alex Clayton · Updated 24 October 2026

Search for rigs and you get a long list of names, from the chod to the helicopter to the flapper. Most of them are variations on four ideas.

A rig is the arrangement of hook, hooklength, weight or float, and the small parts that join them, set up so your bait sits where fish are feeding and a bite shows clearly. Once you see fishing rigs that way, they stop being a catalogue and become a handful of tools, and most sessions need nothing more than a few simple fishing rigs. This page covers the parts, the four rig families, how to pick one for your species and water, what changes for pike and sea fishing, and the England and Wales rules that apply to every rig you tie.

What a Fishing Rig Is Made Of

Learn seven parts and every rig diagram on this site reads the same way. Know what each piece does and you can see why a rig is built the way it is, and fix one that isn’t working.

Mainline: the line from your reel. It takes the strain of casting and playing a fish.
Hooklength (or trace): a shorter length between the mainline and the hook, often finer or more abrasion-resistant. If something breaks, it is usually here, so you lose the end tackle rather than the whole set-up.
Hook: holds the bait and, when it all goes right, the fish.
Weight: a lead or a feeder. It holds the bait on the bottom, cocks a float or adds casting weight.
Float: shows the bite and sets the depth your bait fishes at.
Swivel: joins the mainline to the hooklength and stops a turning bait from twisting your line.
Stops and beads: fix or limit where a float or lead sits on the line, and protect knots from a sliding weight.

UK anglers call it a lead or a weight. Lead is also covered by legal size limits in England and Wales, set out in the rules section below.

Nearly every one of the fishing rigs on this site follows this order, from the reel to the bait:

reel line -> float or lead -> bead -> swivel -> hooklength -> hook + bait

Each join in that chain needs a knot, so learn the knots that join rig parts together before you tie anything more complicated.

If a rig keeps tangling or losing fish, check each part in that order. The fault is usually one weak link, not the whole idea.

The Four Rig Families Every UK Angler Uses

Most named rigs belong to one of four families, and each solves a different problem: depth, distance, snags or movement.

Float rigs

A float rig suspends your bait at a set depth, and the float tells you when a fish has taken it. It suits still and slow-moving water, and fish feeding off the bottom or up in the water.

mainline -> float locked by shot or stops -> hooklength -> hook

Pole fishing is the close-range version, with the float directly under the pole tip. See pole rigs.

Ledger and feeder rigs

A ledger holds your bait on the bottom with a lead or a feeder, and bites show at the rod tip or on an alarm. On a running ledger the lead slides on the mainline, so a fish can pick up the bait and move off with little resistance. A fixed or semi-fixed lead works the other way: the fish meets the weight as it moves off, which helps set the hook.

mainline -> sliding lead -> bead -> swivel -> hooklength -> hook

A feeder swaps the lead for a container that puts free bait down beside your hookbait. Start with ledger rigs, then move on to feeder rigs.

Paternoster rigs

A paternoster puts the weight at the bottom of the line and the bait on a short side-arm above it. Keeping the bait clear of weed and snags is why it works on rivers, canals, weedy lakes and the shore.

mainline -> boom or swivel -> hooklength -> hook
                 |
                 -> link -> lead

The paternoster rig page shows the coarse, predator and sea versions.

Lure rigs

With lure rigs, you supply the movement. A drop shot rig has the weight at the bottom and the hook above it, so a small lure can be held almost still in front of a fish. A Carolina rig runs a sliding weight ahead of a lure on a leader, and the lure trails behind as you work it back. Drop-shotting for perch on Windermere, I’ve found the stillness is often what gets the bite.

Float or ledger? Choose a float when fish are up in the water or you want to see every bite. Choose a ledger when distance or flow makes a float impractical.

How to Choose a Rig: Species, Water and Bottom

The rig that caught on a video can blank on your water because the bottom, depth or flow is different. Ask three questions, in this order:

What are you fishing for, and where does it feed? On the bottom, in midwater, at the surface, or as a predator hunting prey fish.
What is the water doing? Still, slow or fast flowing, how deep it is, and how far out the fish are.
What is on the bottom? Clean gravel, silt, weed or snags.

Treat each row below as the family to try first, not a rule. The linked pages carry the full fishing rig diagrams.

Situation	Rig family to start with	Read next
Carp on a stillwater bottom	Ledger with a hair-rigged bait and semi-fixed lead	Carp rigs
Bream, roach and skimmers at range	Feeder	Feeder rigs
Silver fish close in on canals and lakes	Float or pole	Pole rigs
Barbel and chub in flowing rivers	Ledger or feeder that holds bottom	Barbel rigs
Perch around structure	Drop shot or float	Perch rigs
Pike over weed or snags	Float or paternoster with a wire trace	Pike rigs
Catfish	Heavy ledger set-ups	Catfish rigs
Shore and boat sea fishing	Paternoster-style sea rigs	Sea fishing rigs

Weed and snags push you towards a paternoster or a float, because both keep the bait up where a fish can find it. A clean bottom favours ledger and feeder rigs, where the bait sits naturally and nothing hides it.

Flow decides the rest. In faster water, pick rigs for fishing that hold the bottom with more weight, or run a float through the swim at the pace of the current. A rig that is too light just rolls downstream.

Best for: anyone who doesn’t know where to start. Skip if: you already know your target species. Go straight to its rig page.

Predator Rigs: Why Pike Need a Wire Trace

One part of a pike rig is never optional: the wire trace.

A pike’s teeth cut through mono and fluorocarbon. Without wire, a bite-off is a real risk, and a bite-off leaves a fish swimming with hooks in its mouth. That is why every pike rig, bait or lure, ends in wire. If you are new to predators, learn how to make a wire trace first.

Beyond the trace, the rig families carry straight across. Float, paternoster and ledger rigs all work for deadbaiting, and lures go on a trace too. The pike rigs page covers each set-up.

Fish care shapes how you fish them. Strike promptly when a deadbait run starts, rather than letting it go on, so the hooks stay in the mouth. Under the England and Wales rules, a fish hooked anywhere other than the mouth or throat counts as foul-hooked and must be returned alive.

On Windermere I fish deadbaits on a float or a paternoster along the drop-offs, and the trace goes on every time.

Perch don’t have pike’s cutting teeth, so perch rigs are usually lighter lure or float set-ups. Where pike share the water, weigh up the risk of a bite-off before you choose.

Verdict: if pike could take your bait, put wire on the end. Every other choice in a predator rig comes second.

Sea Fishing Rigs: What Changes on the Coast

If you can tie a paternoster, you already understand most shore rigs. Sea fishing rigs use the same building blocks as freshwater ones, built tougher.

Tide and casting distance call for heavier weights and stronger line and leaders than coarse fishing. Grip leads, which have wires that dig into the seabed, are common because they hold in a running tide.

Flapper and paternoster-style rigs, carrying one or more hooks on short snoods above the lead, are the usual choice from the shore. Over rough ground, anglers often switch to simpler rigs with a weak link to the lead, so a snagged weight breaks free and the rest of the rig comes back.

The rod licence and freshwater tackle rules on this page apply to freshwater fishing. For sea fishing rules, check GOV.UK and the local sea fisheries byelaws for the coast you fish.

If you are new to the shore, start with a simple paternoster-style rig, then work through the sea fishing rigs page.

Rig Rules in England and Wales: Lead, Rods and Bait

Lead weights between 0.06g and 28.35g are illegal for freshwater rod fishing in England and Wales. Only lead of 0.06g or less, or more than 28.35g, is allowed.

Other GOV.UK rules shape your rigs too:

Rule	What it means for your rig
Lead weights	Only 0.06g or less, or over 28.35g. Use non-lead weights in between.
Unattended rods	It is illegal to leave a rod and line in the water unattended. It must be within sufficient control.
Rod spacing	The butts of your outermost rods must be no more than 3 metres apart.
Rod numbers	The trout and coarse licence comes as up to 2 rods or up to 3 rods. The 3-rod option is only on the 12-month licence. Venues can set lower limits.
Bait	You cannot use crayfish as bait. A fish you catch can only be used as bait on the water where you caught it.
Foul-hooked fish	A fish hooked anywhere other than the mouth or throat must be returned alive.

These rules apply in England and Wales, where Environment Agency rod licences are valid. Most of Scotland and Northern Ireland need different permissions. Junior licences for ages 13 to 16 are free. Local byelaws and private fishery rules can add restrictions, so check with the fishery before you travel.

Buy a rod licence before your first session, and check GOV.UK for the current Environment Agency rules, because they can change.

Verdict: weigh any old lead in your tackle box before you use it.

Frequently asked questions

What is the simplest fishing rig for beginners?

A basic float rig or a running ledger. Both have few parts, are quick to tie and work on most coarse waters. Use a float if fish are close in and feeding off the bottom, and a ledger if you need to cast further. See the ledger rigs guide or the rig chooser table on this page.

Can you use lead weights for fishing in the UK?

In England and Wales, you can only use lead weights of 0.06g or less, or over 28.35g, for freshwater rod fishing, according to GOV.UK. Use non-lead weights in between. If you fish in Scotland or Northern Ireland, check the rules there separately.

What is the best rig for pike?

A float or paternoster rig over weed and snags, or a ledger on a clean bottom, always finished with a wire trace. The pike rigs guide covers each one. If you plan to take a fish, GOV.UK lists a daily limit on rivers of one pike up to 65cm, but local byelaws vary, so check yours first.

How many rods can I fish with?

The England and Wales trout and coarse licence covers up to 2 rods or up to 3 rods, with 3 rods only on the 12-month licence. The butts of your outermost rods must be no more than 3 metres apart, and many fisheries set a lower limit. Details are on the fishing licence page.