When we asked Tom Maker to reveal the two rigs that he’d happily take anywhere, the result was maybe not as obvious as you’d think…

I’m sure that many of you reading this would expect me to nominate a solid PVA bag rig before any other. However, as tempting as that was, I settled on two other presentations, which I’ve enjoyed a ridiculous amount of success with when using them over the last 12 months or so.

First up has to be a zig rig, for no other reason than carp spend so much of their time off the bottom that I simply could never go fishing without the option of using one. Anybody who does go carp fishing these days without some zig bits is going to seriously miss out. It’s also important that if you do try them, that you do so with a bit of conviction. I’ve lost count of how many times I’ve heard people say: “I chucked a zig out for an hour but no good.” That’s madness. You wouldn’t cast a bottom bait or pop-up rig out for just an hour during your session would you, so why do so with a zig?