Upon finding our website, Japanese bass fisherman Hiromi wrote and asked, "is carp fishing that popular in the U.S.?"  After perusing his favorite tackle shop, he found this booklet on carp fishing, as well as a pre-tied rig, both of which he sent to me (thanks again).  The illustrations are fascinating, a couple of which I've included here.  I really wish I knew how to read it. The book goes into considerable detail regarding fundamentals like locations on a river vs. a lake, different knots, pole setups, ground baits, and various terminal rigs.

Most of the rigs illustrated are based on the use of ground bait balled onto a gang-hook type of rig. The ball is threaded onto the rig with a large bait needle.  The hooks may be baited with a small nugget or left bare, then pushed into the ground bait ball (below).

The rig is then weighted with a sliding sinker and cast out.  As the ground bait dissipates and releases its essence, foraging carp will grouse through the bait, hopefully picking up one or more of the hooks.

The following illustrates how to tie a 4-hook rig.  It looks self-explanatory, beginning with two leader strands of braided line (about 30 inches long) with a single hook tied to each end.  The first knot (step 3) is tied about 3 inches from the hooks.  The rig ends with a swivel tied to the end.

Below is a pre-tied rig from Owner.  The line used is a heavy braid, equipped with #4 extremely sharp hooks (knotless-type).  Note the coil in the middle to help hold the ball of ground bait, much like the "method feeder" popular in Europe.

These are strange but interesting rigs, and they do seem logical.  You adventurous types may want to try to adapt these to your waters.  Note:  Please refer to your local regulations regarding the number of hooks allowed per line, and frankly, most carpers frown upon the use of multiple hooks.