Dear Carp-Talk,
I refer to Ian Hancock’s letter to Carp-Talk regarding the origins of the Multi-Rig in issue 1206 which has prompted the question ‘Who invented the Multi-Rig’.
First of all the photographs kindly supplied to Carp-Talk by Ian to support his claim to have invented the original Multi-Rig in 1998 shows quite clearly that it patently isn’t the rig I pieced together and published in my Carpworld and Crafty Carper columns in 2001or since. The knotted loop I used, which is older than carp fishing itself, to attach the hook is similar but purposely much shorter and nothing new, and I made a point of saying so and crediting those I knew had used it before me when I shared the Multi-Rig publically for the first time. I particularly credited former terminal tackle company Big Fish Adventure who already had a range of ready tied rigs on the market that used the short knotted loop through the eye and over the bend of the hook to attach their ready tied hooks (please see article cuttings and photographs).
For your reference the credit starts and I quote: “Now, the first thing to point out here is that the method used to create my Multi-Rig isn’t new”
To set the record straight, the Multi-Rig is a hybrid and therefore not a standalone invention in my opinion, and I have never claimed it as such: it was purely my way of creating a versatile rig that allows several previously established and successful hooking arrangements to be used without the need to change or retie rigs. I’m sure Ian will appreciate that if you’re working blind without any knowledge of the existence of someone else’s rig that has used a similar means to attach a hook; it’s difficult to avoid stepping on toes. If I was a mind reader I’d be a rich man! Also, Ian didn’t submit versions of his rig to Carp-Talk for publication until 2002, a year after I published the Multi-Rig, so even if I’d seen it then I would have viewed it purely as a later interpretation under a different name.
However, I can fully understand Ian wanting to prove he was the first to use a loop through the eye to attach his hook and why he would try to liken it to the Multi-Rig, but what I can’t understand given the level of attention the Multi-Rig has attracted across the whole media spectrum since 2001, is why he’s waited until now to compare it’s similarity to a Sliding Hook rig he invented (assuming no-one else did!) in 1998. It’s a bit like closing the bivvy door after the carp has bolted, so to speak.
The important thing from my perspective now is the clearly defined range of hooking arrangements I pulled together to form the rig I aptly named the Multi-Rig has gone on to be widely accepted by all those anglers who, like me, saw its potential to hook and land more carp and enjoy the immense pleasure that brings, something I’m still personally very proud of.
Best regards
Mike Kavanagh
