| SAMANTHA COLLINS-RATCLIFFE | |
Samantha Collins-Ratcliffe is a school teacher as well as a very keen carp angler, aged 25 and lives in Cornwall. She’s been fishing now for several years after her partner got her into it when she went to Suffolk with him on a five day carp fishing session. That was where Samantha caught her first carp and then she was hooked. She’s caught carp from two different continents and goes to France a number of times a year. Her best UK caught carp weighed 44lb 12oz. She is sponsored by Realtree, Diamond weights, TF Gear and Quest Baits |
 Sam with a 32lb common caught using her PVA rig method |
PVA Rig Made Easy
One of my favourite methods for carp fishing is using PVA bags. It can be an absolutely deadly because it presents a bed of bait with your hookbait right in amongst it. The rig can be cast a long distance when assembled correctly, and the carp may not be used to seeing it in that location.
 All the components you need |
PVA stands for Polyvinyl Alcohol which dissolves when wet. The first time I tried to reach a long distance with a PVA bag it didn’t stand up to the job and I wasn’t confident with the overall result. So I decided to make a rig which would cast and not get tangled when it hits the bottom of the lake.
How to make my Rig step by step
 Screw curtain ring into any lead weight of your choice |
 Use permanent black marker pen to disguise the curtain ring |
 Put leader though the hole and thread into loop before pulling tight |
 Place braid at the back of shank and loop round 5 times. Then thread through the back of the eye of the hook |
 Slide the shrink tube onto the braid and pull it over the shank of the hook |
 Hold the shrink tube over a steaming kettle until it start to gets tight |
 Slide the anti-tangle sleeve half way down the braid |
 Thread the braid through the small eye of the swivel and use a grinner knot |
 Now the rig is made you can thread onto the leader and then place a stop bead on to the leader |
 Place bait of choice into PVA bag until half full |
 Twist the PVA bag until nice and tight |
 Then tie a knot at the top of the PVA bag |
 Thread through the curtain hook and tie a simple knot |
 Use a sharp pair of scissors to cut the end of the PVA |
 Attach the hook securely into the PVA bag |
 As you can see all nice and neat and easy to do |
 And all ready to cast out |
When using this method I always use boilies that I’ve previously crushed into a fine mix using a food mixer. I find this is easy to put in to a PVA bag with some boilies chopped in half. I also prefer to vary other ingredients mixed in the PVA, sometimes including maggots or hemp. You can use any non water-based bait you like. I often use Quest Rahja spice for this as it’s a good all round bait throughout the year.
