You should always stick to a rig that you have confidence in, according to Ian ‘Chilly’ Chillcott. However, as he explains, it’s still always worth upgrading the components you use to tie it in order to make it even more effective…

Horton’s 'The Boxer' at 30lb 4oz, 20 years ago caught on my simple bottom bait rig.

 If you asked me how long I’d been using my trusty bottom-bait rig, I’d struggle to remember… it’s a long time though, I can assure you of that. I can empathise with anglers who look for that magic ingredient by way of trying the latest rigs every time they see or read about one, and please do not take this as me telling you not to follow your heart and do so if that your desire. But, it’s not for me, certainly not in the case of a bottom-bait presentation. My rig is one that I have 100 per cent confident in, but which has accounted for more carp than I care to recall. The best bit about the rig as well is that it couldn’t really be much more simple to use and tie.

 Comprising some 20lb Camotex coated braid, with a little stripped back at the end in usual fashion, a super-sharp hook, which I’ll come back to, and a simple knotless knot, it’s a doddle to put together. I have used this presentation, in one form or another, for eons, simply changing the components along the way as newer and better versions were developed by Fox. For example, for a very long time I used the Coretex hooklink material and gladly so. I caught loads of carp on it and the stuff never let me down once. When the Camotex version came along, however, I made the switch. “Why not? Surely a little extra camouflage on the bottom can’t do me any harm,” I thought. I certainly haven’t caught any fewer carp as a result and, who knows, I may have even caught a few more!

Chilly’s rig in all its simple glory, coupled with a PVA mesh bag of boilies.